Command line tools for windows

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As devs who spend the majority of our time coding on OSX and Linux, we were curious what a modern command-line setup might look like on Windows.

A StackOverflow developer survey reminded us that there are more devs using Windows than any other OS so we were curious if the tooling there was on par with what we were used to in *nix land.

After spending some time evaluating the landscape of Windows CLI tooling, we settled on a set of tools we think gets us 95% of the way there.

At the end of the day, we landed on a combination of:

• PowerShell
• ConEmu
• PSReadLine
• PSGet
• Chocolatey
• Babun (optional)

See below for some more notes on what these different pieces of machinery give you.

PowerShell (shell)

• Significantly closer to a real ‘shell’ than cmd.exe, offering us a powerful scripting environment for task automation. It’s fair to compare it to Bash or zsh.
• Autocompletes directory and filenames
• Autocompletes application names
• Has integrated aliases and commands (called cmdlets — e.g Select-String is like grep, Invoke-Elevated is like sudo, Sort-Object is like sort, Get-Process lists all active processes). If moving from another shell to PS, Set-Alias lets you map aliases you’re used to to Windows equivalents. For example: Set-Alias server python -m http.server 8000 launches a Python server when the server alias is used.
• Aliases can be persisted in a PowerShell profile
• Supports piping, like Unix. Unlike Unix, it pipes objects rather than text streams. This requires getting used to but avoids reparsing when you want to get out a property.
• Supports modules. PSGet is a package manager for PowerShell allowing you to easily extend it.
• Optionally consider Posh-Git, a PowerShell script for git to gain contextual tab-completion.

If you’re interested in trivia, here’s an answer to why MS created PowerShell from the lead architect.

Картинка с сайта: developers.google.com

PSReadLine (console editing helpers)

• Significantly improves the console editing experience
• Syntax highlighting whenever you start typing commands. Clearly indicates syntax errors with a red «>» character.
• Highly customizable key bindings
• Bash-style autocompletion
• Bash/zsh interactive history search (Ctrl + R). Powerful command history traversal too. Easily view previous multi-line commands using arrow keys rather than just the last line of the command.
• Proper support for copy/paste/cut (Ctrl+C/X/V should all work just fine)
• Good support for undo/redo
• History saving is automatic

Картинка с сайта: developers.google.com

Alternatively, you can use Clink, which has a similar set of features but wasn’t strictly written for PowerShell.

ConEmu (console host)

• An advanced console emulator where you can run your shell of choice.
• Supports opening multiple terminals in different tabs. Makes it trivial to launch terminals as different users.
• Extremely customizable — everything from shortcuts to text selection and status bar colors can be changed.
• Supports a split-screen view
• Simple GUI apps can be run in tabs
• Support for Windows 7+ Jump Lists
• Supports smooth window resizing
• Windows font anti-aliasing
• Starting tabs can be fully customized to start in a particular directory
• Intelligent copy/paste

Картинка с сайта: developers.google.com

Картинка с сайта: developers.google.com

Some folks still enjoy using Console2 and Scott Hanselman has a blog post written about it.

Cmder

Worth a passing note is Cmder — a console emulation package that combines ConEmu, Clink and msysgit — giving you Git helpers. Cmder basically gives you a prettier experience to ConEmu by default via it’s Monokai color scheme.

Cmder also includes some other little benefits, like integration with GUI apps such as Sublime Text.

Картинка с сайта: developers.google.com

Chocolatey (package manager)

• Basically homebrew for Windows, allowing you to pull in your favorite Windows apps conveniently. There are currently ~3K packages available that can be updated using Chocolatey directly.
• Differs from Nuget. NuGet is for development libraries. Chocolatey is a binary machine package manager and is built on NuGet infrastructure.
• Offers effectively silent builds

You may also be interested in learning about OneGet, Microsoft’s package manager..manager, which should work with Chocolatey under Windows 10.

Картинка с сайта: developers.google.com

Babun (Cygwin preconfigured)

• Cygwin (the Linux-like env for Windows) minus some of the historically known quirks. The overall setup is significantly more straight-forward using the Babun installer. If you’re particularly experienced with Unix and would prefer to avoid learning PowerShell, cygwin/Babun are worth considering.
• Includes a package manager called pact (a little similar to brew) similar to apt-get. This is a big deal as you currently have to re-run the Cygwin installer when adding packages vs. just using pact.
• Vim pre-installed and pre-configured
• Integrated support for oh-my-zsh
• Auto-updates

Further Reading

• Windows command-line experience comparisons
• Windows editors and shells
• Windows command-prompt Redux
• Scott Hanselman’s Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows

Command line might not be the most visually appealing or the simplest feature of Windows 10, but it’s without a doubt the most powerful one. Although Command Prompt is one powerful tool, it still lacks certain features such as tabs.

