Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Preview 0.50.2 released


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Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment -- including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications -- directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dual boot setup.

Release notes:
  • Added new logo for Windows Subsystem for Linux
  • Enable hardware performance counters if the hardware supports them [GH 4678]
    A USERPROFILE%\.wslconfig option has been added to opt-out:
    [wsl2] hardwarePerformanceCounters=false
  • Fix issue when printing system error messages that contain inserts.
  • Update the user tile to launch in the user's home directory instead of C:\WINDOWS\System32
  • Restore default signal dispositions for /etc/wsl.conf boot.command process to prevent zombie processes [GH 7575]
  • Switch to using a static CRT for Windows binaries
  • Use store API to download distributions via wsl.exe --install
  • Add --no-launch option to wsl.exe --install
  • Many updates to localized strings.
  • Switch to an updated tar for importing / exporting WSL2 distributions.
  • Update to the official 22000 sdk
  • Strip Linux symbols for release builds
  • Update Linux kernel to 5.10.74.3
    • Update to upstream stable kernel release 5.10.74
    • Enable BPF Type Format (CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF) for use by eBPF tools [GH 7437]
    • Changed Dxgkrnl version to 2110
      • Implemented D3DKMTShareObjectWithHost
      • Fixed QueryStatistics VM bus alignment issue for the result
      • Implemented D3DKMTCreateSyncFile
      • Address upstream submission feedback
      • Moved d3dkmthk to include/uapi/misc
      • Replaces u32 by __u32 and u64 by __u64
      • Added "_" in front of the enumerator values to support including both WDK and Linux headers
      • Removed holes in the user mode visible structures to be compatible with 32 bit apps
      • Replaces pointer in the user mode visible structures with a define to be u64 for user mode apps
      • Fix build failure with GCC versions older than 8.1 [GH 7558]
    • Enable the Buffer Sharing and Sync File Frameworks (CONFIG_DMA_SHARED_BUFFER, CONFIG_SYNC_FILE) for Dxgkrnl usage

 

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I tried this and found it absolutely useless. All you get is the terminal and you can't actually run the full distro with it's GUI. what good is that? Dual boot is better. If I wanted to be stuck with command line, I'd go back to DOS.
 

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    AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS
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    Asus board (GA402RK)
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    16 GB Samsung DDR5-4800
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    Integrated Radeon 680M and discrete Radeon RX 6800S with 8GB GDDR6
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I tried this and found it absolutely useless. All you get is the terminal and you can't actually run the full distro with it's GUI. what good is that? Dual boot is better. If I wanted to be stuck with command line, I'd go back to DOS.
Interesting, I thought GUI apps was possible as shown here:

The only thing is you have to use a WDDM v3.0 video driver from what I heard before it will work as this is part of WSLg.

 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP/7/8/8.1/10/11, Linux, Android, FreeBSD Unix
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15 9570
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-8750H 8th Gen Processor 2.2Ghz up to 4.1Ghz
    Motherboard
    Dell XPS 15 9570
    Memory
    32GB using 2x16GB modules
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD 630 & NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB DDR5
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC3266-CG
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" 4K Touch UltraHD 3840x2160 made by Sharp
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba KXG60ZNV1T02 NVMe 1024GB/1TB SSD
    PSU
    Dell XPS 15 9570
    Case
    Dell XPS 15 9570
    Cooling
    Stock
    Keyboard
    Stock
    Mouse
    SwitftPoint ProPoint
    Internet Speed
    Comcast/XFinity 1.44Gbps/42.5Mbps
    Browser
    Microsoft EDGE (Chromium based) & Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender that came with Windows
Interesting, I thought GUI apps was possible as shown here:

The only thing is you have to use a WDDM v3.0 video driver from what I heard before it will work as this is part of WSLg.

You can run graphical apps but you first have to install and launch them through the command line. There also is an involved process where you can install and run a GUI desktop like KDE but it's too much hassle for me. Admittedly, I am not a Linux fan to begin with. I have tried a number of distros and never really liked any of them. I'll stick with Windows. I only tried the subsystem because it said you could run a Linux distro inside Windows without doing dual boot. As far as I can see, that's not completely true. Or at least not good enough for me.
 

