Note
If you want to use Wayland in WSLg in a simpler setup, you can try the WSLg (Wayland) tutorial.
In this tutorial, we will setup GUI in WSL2. No additional software outside WSL (like VcXsrv or GWSL) is required. You will find this tutorial very similar to the one that replaces Xorg with Xvnc. Indeed, it's pretty much the same tutorial, with some few changes.
The key component we need to install is the desktop metapackage you want (GNOME, KDE, Xfce, Budgie, etc), and after that, replace the default Xorg by a script that calls Xwayland instead.
For this setup, I will use Ubuntu 24.04, and install GNOME Desktop. Unfortunately older versions of Ubuntu lack some fundamental things, so we cannot reproduce it in older versions (at least not fully). Since the key components aren't bound to Ubuntu or GNOME, you can use your favorite distro and GUI. Check the Sample screenshots section for examples.
So let's go. First, we need a working WSL2 installation.
Warning
WSLg may not work as expected, since Wayland sockets are disabled for everyone, and not every app can handle this. But if you want to use Wayland apps natively, you can use the command export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$HOME/runtime-dir and then start your WSLg app.
Before going to real business, let's make sure we are updated.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
You also need to make sure /etc/wsl.conf have the following lines:
[boot]
systemd=true
If not, create/edit this file, add these lines and restart WSL (for example, using wsl.exe --shutdown, then reopening the distro terminal).
Now we are ready to go.
-
First you select your favorite desktop environment metapackage. Here is a list of the most common metapackages:
Distro Desktop Environment Metapackage Ubuntu Budgie ubuntu-budgie-desktop(currently very buggy, I don't recommend using it)GNOME ubuntu-desktopKDE kubuntu-desktopKylin ubuntukylin-desktopLXDE lubuntu-desktopMATE ubuntu-mate-desktopStudio ubuntustudio-desktopUnity ubuntu-unity-desktopXfce xubuntu-desktopUbuntu/Debian Cinnamon task-cinnamon-desktopGNOME task-gnome-desktopGNOME Flashback task-gnome-flashback-desktopKDE Plasma task-kde-desktopLXDE task-lxde-desktopLXQt task-lxqt-desktopMATE task-mate-desktopXfce task-xfce-desktop -
Once you have chosen the metapackage, let's install it. For example, if you choose
ubuntu-desktop, the command will be:sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop xwaylandThis will install the
ubuntu-desktopandxwayland(if not already included as dependency for your metapackage). The installation will take a while, so be patient. -
If in Ubuntu, you may want to install
snap-store. If you don't need it, you can skip this step:sudo snap install snap-store
If you are using Debian, you need to configure the locale (this is not needed in Ubuntu):
echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" | sudo tee -a /etc/default/locale
-
Now we have everything installed, we need to fix the directory
/tmp/.X11-unix/, because it's mounted as read-only by default. We will create a new systemd unit:sudo systemctl edit --full --force wslg-fix.service -
Paste the code below in the editor:
[Service] Type=oneshot ExecStart=-/usr/bin/umount /tmp/.X11-unix ExecStart=/usr/bin/rm -rf /tmp/.X11-unix ExecStart=/usr/bin/mkdir /tmp/.X11-unix ExecStart=/usr/bin/chmod 1777 /tmp/.X11-unix ExecStart=/usr/bin/ln -s /mnt/wslg/.X11-unix/X0 /tmp/.X11-unix/X0 ExecStart=/usr/bin/chmod 0777 /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir ExecStart=/usr/bin/chmod 0666 /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/wayland-0.lock [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target -
Exit the editor saving the changes to the file.
-
Let's enable
wslg-fix.service:sudo systemctl enable wslg-fix.service -
We also need to remove all references to Wayland, because if not, some apps (
gnome-terminal, for example) will open outside the desktop shell. We will edit the[email protected]service:sudo systemctl edit [email protected] -
Paste the code below in the editor:
[Service] ExecStartPost=-/usr/bin/rm -f /run/user/%i/wayland-0 /run/user/%i/wayland-0.lock
Warning
Please read the editor instructions about the correct place to position the text cursor before pasting. If you paste the code in the wrong place, it will be discarded.
-
Exit the editor saving the changes to the file.
-
Now we will change the default startup target, because if not, a shell window will appear everytime you start your distro (for example, opening a Terminal of your distro in Windows).
sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target
By default, the display manager call multiple Xorg instances, one for each user session, including the login screen, provided by GDM (if you are using the GDM as your display manager, of course). So we will replace Xorg script by a new version which calls Xwayland instead the classic Xorg. This is the real magic we are trying to do.
-
First, let's backup the original
Xorgscript.sudo mv /usr/bin/Xorg /usr/bin/Xorg.original -
Then, we create a new
Xorgscript.sudo nano /usr/bin/Xorg.Xwayland -
Paste the code below in the editor:
#!/bin/bash for arg do shift case $arg in # Xwayland doesn't support vtxx argument. So we convert to ttyxx instead vt*) set -- "$@" "${arg//vt/tty}" ;; # -keeptty is not supported at all by Xwayland -keeptty) ;; # -novtswitch is not supported at all by Xwayland -novtswitch) ;; # other arguments are kept intact *) set -- "$@" "$arg" ;; esac done # Check if the runtime dir is present, and create it if not if [ ! -d $HOME/runtime-dir ] then mkdir $HOME/runtime-dir ln -s /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/wayland-0 /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/wayland-0.lock $HOME/runtime-dir/ fi # Point the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR variable to $HOME/runtime-dir export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$HOME/runtime-dir # Find an available display number for displayNumber in $(seq 1 100) do [ ! -e /tmp/.X11-unix/X$displayNumber ] && break done # Here you can change or add options to fit your needs command=("/usr/bin/Xwayland" ":${displayNumber}" "-geometry" "1920x1080" "-fullscreen" "$@") systemd-cat -t /usr/bin/Xorg echo "Starting Xwayland:" "${command[@]}" exec "${command[@]}"Please note the resolution of the virtual screen. You can change that to fit your needs (1366x768, 3840x2160, etc).