If you are an average user, you probably don’t use command line that often, but if you are an advanced user, or a developer, you probably use Command Prompt from time to time.

As previously mentioned, one of the biggest drawbacks is that there is no multi tab Command Prompt on Windows 10. However, if you need this feature, we have gathered the best command line tools with tabbed terminal for Windows in this guide.

Console2 – Lightweight tool

Картинка с сайта: windowsreport.com

Console2 is a simple and lightweight Command Prompt alternative for Windows 10. This tool has been one of the best Command Prompt alternatives for years and even though it hasn’t received any updates recently, it’s still an outstanding tool.

Console2 comes with support for tabbed interface which allows you to simultaneously run different command lines. If you want to differentiate your tabs, you can assign a different name to each tab in order to organize your tabs more easily.

Console2 comes with all sorts of customization options, and it allows you to set the transparency of your console window. One thing we didn’t like about this tool is the lack of support for standard copy and paste shortcuts.

Besides that, Console2 sounds like an amazing alternative to Command Prompt, and if you’re looking for a command line tool that supports tabs, Console2 is one of the tools that you should check out.

⇒ Get Console2

PowerCmd – Powerful alternative

Картинка с сайта: windowsreport.com

PowerCmd is a powerful Command Prompt alternative, but unlike our previous entry, PowerCmd isn’t available for free. However, you can try it free of charge.

Just like the previous tool we mentioned, PowerCmd fully supports a tabbed interface, but it also allows you to organize command line windows by placing them side by side, allowing you to have up to 4 windows available one by another.

Even if you place command line windows one by another, you can still open more tabs if you need to. Another feature worth mentioning is the shell integration.

This means that you can simply right-click any folder, choose the PowerCmd option, and you’ll open a new command line window by using that folder as a currently opened directory.

This feature is extremely useful if you don’t want to enter folder locations manually and if you need quick and instant access to a specific folder.

If you prefer to enter file and folder names manually, PowerCmd will give you suggestions as you type, so you can just select them from the menu.

It’s worth mentioning that this tool also supports Windows-style text editing, thus allowing you to select, cut, copy, and paste into the command line similarly to any text document while using familiar shortcuts.

Another feature we need to mention is the search toolbar that allows you to quickly search for any output in the command line. In fact, PowerCmd will highlight each word from your search query in a different color, thus making it easier for you to find it.

In order to better organize your command line, there’s support for bookmarks, and you can easily navigate between different bookmarks with a single hotkey. In addition, you can also see and search for your input history for any previously used commands.

Lastly, if you heavily use the command line, you’ll be pleased to know that PowerCmd allows you to automatically save the console output log, so you can examine it at any time, even if your PC or application crashes.

⇒ Get PowerCmd

ColorConsole – Small and simple tool

Картинка с сайта: windowsreport.com

ColorConsole is a rather small and simple command line tool, and although it lacks some advanced features, it fully supports a tabbed interface. In addition to the tabbed interface, it allows you to display command lines side by side.

It’s worth mentioning that this tool supports standard editing shortcuts, so you can easily select, copy and paste in and out of the command line.

We have to mention that ColorConsole comes with a rather simplistic search feature, but at the same time, it allows you to manually select and highlight output in the command line, so you can easily find it when needed.

Another feature is the ability to export your output as HTML or RTF, which some users might find helpful. ColorConsole might not be the most powerful command line tool on this list, but it’s certainly the lightest.

⇒ Get ColorConsole

MobaXterm – Wide range of features

Картинка с сайта: windowsreport.com

MobaXerm is another advanced command line tool that supports a wide range of features, and it comes in both paid and free versions. It’s worth mentioning that the free version has certain limitations, but for the most part, it should be enough for your needs.

This tool comes with support for Unix commands, and it allows you to launch remote sessions such as SSH, Telnet, FTP, VNC, and many others. Each session is listed in the sidebar on the left, so you can easily create new sessions.

MobaXterm comes with a graphical SFTP browser, so you can easily drag and drop files when you’re using an SFTP connection. In addition, you can also display remote applications directly on your PC while running SSH, TELNET, or RLOGIN/RSH sessions.

If you’re connecting to a remote server using SSH, you can edit remote files directly from MobaXterm by using the built-in MobaTextEditor.

This tool also allows you to remotely control Windows desktop computers by using the RDP protocol. Of course, there’s support for remote Unix desktops by using XDMCP.

MobaXterm is a command line tool with advanced features intended for developers and network administrators, so if you’re just a regular user, you will probably feel overwhelmed by the list of features that this tool offers.

