How to run ubuntu on windows

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Are you eager to run Ubuntu alongside your Windows 10 system? With the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2, you can easily achieve that, for more details WSL 2 was introduced in Windows 10 version 2004. This guide will walk you through the steps to install either Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 in WSL 2 on your Windows 10 machine.

Before you start, ensure you have the following:

• A Windows 10 machine with version 2004 or later.
• A Microsoft account with admin privileges.
• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) feature enabled on your Windows 10 machine.
• Open PowerShell with administrative privileges.

These are the step-by-step process what you need to do:

1. Check your Windows version and build number.
2. Verify administrator privileges.
3. Enable the Windows Machine Platform feature.
4. Enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) feature.
5. Install Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 in WSL 2.
6. Optional: Install Ubuntu in WSL 2 via PowerShell.
7. Configure Ubuntu user account and password.

Step 1: Check your Windows version and build number

Firstly, you need to check your Windows version and build number to ensure compatibility with the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) feature. Follow these steps:

1. Open PowerShell with administrative privileges.
2. Type the following command and press Enter:

systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"

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1. Look for the output that includes your “OS Name” and “OS Version.”

• For compatibility with WSL 2, your Windows version should be 2004 or later, and the build number should be 19041 or later.
• Ensure that the output includes the Windows version and build number that meets or exceeds these requirements.

If your Windows version and build number meet these criteria, then your system is compatible with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2. If not, you may need to update your Windows operating system to a compatible version.

Step 2: Verify administrator privileges

To determine if your user account has administrative privileges using the whoami /groups command in Windows, look for the presence of the “Administrators” group in the output. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open PowerShell with administrative privileges.
2. Type the following command and press Enter:

1. Look for the “S-1-5-32-544” entry in the output.

• If you see “S-1-5-32-544” listed, it means your user account belongs to the “Administrators” group, indicating administrative privileges.
• If you don’t see “S-1-5-32-544” listed, it means your user account does not have administrative privileges.

If your user does not have administrator privileges, log in as an administrator or ask an administrator to elevate your privileges.

Step 3: Enable Windows features

Enable the required Windows features for WSL 2:

• Open PowerShell with administrative privileges.
• Run the following command:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

The command above typically enables the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) feature without requiring a restart. However, there can be cases where a restart is necessary for the changes to fully take effect, depending on your system configuration or settings. So, much better to restart your machine ?.

Step 4: Enable WSL feature

To determine if WSL 2 is enabled on your machine using both PowerShell and the DISM command, follow these steps:

1. Open PowerShell with administrative privileges.
2. Enter the following command and press Enter:

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online | Where-Object {$_.FeatureName -eq "VirtualMachinePlatform"}

1. If WSL 2 is enabled, you’ll see output similar to:

FeatureName : VirtualMachinePlatform
State       : Enabled

1. Additionally, you can use the DISM command to check:

dism.exe /online /get-features | Where-Object { $_ -match "Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux" }

Output:

Feature Name : Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

Otherwise, you can go to ‘Turn Windows features on or off‘ in your Windows settings to verify if the Windows Subsystem for Linux is enabled.

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Once the WSL feature is enabled, you can install Ubuntu from the Microsoft Store or using the wsl command. Here’s how:

• Open the Microsoft Store and search for “Ubuntu 20.04” or “Ubuntu 22.04”.
• Click on the desired app and click the “Get” button to download and install it.
• After installation, launch Ubuntu from the Start menu.

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Step 6: Optional – Installing Ubuntu in WSL 2 via PowerShell

Alternatively, you can install Ubuntu in WSL 2 using PowerShell commands:

• List the available WSL distributions:

• Install Ubuntu:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-20.04

• Set WSL 2 as the default version:

wsl --set-default-version 2

• Check the installed distributions:

• Verify the Ubuntu version:

Final Step: Configure Ubuntu user account and password

Upon installation, follow the prompts to create a user account and password for Ubuntu.

Creating new user account...
username:

After following these steps, you’ll have Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 installed in WSL 2 on your Windows 10 machine. Enjoy the seamless integration of Linux with your Windows environment!

Welcome to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 4.19.104-microsoft-standard x86_64)

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

0 packages can be updated.
0 updates are security updates.


The programs included with the Ubuntu system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Ubuntu comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by
applicable law.

username@Ubuntu:~$

For troubleshooting Windows Subsystem for Linux, refer to Microsoft’s official documentation.

From decades we are using Windows and Linux which are two different platforms. Sometimes we like windows for its smooth UI features and sometimes we want to move to Linux for some security purpose. But now Microsoft started to embrace the open-source community And Ubuntu is available on Microsoft Store. That means now ubuntu can be boot in windows 10 with no partition, using a USB drive, run in a window on your Windows desktop.