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    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
    Motherboard
    MSI B550-A Pro
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200
    Graphics Card(s)
    PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 6600XT with 8GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    Realtek integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer Nitro 24" RG241Y 144hz refresh rate
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB NVMe SSD
    Samsung 860 QVO 1 TB SATA SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD
    PSU
    LEPA B650 650 watt
    Case
    Enermax Coenus
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper T4 air
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Devastator
    Mouse
    E-Blue Cobra Jr.
    Internet Speed
    100mbs
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Optical Drives: LG DVD-RW and Pioneer BluRay/ DVD burner
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS
    Motherboard
    Asus board (GA402RK)
    Memory
    16 GB Samsung DDR5-4800
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Radeon 680M and discrete Radeon RX 6800S with 8GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek with Dolby Atmos
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop screen 14" WQXGA, IPS, 120hz refresh rate
    Screen Resolution
    2560 X 1600
    Hard Drives
    1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD (WD Black SN850)
    PSU
    Battery power and Asus power brick/adapter. Also has USB-C charging
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    Laptop fans in vapor chamber
    Mouse
    Touchpad and Omoton bluetooth mouse
    Keyboard
    Built in RGB backlit
    Internet Speed
    100mbps
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Hi folks

@Dch48

Actually it's brilliant --no need for ANY extra Windows (or Linux) video drivers e.g wddm or 3rd party X-Servers for windows such as VCXSRV or X410.

GUI easy to do. I'm running here the full GNOME GUI desktop with a few extra KDE apps and some "independent" windowed ones such as filezilla. Programs are launched via the desktop as standard GNOME or via the search.

I prefer the KDE desktop which I'll have a go with next week on Arch Linux (a meaner and leaner distro than Debian) but I'm really impressed with WSL 2 -- much better for Linux VM's than HYPER-V and sound is no problem either. as well as attaching external USB devices for read/write and Network sharing via SAMBA.

Choose DEBIAN 11 (best one to do I've found -- install on W10 first (it's Debian 9 but follow documentation to convert to wsl version 2 -- on W10 you need to update kernel from Ms -- link will appear when you try and convert to wsl version 2 -- and then update to Debian 11 and export) -- then import to W11.

and follow this : How to Start Debian GUI in Windows 10 with WSL

change though this : wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/debian/10/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb to ..../debian/11/packages and forget installing an X-Server on Windows.

Install the tiger-vnc server on the distro as in the documentation but don't bother with any X-Server on Windows. Pay particular care also to link XNVC to XORG as in the documentation otherwise the whole thing gets hosed.

Skip the bit about a vnc server on windows. Not necessary if you use RDP -- I actually haven't got a vnc client on windows to work yet -- perhaps someone could post if they have suceed ed as I think in theory vnc should be much better than RDP.

-- install xrdp on the debian distro (sudo apt install xrdp) and then use rdp from windows to connect. This is not in the documentation so install it after installing genie.

What you have to do is after finishing all the installs etc is to restart the wsl ( wsl-d <distro> -u <your user id> -- after starting the WSL is simply type genie -l and then it's fine

Change the delay time in /etc/genie.ini to something like 30 otherwise default is 240 secs (much too long on decent kit !!!)

[genie]
secure-path=/lib/systemd:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
unshare=/usr/bin/unshare
update-hostname=true
clone-path=false
clone-env=WSL_DISTRO_NAME,WSL_INTEROP,WSLENV,DISPLAY,WAYLAND_DISPLAY,PULSE_SERVER
systemd-timeout=30 <=========
resolved-stub=false

So easy !!!

screenshots of running GNOME GUI on DEBIAN 11 :

note start the wsl with your user id e.g wsl -d <distro> -u <your user> (not root) !!

1) start wsl with genie -l and ignore the kernel modules loaded error -- not relevant as this is a Microsoft kernel -- the service is loaded as you can see.

