Windows 10: How to set Linux Distribution version to WSL1 or WSL2 in Windows 10

When you have Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) enabled, you can install Linux distribution apps […]

This article How to set Linux Distribution version to WSL1 or WSL2 in Windows 10 first appeared on TheWindowsClub.com.

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WSL2 will be generally available in Windows 10 version 2004

Source: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/comma...-version-2004/

 

WSL2 for windows

I have failed into installing WSL for Windows. I have read here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win.../install-win10 how to do it, and at step 4:

1. Download the latest package:
   
   • WSL2 Linux kernel update package for x64 machines
   [COLOR=var(--text)][COLOR=var(--info-dark)] Note[/COLOR]
   If you're using an ARM64 machine, please download the ARM64 package instead. If you're not sure what kind of machine you have, open Command Prompt or PowerShell and enter: systeminfo | find "System Type".
   [/COLOR]
   
2. Run the update package downloaded in the previous step. (Double-click to run - you will be prompted for elevated permissions, select ‘yes’ to approve this installation.)

I encountered:





and





What I did wrong ? I have the following W10 version:




Another question: am I in the the right forum ?

 

How to configure Windows 10 WSL1 that's already installed

I need to use the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Just for fun I typed bash in a command window, and much to my surprise it started up. It was surprising because I never installed it (or at least don't remember doing so), and docs like the install guide from Microsoft imply that you have to.

My W10 version (18362.1082) is lower than necessary to run WSL2, so it must be WSL1 (unless it could be something else). Other than that, since I don't remember installing it, I have no idea what flavor or version of Linux is installed. I tried the normal linux command for this purpose, cat /etc/os-release , which replies there is no such file.

The docs say that the linux admin credentials are independent of the W10 credentials. So I also ran whoami to see if a user had been established and it gave me the same name as for my W10 installation. When I tried to use a sudo command to see if it was the same password too, it said bash: sudo: command not found. So something is amiss.

How can I determine what is going on here? How can I tell if this unix instance is WSL1, and if so whether it is fully set up and what flavor/version of Linux it's running? Also what the admin password is? Or do I still need to take all the steps in the install guide linked above?

Update 1

I found here that I should be able to launch wsl by entering `wsl` on a command line. When I do so it says wsl is not recognized as a command, so I suppose this means wsl1 is not installed. There is some linux installed though, so the question now is whether it's safe to install wsl1 over that or if I need to uninstall the existing first (and if so how to do that).