Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 Available for Windows Server 2022 -- Redmondmag.com

Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 Available for Windows Server 2022

By Kurt Mackie
06/02/2022

Microsoft declared this week that Windows Subsystem for Linux version 2 (WSL2) is now available for installation on Windows Server 2022.

WSL is a component that supports running Linux dev tools (but not workloads) on Windows systems. It originally started out as an installation option for Windows client systems. The Ubuntu Linux distro gets installed by default with these WSL2 installs on Windows Server 2022.

The official installation guide isn't yet updated to describe how to install WSL2 on Windows Server 2022, the announcement noted. At press time, the guide just described the WSL install process for Windows Server 2019.

"However, the Install Linux on Windows with WSL documentation works beautifully as long as you've enabled the 'Windows Subsystem for Linux' optional feature and rebooted first," the announcement noted.

The announcement listed the PowerShell commands to install WSL2 on Windows Server 2022. The Linux Bash command-line interface tool also can be used.

Using WSL2 on Windows Server 2022 requires having a KB5014021 update installed, which is a preview of a nonsecurity update. The server also needs to have a particular August update installed beforehand.

"In the notes for the update, it does mention that you must install KB5005039, dated August 10, 2021, before installing the latest cumulative update (LCU)," the announcement explained.

Microsoft's plan was to make WSL2 "broadly available in June" for installation on Windows Server 2022. Using it requires having "Hyper-V and virtualization enabled on your computer."

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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