EasyWSL tool can turn Linux docker image into Windows 10 WSL distro
If you can't find your favorite Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distribution (distro) in the Microsoft Store, a new tool called EasyWSL will help you. This tool can turn any Linux docker image into a WSL distro.
There are many WSL Linux distros available in the Microsoft Store such as Fedora, Ubunto, Alpine, Kali, Debian. However, many other popular distros like ArchLinux or Centos are not available or have to be purchased.
Also, many of the distros being resold were not created by the original maintarners but by third parties. Therefore, the risk of being modified, installing malicious components is quite high.
To make it easier for you to find distros that aren't on the Microsoft Store, security firm Red Code Labs has created an open source tool called EasyWSL.
EasyWSL is capable of supporting quite a few distros, including:
- ArcLinux
- Ubuntu 20.04
- Ubuntu 20.10
- Alpine
- DebianStable
- DebianUnstable
- DebianTesting
- CentOS
- Clear Linux
- Fedora
- Manjaro
- Scientific Linux
- Crux Linux
- Void Linux
- Kali Linux
- OpenSecure Leap
- Parrot Security OS
- Gentoo
However, if the Linux distro you are looking for is not available, you can easily use EasyWSL to install the docker image you want in WSL.
How to convert a Linux docker image to WSL
For example, the Photon distro is quite popular but not in the Microsoft Store. You can install it from Docker using EasyWSL. First, you need to download EasyWSL then install and launch.
On the initial interface, to install a custom image, you need to select "Specify a docker image". Next, you need to provide the name of the distro and the tag of the distro in the following syntax:
image:tag
In the case of Photon, the image name will be "photon" and the tag will be "latest". We will enter "p hoton:latest " in EasyWSL as shown below.
Although most Linux docker images install without any problems, you can also get errors due to missing commands. Either way, the operating system is still installable and usable in WSL.
You should note that after installing a new Linux distro using EasyWSL, the WSL installation will not appear in the Start Menu. To launch a new distro, you must use the command wsl -d [linux_distro] from the Command Prompt. For example, to run Photon we have to use the command wsl -d photon .
For those who like to use WSL on Windows 10, EasyWSL is definitely a great tool.
You should read it
- 8 best Linux distros for pentest
- 7 Enterprise Linux Server Distributions
- 6 best Linux distros for gaming
- 8 easy tools to create your own Linux Distro
- Top 8 most beautiful Linux distributions in 2022
- An Introduction to Spiral Linux: A Distro for Linux Beginners
- 8 Best Linux Distros for Chromebooks
- Instructions for using Hyper-V to run Linux Distro on Windows 10
- What do you know about Linux distros?
- Linux distro for new, easy to use, beautiful
- 7 great Linux distro media centers for HTPC
- These Linux distros are used in IoT devices
Maybe you are interested
How to Listen to FM Radio on Linux
How to switch users on the Linux command line
How to execute Shell script in Linux
AMD Ryzen 9000 CPU runs on Linux for higher performance than Windows 11
New Intel microcode '0x129' tested on Linux, did not show a major impact on performance
How to set up Wireguard VPN on Linux