Linux subsystem for windows location

WSL is simply amazing! Providing you the power of Linux all within a Windows environment. Allowing us to switch seamlessly between OS using VSCode (since Linux development is so much easier).

But if you are like me and you are running WSL, you don’t always want to install it to the C:\ drive (which is what you get when installing it from the Windows Store) but you want to be able to pick your own Drive. So how can we do this?

Finding our Distro

First find the link to the distro you want from this page: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-manual#downloading-distributions

E.g., for Ubuntu 22.04 you can use: https://aka.ms/wslubuntu2204

Downloading and Installing WSL to your Drive

Next, read through the following using the link above for your distro:

# Navigate to the destination directory
cd E:\WSLTest

# Enable WSL
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

# Downloading Ubuntu 22.04
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/wslubuntu2004 -OutFile Ubuntu.appx -UseBasicParsing

# Open the .AppxBundle in 7Zip and Extract the x86.appx file

# Unpack
move .\Ubuntu.appx .\Ubuntu.zip
Expand-Archive .\Ubuntu.zip

# Install
.\Ubuntu\ubuntu.exe

# Verify
wsl --list --all

Summary

When you now use wsl -l you will see your own installed

Where is WSL located on my computer?

People also askHow to install the Windows Subsystem for Linux?How to install
the Windows Subsystem for Linux?To get started, first you need to enable the
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) on your PC:

Get-ChildItem "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss" -Recurse



{cff9bfd6-39db-42af-a85b-d6fca State              : 1
94beff8}                       DistributionName   : Ubuntu
                               Version            : 2
                               BasePath           : C:\Users\krutik\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState
                               Flags              : 15
                               DefaultUid         : 1000
                               PackageFamilyName  : CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc
                               KernelCommandLine  : BOOT_IMAGE=/kernel init=/init
                               DefaultEnvironment : {HOSTTYPE=x86_64, LANG=en_US.UTF-8, PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games, TERM=xterm-256color}



ls /mnt/c/Users
ls /mnt/c

Where is the Linux Subsystem’s filesystem located in Windows 10?

If you install some linux distributions from the Windows Store, the
filesystems are located under
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\\LocalState\rootfs If you have
installed, moved or duplicated a linux distribution using LxRunOffline or any
version of the WSLDistroLauncher , the filesystem can be located in any folder
of your computer.

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Lxss\rootfs



%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\<distribution_specific_name>_<random_string>\LocalState\rootfs


CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu18.04onWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc


\\wsl$



HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss



PS> (Get-ChildItem HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss | ForEach-Object {Get-ItemProperty $_.PSPath}) | select DistributionName, @{n="Path";e={$_.BasePath + "\rootfs"}}



DistributionName Path
---------------- ----
Ubuntu           C:\Users\Jaime\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\rootfs
Ubuntu-18.04     C:\Users\Jaime\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu18.04onWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\rootfs
mydistro         C:\wsl\mydistro\rootfs



# lxrunoffline get-dir -n <name of the distro>

C:\> lxrunoffline get-dir -n backup
c:\wsl\installed\backup

C:\> lxrunoffline get-dir -n Ubuntu
C:\Users\Jaime\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState



C:\Users\myUserName\AppData\Local\Packages\UbuntuLinux.someUID\LocalState\rootfs\root



C:\Users\myUserName\AppData\Local\Packages\UbuntuLinux.someUID\LocalState\rootfs\home\myLinuxUserName

Where are the files inside wsl2 physically stored? [closed]

move the LocalState folder to another location like Z:\wsl\Ubuntu\ create
symbolic link with mklink /J LocalState Z:\WSL\Ubuntu\LocalState I would also
edit/create the .wslconfig file from your user folder to move the swap file to
the folder where you store your WSL vm’s and maybe edit/add options for CPU
cores and RAM assignment

PS C:\Users\smarc> mkdir D:\wsl-ubuntu  (create new location)
PS C:\Users\smarc> wsl -l -v            (list wsl distros)
NAME                   STATE           VERSION
Ubuntu                 Running         2
PS C:\Users\smarc> wsl --shutdown
PS C:\Users\smarc> wsl -l -v            (verify if is stopped)
NAME                   STATE           VERSION
Ubuntu                 Stopped         2
PS C:\Users\smarc> wsl --export Ubuntu ubuntu.tar  
PS C:\Users\smarc> wsl --unregister Ubuntu
PS C:\Users\smarc> wsl --import Ubuntu D:\wsl-ubuntu\ .\ubuntu.tar --version 2



[wsl2]
memory=4GB
processors=2
swap=1GB
swapFile=Z:\\WSL\\swap.vhdx

What is the home directory on Windows Subsystem for Linux?

Not that I’d really ever want to—I’m just trying to get a feel for how
Windows is organizing this Subsystem for Linux thing. In WSL, all the linux
filesystem is located under a Windows folder. The location of the folder
depends on the version of Windows and of the WSL distribution you are using.

/mnt/c/Users/<username>



/home/<username>



# \\wsl$\<Distribution>:

\\wsl$\Ubuntu



%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\rootfs



%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\



explorer.exe .



## You can use lxrunoffline to check which WSL distributions have installed
## using:   lxrunoffline list

C:\> lxrunoffline list
backup
Ubuntu-18.04    

## And you can use it to get the location of any of these WSL installations
## using:   lxrunoffline get-dir -n <name of distribution>

C:\> lxrunoffline get-dir -n backup
c:\wsl\installed\backup

C:\> lxrunoffline get-dir -n Ubuntu
C:\Users\Jaime\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState



C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu16.04onWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\rootfs\etc\environment



$ sudo cat /mnt/c/Users/USER_NAME/AppData/Local/Packages/CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu16.04onWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc/LocalState/rootfs/etc/environment

PATH="/mnt/e/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games"
export LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=Yes
export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0



C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\wsl-<distribution-name>\tools\unzipped\rootfs\home



C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\wsl-ubuntu-1804\tools\unzipped\rootfs\home

How to Access Your Linux (WSL) Files in Windows 10

In File Explorer or any other Windows application that can browse files,
navigate to the following path: \\wsl$. You’ll see the folders for all your
installed Linux distributions, which are exposed as if they were network
shares. For example, Ubuntu 22.04 usually is available at
\\wsl$\Ubuntu-22.04.

explorer.exe .


\\wsl$

Where is WSL located on my computer?

When you enable it, the applicable binaries are found under
C:\Windows\System32\lxss. You’ll rarely need to worry about this folder, but
there are some times when it comes in handy. The WSL2 kernel is also located
in this folder, and you can back up older kernels if you want to rollback more
than one release.

Get-ChildItem "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss" -Recurse



{cff9bfd6-39db-42af-a85b-d6fca State              : 1
94beff8}                       DistributionName   : Ubuntu
                               Version            : 2
                               BasePath           : C:\Users\krutik\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState
                               Flags              : 15
                               DefaultUid         : 1000
                               PackageFamilyName  : CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc
                               KernelCommandLine  : BOOT_IMAGE=/kernel init=/init
                               DefaultEnvironment : {HOSTTYPE=x86_64, LANG=en_US.UTF-8, PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games, TERM=xterm-256color}



ls /mnt/c/Users
ls /mnt/c

Directory locations when using WSL

1 Answer. Sorted by: 0. You have Windows Subsystem for Linux which runs
Ubuntu, different from a dual-boot installation where you are running either
the Windows OS or the Ubuntu OS. WSL stores anything you make into a directory
somewhere under your User directory. That’s why your directory placed under …

mkdir Submarine



cd Documents/