⇒ Get MobaXterm

Terminal Wings – Minimalistic interface

Картинка с сайта: windowsreport.com

Terminal Wings comes with a minimalistic and visually appealing interface, and just like all the predecessors on this list, it supports a tabbed interface.

This application is simple to use, and it allows you to easily select, copy and paste any input from the command line.

Terminal Wings allows you to set different profiles, and each profile can be customized with different colors, transparency, default directory, or commands that will be executed when you open that profile.

As we mentioned, this tool doesn’t have any advanced features, but if you’re looking for a command line tool with a simple tabbed interface, Terminal Wings might be perfect for you.

⇒ Get Terminal Wings

ConEmu – Free version

Картинка с сайта: windowsreport.com

ConEmu is another free command line tool with a tabbed interface. This tool comes with a simple user interface, which makes it perfect for basic users.

Despite its simple appearance, ConEmu has a wide range of features hidden in its settings. You can change the visual appearance of the command line, set predefined code to run, and much more.

ConEmu is perfect for both basic and advanced users alike, but if you want to use those advanced features, you’ll have to spend some time in ConEmu’s settings panel.

⇒ Get ConEmu

PowerShell ISE

Картинка с сайта: windowsreport.com

If you want to use the tabbed terminal command line on Windows 10, there’s no need to download alternative tools from the Internet since you can use Microsoft’s PowerShell ISE.

This tool is integrated into Windows 10, and it comes with many features, one of them being a tabbed interface.

Of course, there’s support for a wide range of PowerShell commands, but if you’re not too familiar with PowerShell commands, there’s a list of commands along with additional details about each command available right from the PowerShell ISE.

Although Command Prompt doesn’t support tabs, Windows 10 comes with its own alternative in the form of PowerShell ISE. If you’re looking for a third-party alternative, PowerCmd offers a wide range of features along with a user-friendly interface.

Unfortunately, PowerCmd isn’t available for free, but if you’re looking for a free tabbed command line tool for Windows 10, ConEmu might just be what you need.

EECS 280 Tutorials

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) runs an Ubuntu Linux guest virtual machine on your Windows host machine.

Upgrade Windows

We recommend Windows 11. Windows 10 version 2004 build 19041 and higher will also work. Here’s how to check your Windows version.

Free Windows upgrades are available for UM students via OnTheHub. If you have an older Windows machine and are not able to upgrade, please reach out to course instructors for assistance.

Pitfall: Make sure Windows Update is enabled and your machine is up-to-date. Search for “Windows Update” in the start menu.

Install WSL

Start PowerShell and run it as administrator. Search for PowerShell in the start menu, then right-click and select “Run as administrator”.

PowerShell is a command-line interface for Windows. Its command prompt ends with a > (e.g. C:\WINDOWS\system32>). To follow the steps below, type the commands that appear after the > and hit enter.

Check if WSL is already installed by running the command wsl -l -v. If you see a list like below, WSL is already installed.

C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl -l -v
  NAME                   STATE           VERSION
* Ubuntu-24.04           Running         2

If the VERSION is 1, you must upgrade to WSL 2.

If you already have an Ubuntu distribution with VERSION 2, skip to Setup Ubuntu below.

Otherwise, WSL is not installed and you’ll see help text similar to the following. (This is expected for most students.)

C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl -l -v
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Usage: wsl.exe [Argument]
...

Install WSL. We recommend the most recent Ubuntu LTS version from the Microsoft App Store, currently Ubuntu 24.04.

C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

Pitfall: If you get an error from wsl --install, see the Troubleshooting section below.

Restart your computer.

Start PowerShell as administrator, and check that WSL Ubuntu is now installed with version 2.

C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl -l -v
  NAME                   STATE           VERSION
* Ubuntu-24.04           Running         2

Setup Ubuntu

From the previous section, you have installed WSL and an Ubuntu Linux distribution. You’ll do most C++ development in Ubuntu rather than Windows. Let’s get it set up.

Start an Ubuntu Bash shell. Bash is a command-line interface for Linux. Search for “Ubuntu” (or “Ubuntu 24.04 LTS”) or “bash” in the start menu.

The bash command prompt ends with a $. To follow the steps below, type commands that appear after the $ and hit enter.

First time: create account

The first time you open Ubuntu, you will be prompted to create a Linux username and password. Follow the prompts to create one.

• Choose a username that is all lowercase characters (could be your uniqname).
• While typing your password, the characters are not shown. This is fine.
• You can press Enter to skip fields other than username and password (e.g. “room number”).

Картинка с сайта: eecs280staff.github.io

Double check that your user has been created.

$ whoami
awdeorio  # this should NOT say root

$ whoami
root  # SOMEthiNG IS WRONG

C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl --unregister Ubuntu-24.04
Unregistering.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is already installed.
Launching Ubuntu 24.04 LTS...
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 a new UNIX username:

Install CLI tools

From an Ubuntu bash terminal, use the apt package manager to install a few command line programs.

