WSL lets you install your favorite Linux distro inside Windows and use it via the terminal or WSL command line. Basically, thanks to WSL, you have the full power of Linux within Windows without using a dedicated virtual machine. But how do you find the available Linux distros for WSL and install them? That’s where this simple tutorial comes into play. Using it, I will show you how to which Linux distros are available for WSL and how to install your favorite Linux distro in WSL from the available list. Let’s get started.
Find and Install Linux Distro in WSL
- Right-click the Windows icon on the taskbar.
- Select “Terminal“.
- Type
wsl -l --onlineto list available Linux distros. - Note down the name of the Linux distro to install.
- Run
wsl --install "DistroName"command while replacing “DistroName” with the name you noted earlier. - WSL downloads and installs the Linux distro.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, open the Terminal application. To do that, right-click the Windows icon on the taskbar and select the “Terminal” option. Once it opens, run the following command to list all the available Linux distros for WSL.
wsl -l --online
Note: You can list currently installed Linux distros using the wsl -l --all command.
Once you have the list, find the Linux distro you want to install and note down its name. You can also copy it by selecting the name and pressing “Ctrl + C”. For example, I want to install “Kali-Linux”. So, I copied it’s name.
Next, run the following command while replacing the “DistroName” in it with the actual distro name you got in the earlier step.
wsl --install "DistroName"
As soon as you run the command, WSL downloads and installs the selected Linux distro.
That’s all there is to it. It is that simple to find and install a new Linux distro in WSL on Windows 11. Once you install the Linux distro in WSL, you can launch it by selecting it in the title bar dropdown menu.
Alternatively, run the wsl.exe -d DistroName command while replacing “DistroName” with the actual distro name. For example wsl.exe -d kali-linux.
Note: You can get the list of installed distro using wsl -l --all.
If this is your first time launching the distro, you will be prompted to create a user account by typing the username and password. Enter them to continue.
After that, you can use the distro right away. If needed, you can also set it as the default Linux distro in WSL. When you no longer need it, you can also uninstall the Linux distro from WSL.
If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
