On Windows 10, you can upgrade the Windows Subsystem for Linux platform to version 2, including existing distros, and in this guide, you’ll learn how. The Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2) is the new version of the implementation that uses a lightweight virtual machine instead of a direct translation between both operating systems, providing significant improvements on performance and complete call compatibility support.
If you’ve been running the first version of the implementation on Windows 10 , you can update to Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 and convert the existing Linux installations with a package download to update the kernel and a few PowerShell commands.
In this guide , you’ll learn the steps to upgrade WSL to WSL2 and convert Linux distros to version 2 on Windows 10.
Upgrade from WSL to WSL2 on Windows 10
To upgrade from the first version of WSL to WSL2, use these steps:
- Download this WSL2 kernel update (required).
- Double-click the wsl_update_x64.msi file and apply the update.
- Open Start .
- Search for PowerShell , right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
- Type the following command to set Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 your default architecture for new distros you’ll install and press Enter : wsl –set-default-version 2 Enable WSL 2 on Windows 10 20H1
- Type the following command to get a list of all the distros installed on your device and press Enter : wsl -l -v
- Type the following command to convert the distro from WSL 1 to WSL 2 and press Enter : wsl –set-version DISTRO-NAME 2 Convert distro WSL 1 to WSL 2 on Windows 10 20H1 In the command, make sure to replace DISTRO-NAME for the actual name of the Linux distribution.
- Type the following command to verify the version of the distro and press Enter : wsl –list –verbose Check distro using Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 on PowerShell
- Confirm the distros are set to version 2.
Once you complete the steps, you may need to repeat steps 7 through 10 to convert the remaining distros to version 2.