With Windows 10 fall creators update version 1709 Microsoft has introduced windows subsystem for Linux as an optional feature. That means No virtual machine is required and there is no dual booting, only you have to enable this feature and download the Ubuntu app from Microsoft store to run Ubuntu desktop on windows 10

Check compatibility

Well before start You just need to make sure that a window 10 is compatible with Linux requirements. open Settings > System > About, where you’ll find the System type entry here make sure you have a “64-bit operating system”. Again run winver command to check and make sure you have the latest version of Windows 10 installed on your system.

Run using SubSystem

So, what is exactly the subsystem in Ubuntu ( Linux )? It is a “Bash”. and Bash is a running Linux System inside the windows system.

Enable Windows subsystem for Linux

Well on Windows 10 you can enable Windows Subsystem for Linux feature using a simple command line on PowerShell or from windows feature.

Method 1 PowerShell

Search for PowerShell and run as Administrator.

When it opens a window the simply type below command and press enter key.

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

You’ll be asked to confirm your choice. Type Y or press enter and reboot your system.

Method 2 – Windows Feature

• Open control panel search for programs,
• Select the first option programs and features
• Now on left-hand side click on Turn Windows Features On or Off.
• This will open the windows features screen,
• Scroll down and Checkmark next to Windows Subsystem for Linux.
• Click ok to download required files from Microsoft server (Make sure you have a working internet connection)

As it will take slightly much time because of having large file size, you can see the Linux will installed in the windows as it is a regular application as it is one-time installation process. Restart Windows once the install process completes.

Download a Linux system from the Windows store

Now you have to download a Linux distro like Ubuntu for Windows to enter Linux commands to do this:

• Open Microsoft Store, and search for ubuntu
• Select option Ubuntu 18.0 and click get it

Note: At the time of writing, there are three versions of Ubuntu available on Microsoft Store: Ubuntu, Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04.

• It will take some time to download the app from the Microsoft server,
• Once it completed click on launch
• It will ask you for creating a new username and password, you need to provide all the information.

Note: Windows File system will be located in the MNT folder, so to edit Windows files from the Linux system,  enter CD MNT, do LS then enter CD C and another LS to locate all the files stored inside Windows.

Now, you can enjoy your Linux on Windows.

Run Linux in Virtual Machine

The term virtual seems very geeky, but it is like another operating system over an existing Operating System. That you can run Linux over windows machine using Virtualization system Hyper V or using third party virtual machine. For that, you can download and install virtual machine software like VMWare Player on windows 10 PC. After that download VMware image for Ubuntu and extract the zip file.

Now double click the extracted ubantu.vmx file and the Linux machine will load inside the VMWare player. Thus Linux is “guest” OS while windows considered as “host” OS. You can install and boot Linux every time you start your machine if it will ask you to choose whether windows Os or Linux Os. You can select whatever you want, isn’t it great to switch to any of these two OS by just reboot it once.

Here, you already have a window, then you just need to install Linux. During the process of Linux installation, the installer knows how to resize its partition with windows and set up a boot loader by the given option.

Run Linux Inside the Browser

In such Case like if you are a beginner in Linux and if you want to learn Linux command, want to secure your file access within the browser, running legacy software, JavaScript engines benchmark or to use new browser technologies, you can go for JSLinux. This is an Emulator that lets you work in a web browser. You may able to write Shell Script and Awk, master regular expression, Lookup man pages of various Linux commands, etc. And everything inside the web browser.

There are certain other tools by which the user can run Linux on Windows browser like:

Copy.sh runs Linux 2.6 where the boot time is less than one minute for Linux. You can launch other operating systems too like windows 98, Arch Linux, Kolibri OS, Linux 2.6 and 3.18, Windows 1.01, FreeDOS, OpenBSD, Solar OS.

Webminal is GNU/Linux terminal to practice the Linux command and to interact with other users around the world. You just simply need to register on the website and that is completely free. Webminal is helping students of more than 125bcontries and also practiced commands more than 1.5 million.

Tutorials Point is like CentOS where the coding group gives a platform to practice the commands on the terminal in the browser, here the terminal is faster and starts within 10 seconds. There are not just Linux Terminal but also Node.js, PHP, Ruby, Numphy, Oracle Database and many online IDEs you can be browsed.

JS/UNIX Terminal where the Operating System for the web browser is written in JavaScript. There is a guest login in this terminal to practice the commands simply.

CB.VU gives you FreeBSD 7.1 stable version.

