Windows Subsystem For Linux (WSL)

Managing WSL

Basic Commands

wsl --list or wsl -l             # Show list of locally available distributions
wsl -l -o                        # Show list of online available distributions
wsl -l -v                        # Show running status
wsl -d <distro>                  # Run specific distribution
wsl -u <username>                # Run image with specific 
wsl -u root                      # Run image as root

Install

wsl -l -o                        # Lookup available distributions online
wsl -install <distro_name>       # install distribution
wsl --set-default <Distribution Name>       # Set default distribution name

Uninstall

wsl --unregister <distro>

Hint: This unregisters the distribution from WLS and also removes most of the files from the disk (see disk locations below)

Clone Image

wsl --export <distro> <filename.tar.gz>
wsl --import <new-distro-name> <distrolocation> <filename.tar.gz>

Disk Location of Distributions

Location of distros is

%LOCALAPPDATA%\packages\<subfolder-for-distro>

or

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\packages\<subfolder-for-distro>

Sources

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/basic-commands#list-available-linux-distributions

Working with Debian inside WSL

Installing Software

sudo apt-get install <softwarepackage>