2) get IP address of WSL distro in this case 172.30.2,194

Skjámynd 2021-12-18 222040.png

now RDP to that address and on the XRDP screen select xvnc from the dropdown (not xorg)

Skjámynd 2021-12-18 222751.png

and "Voila" !!!! Easy-Peasy

Skjámynd 2021-12-18 223100.png

now run anything you've installed e.g Evolution email client

Skjámynd 2021-12-18 223452.png
or any other application -- e.g Deluge torrent client

Skjámynd 2021-12-18 223841.png


Network file access using Filezilla

Skjámynd 2021-12-18 230255.png

Finally if you don't like the standard Debian desktop background -- easy to change it :
Skjámynd 2021-12-18 232131.png

Easy -- very (very !!!) fast VM and bags of fun !!!!

No reason for Windows users for Linux VM's to use any VM software - even for GUI type apps -- if you get this working it really is "Mega fast" compared with "Classic VM's".

To use duplicate distros -- just import the 2nd distro with a new name e.g "MyDistro" and you can run multiple concurrent instances without problems on decent hardware.

This can only "get better". Ms have done a brilliant job on this -- and the genie software gets over the systemd problem in being able to start and enable services (sudo systemctl start/enable xxxx) etc.

any problems please post -- If I can get this working nicely anybody could !!!!!.

Cheers
jimbo
 
Last edited:

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Might be easy for you but that's way too complicated for me. I also have never run a VM. I have no idea what RDP is and some other things you mention are pure Greek to me. XNVC, XORG, huh? It looks like it's easy for a Linux vet but that definitely is not me. I just wanted to run the full Ubuntu experience (desktop and all) inside Windows and that was not what I got. My fault for expecting it to deliver more than it does.
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
    Motherboard
    MSI B550-A Pro
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200
    Graphics Card(s)
    PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 6600XT with 8GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    Realtek integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer Nitro 24" RG241Y 144hz refresh rate
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB NVMe SSD
    Samsung 860 QVO 1 TB SATA SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD
    PSU
    LEPA B650 650 watt
    Case
    Enermax Coenus
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper T4 air
    Keyboard
    CM Storm Devastator
    Mouse
    E-Blue Cobra Jr.
    Internet Speed
    100mbs
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Optical Drives: LG DVD-RW and Pioneer BluRay/ DVD burner
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS
    Motherboard
    Asus board (GA402RK)
    Memory
    16 GB Samsung DDR5-4800
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Radeon 680M and discrete Radeon RX 6800S with 8GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek with Dolby Atmos
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop screen 14" WQXGA, IPS, 120hz refresh rate
    Screen Resolution
    2560 X 1600
    Hard Drives
    1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD (WD Black SN850)
    PSU
    Battery power and Asus power brick/adapter. Also has USB-C charging
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    Laptop fans in vapor chamber
    Mouse
    Touchpad and Omoton bluetooth mouse
    Keyboard
    Built in RGB backlit
    Internet Speed
    100mbps
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
Might be easy for you but that's way too complicated for me. I also have never run a VM. I have no idea what RDP is and some other things you mention are pure Greek to me. XNVC, XORG, huh? It looks like it's easy for a Linux vet but that definitely is not me. I just wanted to run the full Ubuntu experience (desktop and all) inside Windows and that was not what I got. My fault for expecting it to deliver more than it does.
Hi there

@Dch48

RDP is simply a Windows application to connect to a "remote" computer whether Linux or Windows. Remote in this case refers to a "Virtual Machine" running on the Host.
Simply enable it in Windows via control panel :

Skjámynd 2021-12-18 235252.png

Don't worry about the meanings of XORG etc -- if you just follow the method like a "Cookery recipe "it should work".

If you hose it all up you can delete the image simply in Windows use powershell and type wsl --unregister <distro> and you can then start again.

If you are unsure of the distro name again in powershell type wsl -l -v

e.g

Skjámynd 2021-12-18 235651.png


Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7

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