How to update from WSL to WSL 2 in Windows 10

How to update from WSL to WSL 2 in Windows 10

Step 1. Open PowerShell as admin.

Step 2. Copy and paste the below command into PowerShell, and then press Enter to enable the WSL optional feature.

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

Step 3. Copy and paste the below command into PowerShell, and then press Enter to enable the Virtual Machine Platform option .

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Step 4. Restart the computer to apply the change.

Step 5. Open PowerShell as admin.

Step 6. Copy and paste the following command into PowerShell, and then press Enter to set WSL 2 as the default version used when installing new Linux distributions.

wsl --set-default-version 2

You can see this message after running the above command:

WSL 2 requires an update to its kernel component. For information please visit https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel.

(WSL 2 requires kernel component update. For information please visit link here).

If you want, click on the link here  and install MSI from that page on the Microsoft documentation to install the Linux kernel on your machine and use WSL 2. After you have installed kernel, please run the command again: wsl --set-default-version 2 and it should complete successfully without displaying a message.

Updating from WSL 1 to WSL 2 may take several minutes to complete, depending on the size of the targeted distribution. If you are running an old WSL 1 installation from the Windows 10 Anniversary Update or the Creators Update, you may encounter an update error.

Step 7. Now you can install and set WSL distro apps from the Microsoft Store to use WSL 2 by default.

Kareem Winters

Update 15 September 2020