How to get WSLg working with OpenGL, Vulkan, and CUDA on (Official) Arch Linux and Ubuntu WSL Instances.

wslg-guide.md

WSLg with OpenGL, Vulkan, and CUDA on (Official) Arch Linux and Ubuntu WSL Instances

Note: I haven't documented CUDA here. I'm lazy (and haven't tested on Arch). See https://documentation.ubuntu.com/wsl/en/latest/howto/gpu-cuda for that on Ubuntu.

Context

microsoft/wslg#1312:

So I got this working on both Ubuntu, and Arch. First, start with a fresh install (of archlinux from https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/archlinux-wsl or Ubuntu from wsl --install Ubuntu or https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9pdxgncfsczv).

Arch

1. Install mesa and vulkan-dzn.
2. Run echo "L+ /tmp/.X11-unix - - - - /mnt/wslg/.X11-unix" | sudo tee /etc/tmpfiles.d/wslg.conf. (Thanks to microsoft/wslg#43 (comment) for this.)
3. Create your user account as per https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Users_and_groups#User_management and confgure it as the default user for WSL as per https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Install_Arch_Linux_on_WSL#Set_default_user.
4. su into the user or open a new terminal tab/window.
5. Run:

cat << EOF
export GALLIUM_DRIVER=d3d12

for i in "/mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/"*; do
  [ "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR" = "$HOME" ] && XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="/var/run/user/$UID"
  if [ ! -L "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR$(basename "$i")" ]; then
    [ -d "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR$(basename "$i")" ] && rm -r "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR$(basename "$i")"
    ln -s "$i" "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR$(basename "$i")"
  fi
done
EOF | sudo tee /etc/profile.d/wslg.sh`

6. Restart WSL with wsl --shutdown from CMD/PowerShell and you should see the following (given you install the relevant packages):

$ glxinfo | grep Device
    Device: D3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER) (0xffffffff)

$ vulkaninfo | grep "GPU id"
WARNING: dzn is not a conformant Vulkan implementation, testing use only.
                GPU id = 0 (Microsoft Direct3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER))
                GPU id = 1 (llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7, 256 bits))
                GPU id = 0 (Microsoft Direct3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER))
                GPU id = 1 (llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7, 256 bits))
                GPU id = 0 (Microsoft Direct3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER))
                GPU id = 1 (llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7, 256 bits))
GPU id : 0 (Microsoft Direct3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER)):
GPU id : 1 (llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7, 256 bits)):

Ubuntu

1. OpenGL should already be working. We'll add Vulkan support.
2. Go to https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/kisak/kisak-mesa/ubuntu/pool/main/m/mesa/.
3. Look for mesa-vulkan-drivers_*.deb.
4. You'll see ...<LETTER>_<ARCH>.deb. The letter corresponds to your Ubuntu version codename. In your case, "n" for Noble.
5. Copy the link for the right package, https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/kisak/kisak-mesa/ubuntu/pool/main/m/mesa/mesa-vulkan-drivers_25.0.1~kisak1~n_amd64.deb in your case.
6. Run wget https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/kisak/kisak-mesa/ubuntu/pool/main/m/mesa/mesa-vulkan-drivers_25.0.1~kisak1~n_amd64.deb anywhere you have write access to on the Ubuntu WSL instance.
7. Run sudo apt install <PACKAGE> (in your case, sudo apt install mesa-vulkan-drivers_25.0.1~kisak1~n_amd64.deb.
8. Run:

cat << EOF
export GALLIUM_DRIVER=d3d12

for i in "/mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/"*; do
  [ "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR" = "$HOME" ] && XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="/var/run/user/$UID"
  if [ ! -L "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR$(basename "$i")" ]; then
    [ -d "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR$(basename "$i")" ] && rm -r "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR$(basename "$i")"
    ln -s "$i" "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR$(basename "$i")"
  fi
done
EOF | sudo tee /etc/profile.d/wslg.sh`

9. You should see the following (given you install mesa-utils and vulkan-tools):

$ glxinfo | grep Device
WARNING: dzn is not a conformant Vulkan implementation, testing use only.
WARNING: Some incorrect rendering might occur because the selected Vulkan device (Microsoft Direct3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER)) doesn't support base Zink requirements: feats.features.logicOp have_EXT_custom_border_color have_EXT_line_rasterization
    Device: D3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER) (0xffffffff)

$ vulkaninfo | grep "GPU id"
WARNING: dzn is not a conformant Vulkan implementation, testing use only.
                GPU id = 0 (Microsoft Direct3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER))
                GPU id = 1 (llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7, 256 bits))
                GPU id = 0 (Microsoft Direct3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER))
                GPU id = 1 (llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7, 256 bits))
                GPU id = 0 (Microsoft Direct3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER))
                GPU id = 1 (llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7, 256 bits))
GPU id : 0 (Microsoft Direct3D12 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER)):
GPU id : 1 (llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7, 256 bits)):

The reason we're using just the Vulkan driver from Kisak's repo. is that the mesa package causes llvmpipe to be used instead of D3D12. Maybe overring GALLIUM_DRIVER would work - I didn't try.

I tried running steam on that and it instant crashes ;/