Windows Command Line

Windows Terminal, Console and Command Line, Windows Subsystem for Linux, WSL, Windows Package Manager

Using WSL in an Enterprise

Recently, customers in an enterprise environment have asked if there is a way to install WSL without an internet connection. These companies had some machines that would benefit from having WSL, but don't have an internet connection for security, logistics, or other reasons. Enter: The Microsoft Store for Business We (the WSL team) took a ...

Per-directory case sensitivity and WSL

If you have used the Windows Subsystem for Linux, you’re probably aware that it allows you to treat your Windows file systems (mounted under /mnt/c, /mnt/d, etc.) as case sensitive. This means, among other things, that you can create files whose names differ only by case (e.g. foo.txt and FOO.TXT). However, using those files in Windows was ...

Windows/WSL Interop with AF_UNIX

Starting in Windows Insider build 17093, a WSL application can communicate with a Windows application over Unix sockets. Back in December, we blogged about bringing AF_UNIX to Windows. Now, we're building on that functionality. Consider a requirement where you want to run some kind of service as a Windows application. Additionally, you would ...

Chmod/Chown WSL Improvements

We've added new file system features to WSL in Insider Build 17063. You can now set the owner and group of files using chmod/chown and modify read/write/execute permissions in WSL. You can also create special files like fifos, unix sockets, and device files. We're introducing new mounting options with DrvFs for projecting permissions onto ...

Share Environment Vars between WSL and Windows

Hey WSL users—we have more features to share with you! Our latest Windows Insider build lets you share environment variables between WSL and Windows. Starting with Build 17063, let’s look at how you can leverage the new “WSLENV” to enhance environmental variable interop between Win32/WSL. Summary For the pros who’ve already heard ...

AF_UNIX comes to Windows

Introduction:  Beginning in Insider Build 17063, you’ll be able to use the unix socket (AF_UNIX) address family on Windows to communicate between Win32 processes. Unix sockets allow inter-process communication (IPC) between processes on the same machine.  Overview:  Support for the unix socket has existed both in BSD and Linux for the ...

[Cross Post] WSL Interoperability with Docker

We frequently get asked about running docker from within the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). We don’t support running the docker daemon directly in WSL. But what you can do is call in to the daemon running under Windows from WSL. What does this let you do? You can create dockerfiles, build them, and run them in the daemon—Windows or ...

Background Task Support in WSL

Starting in Windows Insiders Build 17046, WSL supports background tasks (including daemons). In the past, if you opened WSL and started sshd, httpd, screen, or tmux  you needed to have a console window open to keep those tools running. But, starting with 17046, these processes will continue running in the background even after the last ...