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install g++ make rsync wget git ssh gdb python3 tree

Home Directory

You’ll generally want to store your coding projects in the Linux filesystem, which is separate from your Windows filesystem.

Open an Ubuntu bash terminal and run cd ~. This will take you to your Ubuntu home directory. Running pwd afterward confirms the location. (Your username will be different.)

$ cd ~
$ pwd
/home/jjuett

Create an EECS 280 folder by running mkdir ~/eecs280. Running ls afterward confirms the folder has been created.

$ mkdir ~/eecs280
$ ls
eecs280

We highly recommend you store all coding work for EECS 280 projects and labs here.

$ pwd
/home/awdeorio ...         # Good, Linux home
/c/mnt/Users/awdeorio ...  # Bad, Windows home

Access via File Explorer

Even though the files are stored in the Linux filesystem, you can still access them from the Windows file explorer. Run explorer.exe . to open an explorer window in bash’s current directory (Note the extra . at the end, which means “current directory”.)

Right-click on the eecs280 folder and select “Pin to Quick Access”. This adds a shortcut to the left sidebar, which is useful for e.g. finding and submitting your files to the autograder via a web browser.

You can also open a bash terminal in the current directory of your file explorer. Click the blank area to the right of where the directory path is shown. Then, type “bash” (replacing the text already there) and hit enter.

Картинка с сайта: eecs280staff.github.io

Картинка с сайта: eecs280staff.github.io

This will open a new bash terminal in the same directory as the file explorer.

CLI Tutorial

Now would be a great time to take a look at our CLI Tutorial.

Pro-tips

Accessing Windows files from Linux

To access Windows files from Linux, navigate to /mnt/c/.

For example, here's how to access your Windows Desktop.  Your username will be different.
```console
$ cd /mnt/c/Users
$ ls
'All Users'  'Default User'   defaultuser0   awdeorio   Default   Public   defaultuser100000   desktop.ini
$ cd awdeorio
$ ls
... Desktop  Downloads ...
$ cd Desktop

Copy/Paste in Terminal

Copy/Paste functionality in your bash terminal may be enabled by default with the usual ctrl + c and ctrl + v keyboard shortcuts.

Or, try ctrl + shift + c and ctrl + shift + v.

If these do not work, right click on the terminal window header. If you see option for “Settings”, go to “Settings” -> “Actions” and add your desired keybindings for copy/paste. If you see an option for “Properties”, go to “Properties” -> “Options” and ensure “Use Ctrl+Shift+C/V as Copy/Paste” box is checked.

Troubleshooting

Enable Virtualization

WSL2 requires virtualization support. Follow the steps below to ensure it is enabled.

Step 1
Launch the task manager by pressing ctrl + shift + esc. Click on the “Performance” tab.

Картинка с сайта: eecs280staff.github.io

If you see “Virtualization: Enabled”, proceed to step 2. If you don’t see “Virtualization” at all, your computer may not support WSL. (This should only be the case for very old machines.)

If you see “Virtualization: Disabled”, you need to enable virtualization in BIOS settings. The method for doing this varies depending on your computer’s manufacturer, but instructions are generally available online, e.g. here. Once you have restarted into BIOS, navigate the options with your keyboard to find and enable virtualization. Save your changes and restart your computer.

Step 2
Once virtualization is enabled, ensure the “Virtual Machine Platform” feature is enabled in Windows. Search for “Turn Windows features on or off” in the start menu. Scroll down and ensure that “Virtual Machine Platform” is checked. If it is not, check the box and click “OK”. You may be asked to restart your computer.

Attempt to install WSL again, following the instructions at the top of this guide.

Enable Windows Subsystem for Linux

If you’re running commands like wsl -l -v or wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04, but it just prints out a generic help message, you may need to enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux feature. Search for “Turn Windows features on or off” in the start menu. Scroll down and ensure that “Windows Subsystem for Linux” is checked. If it is not, check the box and click “OK”. You may be asked to restart your computer.

Microsoft Troubleshooting

Microsoft maintains an extensive troubleshooting page for WSL installation. If you’re getting a specific error code/message, you may be able to match it with a resolution here.

Forgot Password

If you forgot you WSL password, follow the steps here to reset it. Scroll down to the part beginnning with “If you forgot the password for yoru Linux distribution:”.

Manual Installation

If you are running an older version of Windows 10 and unable to update to build 19041 or higher, you may be able to perform a manual installation. Use this only as a last resort option.

Acknowledgments

Original document written by Andrew DeOrio awdeorio@umich.edu.

This document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License. You’re free to copy and share this document, but not to sell it. You may not share source code provided with this document.