Building a react native app in WSL2

rearct-native-app-in-wsl2.md

Building a react native app in WSL2

Install, build and debug a react native app in WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) and Ubuntu.

• Install tools in Windows
• Enable mirrored networking mode in WSL2
• Install tools in WSL2
• Connect to android hardware device from Windows
• Connect to android hardware device from WSL2
• Connect to android virtual device in Windows
• Create react native app in WSL2
• Build app in WSL2
• Debug app in Visual Studio Code from WSL2

Install tools in Windows

• Install WSL2 and Ubuntu, see here
• Install Android Studio, see here
• Install Viusal Studio Code, see here

Enable mirrored networking mode in WSL2

Mirrored mode networking has the goal of 'mirroring' the network interfaces that you have on Windows into Linux. All programs on Windows and Linux can connect via localhost.

Add the following lines to %UserProfile%/.wslconfig (thanks to @craigjones-dev)

[wsl2]
networkingMode=mirrored
hostAddressLoopback=true

Install tools in WSL2

• Install java-21-openjdk in WSL2 (sudo apt-get install openjdk-21-jre)
• Install Android SDK cmdline tools in WSL2, see here and adjust directory structure, see here
• Install nodejs in WSL2, see here

Set environment variables in .profile or .bash_profile

export ANDROID_HOME=/home/xxx/Android/cmdline-tools/latest
export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=/home/xxx/Android

PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/platform-tools
PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/bin

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64

Connect to android hardware device from Windows

To debug on a hardware device connect to android device via adb

• start adb server in Windows: adb kill-server && adb server start

Connect to android hardware device from WSL2

To debug on a hardware device connect to android device via usbip and adb from WSL2 (thanks to @cjshearer):

• Connect USB device to WSL
• start adb server in WSL2: adb kill-server && adb server start

Connect to android virtual device in Windows

To debug on a virtual device

• create a virtual device in windows with Android Virtual Device Manager, see here
• start the Android Emulator, see here, the adb server automatically starts on Windows.

Create react native app in WSL2

npx react-native init AwesomeProject

Build app in WSL2

Start metro JavaScript bundler and bind to an ipv4 address to enable port forwarding to windows

npx react-native start --host 127.0.0.1

Build app, set device as parameter deviceId from result of adb devices

• deviceId emulator: emulator-5554

npx react-native run-android --variant=debug --deviceId <deviceId>

Debug app in Visual Studio Code from WSL2

Start vs code in WSL2

code .

and install extensions for VS Code

• Remote - WSL
• React Native Tools

VS Code UI runs in windows and the VS Code Server runs in WSL2, see here

Add a launch configuration in file launch.json with specified type and request

"name": "Attach to packager",
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
"type": "reactnative",
"request": "attach"

Build app, attach to packager and start debugging, see here.

React Native + Expo on WSL2 — Arch

Install Android SDK Command-line Tools

1. Install android-sdk-cmdline-tools-latest, jdk and optional dependencies (Arch Linux example):

yay -S android-sdk-cmdline-tools-latest android-sdk-platform-tools jdk-openjdk

Confirm installation:

which sdkmanager
sdkmanager --version

Configure Environment Variables in WSL2

Add the following to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

# Android SDK
export ANDROID_HOME=/opt/android-sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

Apply changes:

source ~/.zshrc or source ~/.bashrc

Set permissions for Android SDK directory:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /opt/android-sdk

Accept SDK licenses and install packages

# Install platform-tools, SDK platforms, build-tools
sdkmanager --install "platform-tools" "platforms;android-36" "build-tools;36.0.0"

# Accept all licenses
yes | sdkmanager --licenses

Verify installation:

adb version
ls $ANDROID_HOME/platforms

Connect your phone via USB (initial setup)

Enable Developer Options → USB debugging on your phone.

Connect via USB. Set phone to Transferring files (MTP).

Setup Metro bundler for LAN access

Find Windows host IP on Wi-Fi:

ipconfig

Find WSL2 IP:

ip addr

Forward port 8081 from Windows → WSL2:

netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenaddress=192.168.xxx.xxx listenport=8081 connectaddress=172.18.xxx.xxx connectport=8081

Allow port 8081 through Windows firewall:

• Open Windows Defender Firewall → Advanced Settings → Inbound Rules → New Rule → Port → TCP → 8081 → Allow → Private → Finish

Enable ADB over Wi-Fi

Find your phone’s Wi-Fi IP:

Settings → Connections → Wi-Fi → gear icon → Advanced → IP address

Connect via Wi-Fi:

adb tcpip 5555
adb connect 192.168.xxx.xxx:5555
adb devices

Phone is now connected over Wi-Fi.

Create and start a React Native / Expo project

# Create new Expo app
npx create-expo-app@latest

# Start Metro bundler
npm start

Metro should show:

Metro waiting on exp://192.168.xxx.xxx:8081