In 2021 Microsoft introduced Windows Subsystem for Linux (short: WSL). With that you can run a Linux environment directly on your Windows machine without the need for tools like VirtualBox or dual-boot setups. You can just start a Linux session of your choice directly with the push of a button and without the need to restart your PC or workstation. All this works because of the built-in virtualization software called “Hyper-V”. If you want to learn more about virtualization and how it’s done at Contabo, check out our Cloud Explained Series here.
In this beginner-friendly tutorial we will guide you through the process of installing and enabling WSL on your local machine and installing Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. But don’t worry: Other distributions of Linux are also available. We will give you a full overview of all available distros later in the article.
But for now, let’s start with the prerequisites.
Prerequisites
To follow this guide, make sure that your PC has Windows 10 Version 1903 (or later) with Build 18362 (or later).
Enabling WSL on Your Machine
By default, WSL is deactivated on your PC or workstation. In this first step we are going to activate it using the command line.
Open the Start menu by pressing the Windows-Key and search for “PowerShell”. Now right click on Windows PowerShell and click on “Run as administrator”.
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