wsl-notes.md

wsl-notes.md

Reference:

• https://cloudbytes.dev/snippets/how-to-install-multiple-instances-of-ubuntu-in-wsl2
• https://gist.github.com/ScriptAutomate/f94cd44dacd0f420fae65414e717212d?permalink_comment_id=3627426

Download images

• open windows powershell in administrative mode
• check online versions available: wsl -l -o
• check installed versions: wsl -l -v
• change directory to E:\BigFiles\Images\wsl-images
• Remove-Item alias:curl
• curl -kL -o ubuntu-22-04-wsl-rootfs-tar.gz "https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/wsl/jammy/current/ubuntu-jammy-wsl-amd64-wsl.rootfs.tar.gz"
• curl -kL -o ubuntu-22-10-wsl-rootfs-tar.gz "https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/wsl/kinetic/current/ubuntu-kinetic-wsl-amd64-wsl.rootfs.tar.gz"
• curl -kL -o ubuntu-23-10-wsl-rootfs-tar.gz "https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/wsl/mantic/current/ubuntu-mantic-wsl-amd64-wsl.rootfs.tar.gz"
• curl -kL -o ubuntu-24-04-wsl-rootfs-tar.gz "https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/wsl/noble/current/ubuntu-noble-wsl-amd64-ubuntu24.04lts.rootfs.tar.gz"
• wsl is installed at: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages${Org}-${OS}-${Random} in our case it is
  • mkdir "C:\Users\xbalaji\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu22.10_01"
  • mkdir "C:\Users\xbalaji\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu24.04"

Importing images

• wsl --import ubuntu-kinetic-1 "C:\Users\xbalaji\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu22.10_01" .\ubuntu-22-10-wsl-rootfs-tar.gz
• wsl --import ubuntu-noble-1 "C:\Users\xbalaji\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu24.04" .\ubuntu-24-04-wsl-rootfs-tar.gz

set the default image

• wslconfig /l - list all the images installed in the system
• wslconfig /s ubuntu-noble-1 - make the recently installed distribution as default

Terminate and Remove the existing image

• wsl -l -v
• wsl --terminate "Ubuntu-22.04"
• wslconfig /u Ubuntu-22.04

Commands to mount remote machine directories in wsl

• sudo mkdir -p /mnt/r /mnt/q
• sudo apt -y install cifs-utils
• sudo mount -t cifs -o user=$REMOTEUSER,pass=$REMOTEPASS //192.168.1.4/xbalaji /mnt/r
• sudo mount -t cifs -o user=$REMOTEUSER,pass=$REMOTEPASS //192.168.1.20/xbalaji-home /mnt/q

Commands to mount mac machine directories in wsl, important to give read write permission for the user

• In the MAC
  • login to the mac, open finder, set the folder to share or do the following in the terminal
  • sudo sharing -a "$HOME/xbalaji-dev" -S xbalaji-dev
  • sudo chmod -R 755 "$HOME/xbalaji-dev"
  • sudo chown -R $USER:staff "$HOME/xbalaji-dev"
  • sudo sharing -r xbalaji-dev <-- to remove the share, use the key from the list command below
  • sudo sharing -l -f json <-- to list the shares
• In the WSL
  • sudo mkdir -p /mnt/r /mnt/q
  • sudo apt -y install cifs-utils
  • sudo chown xbalaji:xbalaji /mnt/r
  • sudo mount -t cifs --verbose -o uid=$(id -u),gid=$(id -g),rw,user=$REMOTEUSER,pass=$REMOTEPASS //192.168.1.3/xbalaji-dev /mnt/r

setup new wsl

• useradd -m -s /bin/bash -G sudo xbalaji
• echo "xbalaji:balajiv" | sudo chpasswd
• grep sudo /etc/group
• useradd -m -s /bin/bash -G sudo xbalajie
• echo "xbalajie:balajiv" | sudo chpasswd
• grep sudo /etc/group
• usermod -d /mnt/e/Balaji/home/ xbalaji
• grep xbal /etc/passwd
• chown -R xbalaji:xbalaji /mnt/e/Balaji/home

update the default user

• refer: https://superuser.com/questions/1566022/how-to-set-default-user-for-manually-installed-wsl-distro
• refer: https://cloudbytes.dev/snippets/how-to-install-multiple-instances-of-ubuntu-in-wsl2 - step 6 (configure default user)
• as root:
• • execute: echo -e "[user]\ndefault=xbalaji" > /etc/wsl.conf
• • terminate the instance: wsl --terminate ubuntu-mantic-1
• • update the settings wsl.exe -d ubuntu-mantic-1 -u xbalaji

/etc/wsl.conf mount settings for proper chmod operations, esp., with .ssh (dot ssh) folder

[boot]
systemd=true

[user]
default=xbalaji

[automount]
enabled = true
options = "metadata,umask=22,fmask=11"