View source for Use X11 forwarding with WSL

==About==
This page will help you to install Windows Subsystem for Linux and X11 forwarding on Windows 10 or Windows 11.<br />
Windows Subsystem for Linux can run a complete Linux OS inside Windows.<br />
VCXSVR will help you to have X11 forwarding enabled.<br />

'''Starting from Windows 10 build 2004 you can install WSL2 & a Linux distribution from an elevated prompt in one command, more info [https://wiki.iihe.ac.be/index.php?title=Use_X11_forwarding_with_WSL#Installing_using_WSL.exe here].'''

=Windows 10=

==Pre-requities==

*Windows 10 Windows 11.
*Administrative rights on your computer.
*Chocolatey, the Windows package manager installed.

==Install Chocolatey==

Open a Powershell shell as Administrator by pressing the following keys :

*Windows key + X

[[Image:WSL_Start_Powershell_As_Admin.PNG]]

Paste the following in the Powershell window :

<code>Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))</code>

Once Chocolatey is installed close the Powershell window.

More info about Chocolatey is [https://chocolatey.org/install available here]

==Install WSL1 & VCXSVR==

Open a Powershell shell as Administrator by pressing the following keys :

*Windows key + X

[[Image:WSL_Start_Powershell_As_Admin.PNG]]

On the Powershell window type the following :

*<code>choco install vcxsrv microsoft-windows-terminal wsl -y</code>

This command will install Windows Terminal, VCXSRV and enable WSL to enable X11 forwarding.

Leave the Powershell window open since we still need it to install your distribution.

==Install your Linux distribution on WSL==

Now you need to choose witch distribution you want to install on your computer :

*'''Ubuntu 18.04'''
*'''Ubuntu 20.04'''
*'''Ubuntu 22.04'''
*'''Debian GNU/Linux'''
*'''Kali Linux'''
*'''openSUSE 42.2 (Malachite)'''
*'''SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2'''
*'''Fedora Remix for WSL'''

Once you choose the distribution you can download and install it in one Powershell command :

* (To download and install) '''Ubuntu 18.04'''

USE :

<code>choco install wsl-ubuntu-1804 -y</code>

*'''Ubuntu 20.04'''

<code>choco install wsl-ubuntu-2004 -y</code>

*'''Ubuntu 22.04'''

<code>choco install wsl-ubuntu-2204 -y</code>

*'''Debian GNU/Linux'''

<code>choco install wsl-debiangnulinux -y</code>

*'''Kali Linux'''

<code>choco install wsl-kalilinux -y</code>

*'''openSUSE 42.2 (Malachite)'''

<code>choco install wsl-opensuse -y</code>

*'''SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2'''

<code>choco install wsl-sles -y</code>

*'''Fedora Remix for WSL'''

<code>choco install wsl-fedoraremix -y</code>

==Starting The distribution==

* Once you installed the distribution you can start it from the Start menu :

[[Image:WSL_Debian_Start_Menu.PNG]]

* You have to set a username and password '''Note that you can't use the same username as your Windows username''':

[[Image:WSL_Create_User_Name.PNG|820x420px]]

[[Image:WSL_Init_Success.PNG|820x420px]]

* Let's update the software on the distribution (Debian or Ubuntu) :

<code>sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y</code>

[[Image:WSL_Upgrade.PNG|820x420px]]

*Install X11 apps to test X11 Forwarding :

<code>sudo apt install x11-apps -y</code>

*Enable X11 forwarding :

<code>echo "export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0" >> ~/.bashrc</code>

*Now exit your terminal and start the distribution again.

*Start VCXSRV on Windows and start xclock on the distribution terminal :

[[image:WSL_Start_VCXSRV.PNG]]

[[image:WSL_Xclock_Running.PNG]]

You should see a clock appears on Windows.

*Now you have a complete Linux distribution installed on Windows 10 and X11 forwarding enabled.

=Windows 11=

==Installing using WSL.exe==

From Windows 11 & Windows 10 build 2004 and later you can install WSL2 and a Linux distribution directly from an elevated command prompt using WSL.exe.

*Note that you need an up to date Windows 11 or a Windows 10 starting from Build 2004 and the update KB5004296 installed.

*WSL2 does '''NOT''' need a X11 server to be installed on Windows to enable x11 forwarding, it will work out of the box.

*If you want to install Ubuntu LTS just type the following from an elevated command prompt :

<code>wsl --install</code>

This command will setup WSL2 and install Ubuntu LTS.

*If you you want to list available distributions use the following command :

<code>wsl --list --online</code>

*Once you choose the distribution that you want to install use the following command :

<code>wsl --install -d <distributionName></code>

(replace <DistributionName> with the name of the distribution you want to install eg "wsl --install -d debian".)


*After the script complete you need to restart your computer.

==Starting The distribution==

* Once you installed the distribution you can start it from the Start menu :

[[Image:WSL_Debian_Start_Menu.PNG]]

* You have to set a username and password '''Note that you can't use the same username as your Windows username''':

[[Image:WSL_Create_User_Name.PNG|820x420px]]

[[Image:WSL_Init_Success.PNG|820x420px]]

* Let's update the software on the distribution (Debian or Ubuntu) :

<code>sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y</code>

[[Image:WSL_Upgrade.PNG|820x420px]]

*Install X11 apps to test X11 Forwarding :

<code>sudo apt install x11-apps -y</code>

*Start xclock on Linux VM and start xclock on the distribution terminal :

[[image:WSL_Xclock_Running.PNG]]

You should see a clock appears on Windows.

*Now you have a complete Linux distribution installed on Windows and X11 forwarding enabled trough WSL2.