Preparing the Windows environment¶

This guide has been written with macOS and Linux operating systems in mind. If you use Windows, you might encounter issues.

This guide will help you to set up a Linux environment on your Windows computer to be able to follow the workshop (and beyond), through the Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Install and configure Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)¶

This section will guide you through the process of installing and configuring Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) on your Windows installation.

Install WSL¶

WSL is a compatibility layer for running Linux binary executables natively on Windows. It is a very useful tool for developers who want to use Linux tools and utilities on Windows.

To install WSL, search "PowerShell" in the Start menu, right-click on it, and select "Run as administrator":

Then, run the following command in the terminal:

Warning

If the following command displays the help message, proceed to the next section.

# Install WSL without specifying a distribution
wsl --install --no-distribution

The output should be similar to this:

Installing: Virtual Machine Platform
Virtual Machine Platform has been installed.
Installing: Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows Subsystem for Linux has been installed.
Installing: Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows Subsystem for Linux has been installed.
The requested operation is successful. Changes will not be effective until the system is rebooted.

Restart your computer once the installation is complete.

Update WSL¶

WSL can still be in version 1 and must be updated to version 2.

To do so, open PowerShell as administrator and run the following command in the terminal:

# Check for WSL updates
wsl --update

If there are updates available, you will be prompted to download and install them.

Set the WSL default version to 2 by running the following command in the terminal:

# Set WSL default version to 2
wsl --set-default-version 2

The output should be similar to this:

1 2	`For information on key differences with WSL 2 please visit https://aka.ms/wsl2 The operation completed successfully.`

Install a Linux distribution¶

WSL supports multiple Linux distributions, but we recommend installing Ubuntu if you are not familiar with Linux as it is a very user-friendly distribution and is widely used.

# Install Ubuntu
wsl --install --distribution Ubuntu

Once the installation is complete, you can set up a username and password for the Ubuntu distribution.

Tip

While setting up your password, it is expected that you will not see any characters on the screen. This is a security feature of the terminal. Even though you do not see the characters you type (e.g., p@ssw0rd), they are still being entered. So, make sure to remember your password as you will need it later.

We recommend using an username in lowercase letters without space for simplicity.

Once you have set up your username and password, Ubuntu will be started, and you will be able to run Linux commands in the terminal.

The output should be similar to this:

Installing: Ubuntu
Ubuntu has been installed.
Launching Ubuntu...
Installing, this may take a few minutes...
Please create a default UNIX user account. The username does not need to match your Windows username.
For more information visit: https://aka.ms/wslusers
Enter new UNIX username: ludelafo
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully
Installation successful!
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.

Welcome to Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.10.102.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 x86_64)

 * Documentation:  https://help.ubuntu.com
 * Management:     https://landscape.canonical.com
 * Support:        https://ubuntu.com/advantage

This message is shown once a day. To disable it please create the
/home/ludelafo/.hushlogin file.
ludelafo@win-10:~$

To exit the Ubuntu terminal, you can run the following command:

1 2	`# Exit the Ubuntu terminal exit`

WSL is now installed and configured on your Windows machine. You can use it to run Linux commands and utilities on Windows.

Linux and Windows filesystems¶

When you access the Ubuntu terminal, you will be in the home directory of your Ubuntu user. Your Ubuntu home directory is located in the /home directory. The ~ symbol represents the home directory of your Ubuntu user.

You can access your Windows files in the /mnt directory. For example, you can access your Windows C:\Users drive in the /mnt/c/Users directory, however, we do not recommend to manipulate your files from the File Explorer on Windows. Check the Tips and tricks section for more information.

Windows has added an entry to the File Explorer sidebar for the Ubuntu distribution. You can access your Ubuntu files in the \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\YOUR_USERNAME directory.

Danger

We highly recommend to never manipulate your files from the File Explorer on Windows. Use the Ubuntu terminal instead to avoid permission issues and odd file behaviors.

Install and configure Windows Terminal¶

Install Windows Terminal¶

Windows comes with a terminal application called "Command Prompt".

It is a very basic terminal application that does not support many features that are available in modern terminal applications. Microsoft has developed a new terminal application called Windows Terminal that is available for Windows users.

The Windows Terminal is a new, modern, fast, efficient, powerful, and productive terminal application for users of command-line tools and shells like Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WSL.

You can download it from the Microsoft Store: Windows Terminal or the GitHub releases page: Windows Terminal Releases (download the .msixbundle file).

Install it and open it.

Configure Windows Terminal¶

By default, Windows Terminal will open PowerShell. Now that you have installed Windows Terminal, you can configure it to open WSL by default.

Access the settings by clicking on the down arrow in the title bar and selecting "Settings". Set the two following settings:

Default profile: Ubuntu
Default terminal application: Windows Terminal

Press Save to save the settings.

Close Windows Terminal and open it again. It should now open Ubuntu by default.

You now have a modern terminal application that supports multiple tabs, multiple shells, and many other features.

You now have access to a Linux distribution on your Windows machine. You can use it to run Linux commands and utilities on Windows.

Update Ubuntu¶

Before starting the installation of the development environment, make sure that your Ubuntu installation is up to date. You can update Ubuntu by running the following commands in the terminal. You might need to enter your password when running the commands:

Tip

The sudo command is used to run commands with superuser privileges. You will be prompted to enter your password when running a command with sudo.

This is a security feature of Linux to prevent unauthorized access to the system.

Tip

All Linux distributions come with a package manager that is used to install, update, and remove packages. The package manager for Ubuntu is called apt.

The package manager uses a package list to know which packages are available for installation. You can then install any package from the package list using the package manager.

# Update the package list
sudo apt update

# Upgrade the installed packages
sudo apt upgrade

Press y when prompted to confirm the upgrade.

All packages will be upgraded to the latest version.