Run Linux Using USB or CD

Now the easiest way to use ubuntu is using a USB or CD drive. Simply Paste ubuntu setup in a USB drive, insert USB stick or DVD or CD into your local machine and then restart the computer, now the computer will boot from removable media and start work on ubuntu that making any changes into the computer’s hard drive.

With a live Ubuntu, you can do almost anything you can from an installed Ubuntu:

• Safely browse the internet without storing any history or cookie data
• Access files and edit files stored on your computer or USB stick
• Create new office suite documents and save them remotely
• Fix broken configurations to get a computer running again

Isn’t it looks so flexible to use Linux without disturbing current installed Windows Operating Systems? You can try any of these options where you feel comfortable to use and can easily switch to another windows UI .

Also read:

• How To fix Windows Store cache may be damaged On Windows 10
• 5 solutions to fix NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM error in Windows 10/8/7
• Fix windows license will expire soon windows 10 
• Windows 10 local account vs Microsoft account, which one is best for you?

Are you ready to unlock the potential of WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) and seamlessly run Ubuntu 24.04 alongside Windows 11? In this guide, we’ll walk you through the entire process, from enabling WSL to running Linux GUI applications and setting up a full Ubuntu desktop environment via XRDP. Let’s dive in!

Step 1: Install GPU Drivers

Before setting up WSL, ensure your computer’s GPU drivers are up-to-date for optimal performance, especially if you have a dedicated GPU like NVIDIA or AMD. This step is crucial for enabling GPU acceleration.

Step 2: Enable Hardware Virtualization

To use WSL, hardware virtualization must be enabled. This feature is usually on by default, but if it’s not, you’ll need to enable it in your BIOS settings.

Look for Intel VT-d, AMD-V, or SVM features and activate them. Verify the status by opening Task Manager, selecting the CPU tab, and checking if virtualization is enabled.

Step 3: Install WSL Feature

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1. Open the search bar, type “Turn Windows features on or off”, and select it.
2. Enable the “Virtual Machine Platform” and “Windows Subsystem for Linux” options.
3. Click Apply and reboot your computer.

Step 4: Update WSL

After rebooting, right-click on the desktop, open the terminal, and update WSL to the latest version with the following command

wsl --update

Verify the update by typing:

wsl --version

Step 5: Install Ubuntu 24.04

1. List available Linux distributions with:

wsl --list --online

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2. Install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by typing:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

1. Follow the prompts to set up your username and password.

Step 6: Running Ubuntu BASH Directly

You can now run Ubuntu bash directly by searching for it in the start menu or typing “WSL” in the search bar.

Step 7: Update Ubuntu

Open Ubuntu App From the Start menu and Update your Ubuntu environment using APT.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

You can install additional packages like Neofetch or HTOP .

Step 8: Running Linux GUI Applications

Install and run Linux GUI applications:

1. Install applications like GIMP, Blender, Kdenlive, and Krita with:

sudo apt install gimp blender kdenlive krita

1. You can find and Open these applications from the start menu under the Ubuntu group.

Step 9: Setup Flatpak

WSLG Also supports Flatpak applications. Set up Flatpak by running:

sudo apt install flatpak 

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Switch to the root user to install Flatpak apps:

sudo -i

You can install flatpak apps from Flathub Repository. See this link:

Note: Flatpak apps may not appear in the Windows start menu.

Step 10: Setup Ubuntu GUI

As a bonus, let’s set up the XFCE desktop environment:

1. Update Ubuntu:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

1. Install XFCE and XRDP:

sudo apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies 

sudo apt install xrdp

1. Configure XRDP

sudo cp /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini.bak 

1. Follow instructions to configure xrdp by typing the below commands

sudo sed -i 's/3389/3390/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini

sudo sed -i 's/max_bpp=32/#max_bpp=32\nmax_bpp=128/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini

sudo sed -i 's/xserverbpp=24/#xserverbpp=24\nxserverbpp=128/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini

sudo /etc/init.d/xrdp start

1. Then configure the XRDP window manager :

sudo nano /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh

then uncomment the lines by seeing the screen shot below by adding a HASH tag at the beginning of each statement, Then at the bottom a statement to startxfce4

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Then save the changes with CTRL + O and CTRL + X to exit.

1. Open Remote Desktop Connection App on Windows, connect to localhost:3389 or 3390, and log in with your Ubuntu credentials.

Conclusion

You’ve successfully installed Ubuntu 24.04 LTS on Windows 11 using WSL! With WSLG, you can run Linux desktop and GUI applications seamlessly alongside Windows. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below.