-
Exit the editor saving the changes.
-
Finally, we set the correct permissions for the file and create a link to it:
sudo chmod 0755 /usr/bin/Xorg.Xwayland sudo ln -sf Xorg.Xwayland /usr/bin/Xorg
Warning
Sometimes, system updates replace Xorg link with the original version. Just repeat this step if this happens, and Xwayland will work again as Xorg replacement.
Currently, one of the annoying things is the resolution of Xwayland. Even with the -geometry switch, GDM and GNOME don't not respect it. Fortunately, this can be overriden by creating a monitors.xml file. Let's do it then.
-
First, we create it in the current user directory:
mkdir ~/.config nano ~/.config/monitors.xml -
Paste the code below in the editor (here it is configured for a 1920x1080 resolution, so change it to reflect your resolution if necessary):
<monitors version="2"> <configuration> <logicalmonitor> <x>0</x> <y>0</y> <scale>1</scale> <primary>yes</primary> <monitor> <monitorspec> <connector>XWAYLAND0</connector> <vendor>unknown</vendor> <product>unknown</product> <serial>unknown</serial> </monitorspec> <mode> <width>1920</width> <height>1080</height> <rate>59.963</rate> </mode> </monitor> </logicalmonitor> </configuration> </monitors>
-
Exit the editor saving the changes to the file.
-
Now let's copy this file to GDM's home directory:
sudo mkdir /var/lib/gdm3/.config sudo cp ~/.config/monitors.xml /var/lib/gdm3/.config/ -
Finally, we set the correct permissions to the monitors.xml of GDM user:
sudo chown -R gdm:gdm /var/lib/gdm3/.config/ -
Restart WSL using
wsl.exe --shutdown, then reopen your distro terminal.
Now you have everything ready to start. Just do the following command:
sudo systemctl start graphical.target
After a while (usually a few seconds, but it can take more if you don't have a SSD), the login screen must appear.
After logging in, the logged user's desktop must appear. When you log out, the screen will show the login interface again. This applies to GDM (which is the case if you installed Ubuntu Desktop). In GDM, you can change this behavior changing the configuration file like this:
-
sudo nano /etc/gdm3/custom.conf -
Uncomment and edit the following lines:
AutomaticLoginEnable=true AutomaticLogin=[your username without the brackets]
One important thing is: once you start your WSL instance, you cannot just stop it. You must perform a standard Linux shutdown. You can do one of the alternatives below:
- Power off option on GUI menu
sudo poweroff
After doing that, you can safely shut down your WSL instance, either by wsl.exe --terminate or wsl.exe --shutdown. Not doing the shutdown process may cause damage to your WSL instance. So be careful.
-
If it doesn't work at first, try to check your
journalctllogs:journalctl -b -t /usr/lib/gdm3/gdm-x-session -t /usr/bin/Xorg --no-pagerIf you are using Debian, then the command is:
journalctl -b -t /usr/libexec/gdm-x-session -t /usr/bin/Xorg --no-pagerIn the output, you must see what command line was generated for
Xwayland, and which error messages appear. Of course, even if it works correctly, you can check the logs just to see what is happening, or for debugging. -
You must check if the custom
Xorgscript was not replaced by the default version of it. If it was the case, just repeat the steps of Replacing default Xorg by Xwayland section. -
Check if
Xorgis your default display server, notXephyrorWayland. If it's not, you must change it to haveXorgas your default display server. -
If you are using LightDM, you also need to check logs at
/var/log/lightdm(you will need to use sudo to cat files in that directory). TheXwaylandoutput will be in the file/var/log/lightdm/x-0.log. -
If it still doesn't work, you can try to restart WSL with
wsl.exe --shutdown(don't forget to save everything that is unsaved before, because WSL will shut down completely), then open your distro terminal again and repeat the steps of section Running your distro with GUI enabled.
Thanks to this guys, whose feedback made this tutorial reach the current level of quality and completeness (and it will be more and more complete as more feedback is given).
I finally got it up and running !
This is what worked for me 😄
PowerShell 7.x ;
#After the following command, wait for the install to complete then enter username & password
WSL ;
#Confirm the following contents ;
exit
WSL ;
#Personally, I didn't need all the packages, but do need some snaps.
exit
WSL ;
#Confirm the following ;
exit
WSL ;
#Confirm the following contents ;
exit
WSL ;
#Confirm the following contents ;
exit
WSL ;
#Confirm the following contents ;
exit
WSL ;
PowerShell 7.x;
PS C:\Users\user>
wsl.exe --shutdownThe most important part 😅 :
SHUTTING DOWN
One important thing is: once you start your WSL instance, you cannot just stop it. You must perform a standard Linux shutdown. You can do one of the alternatives below:
Power off option on GUI menu ;
After doing that, you can safely shut down your WSL instance, either by wsl.exe --terminate or wsl.exe --shutdown. Not doing the shutdown process may cause damage to your WSL instance. So be careful.