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Installing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS on WSL2

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for installing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbed) on Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Prerequisites​

  • Windows 10 version 2004 or higher (Build 19041 or higher) or Windows 11
  • Administrator access to your Windows machine
  • reference: [[Setup Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)]]

Installation Methods​

  1. Open PowerShell or Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Run the following command: 
    wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04
  3. Restart your computer if prompted
  4. Ubuntu will complete installation after restart
  5. Create a username and password when prompted

Post-Installation Setup​

Update and Upgrade Packages​

After installation, update and upgrade your Ubuntu packages:


# Run the ubuntu-24.04 distribution
wsl -d ubuntu-24.04

#set unix username and passowrd
username: username
password: password


################  essential tools for sysadmin & dev ###############
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install a set of essential tools for system management and development
sudo apt install -y nano zsh git curl jq tree zip unzip wget


################  Oh-My-Zsh shell ###############
# Install Oh-My-Zsh to enhance your Zsh shell
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

# Edit the .zshrc file
nano ~/.zshrc

# within .zshrc set the theme setting to
ZSH_THEME="mikeh"

# apply the changes and reloading the shell configuration
source ~/.zshrc

Set Ubuntu 24.04 as Default WSL Distribution (Optional)​

If you have multiple WSL distributions and want to set Ubuntu 24.04 as default:

wsl --set-default Ubuntu-24.04

Configure WSL Memory and CPU Limits (Optional)​

Create a .wslconfig file in your Windows user profile directory to customize resource allocation:

  1. Open PowerShell and run: 
    notepad "$env:USERPROFILE\.wslconfig"
  2. Add the following configuration (adjust values as needed): 
    [wsl2]
    memory=4GB
    processors=2
  3. Save the file and restart WSL: 
    wsl --shutdown

Accessing Windows Files from Ubuntu 24.04 WSL​

  1. Basic Access via /mnt:

    • Windows drives are automatically mounted under the /mnt directory
    • For example, your C: drive is accessible at /mnt/c
    # Navigate to your Windows C: drive
    cd /mnt/c

    # List files in your Windows user directory
    ls /mnt/c/Users/YourWindowsUsername

  2. Accessing other drives:

    • All drives are mounted with their letter designations
    • Examples:
      • D: drive is at /mnt/d
      • E: drive is at /mnt/e

  3. Using Windows paths in commands:

    # Copy a file from Windows to your Ubuntu home directory
    cp /mnt/c/Users/YourWindowsUsername/Documents/file.txt ~/

  4. Creating shortcuts (optional):

    # Create a symlink to commonly used Windows locations
    ln -s /mnt/c/Users/YourWindowsUsername/Documents ~/win-documents

Remember that file permissions might work differently between Windows and Linux systems. WSL2 preserves Windows file permissions when accessing Windows files.

Troubleshooting​

Installation Fails​

  • Ensure Windows is up to date
  • Verify WSL is enabled correctly: 
    wsl --status
  • Check for available WSL distributions: 
    wsl --list --online

WSL Version Issues​

If Ubuntu is running on WSL 1 instead of WSL 2:

wsl --set-version Ubuntu-24.04 2

Ubuntu Fails to Start​

Reset the Ubuntu installation:

wsl --unregister Ubuntu-24.04
wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

Useful WSL Commands​

  • List installed distributions: 
    wsl --list --verbose
  • Start a specific distribution: 
    wsl -d Ubuntu-24.04
  • Shut down all WSL instances: 
    wsl --shutdown

Additional Resources​