WSL2 in Windows 10
Windows 10 versions 1903 and 1909
As reported in August 2020, Support for Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2 distros is being backported to Windows 10 version 1903, and 1909!. I'd already moved up to version 2004, for its Docker support.
Windows 10 build 2004
I got excited about What's new in Windows 10, version 2004 for IT Pros
The instructions on the Visual Studio Code blog are helpful, and cover how to:
- Install Windows 10, version 2004.
- Install Visual Studio Code.
- Enable WSL 2 by following the WSL 2 installation guide.
- Install a linux distribution from the Microsoft store (I have Ubuntu 20.04).
- Install Docker Desktop Stable
2.3.0.2
or later (I have2.3.0.4
).
Also install:
- the latest stable release of PowerShell 7 -
7.0.3
as of this writing. - the Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store.
- the Remote - WSL VSCode extension.
From my Ubuntu 20.04 shell, I can then type code
, and I see:
Installing VS Code Server for x64 (cd9ea6488829f560dc949a8b2fb789f3cdc05f5d)
Downloading: 100%
Unpacking: 100%
Unpacked 2379 files and folders to /home/nrubuntu/.vscode-server/bin/cd9ea6488829f560dc949a8b2fb789f3cdc05f5d.
The new instance of VSCode is connected to Ubuntu 20.04:
Windows Terminal Shells
With Windows Terminal, I can now launch additional shells from multiple systems:
Scott Hanselman's post on What's the difference between a console, a terminal, and a shell? is interesting.