Manage WSL

This topic is: intermediate

I recommend you to first familiarize yourself with everything before.

Here's a list of the most common used commands to manage WSL. You must run these commands in Powershell.

View a list of commands

wsl --help

Install a distro

wsl --install <distro>

Example

wsl --install kali-linux

View a list of distros installed in WSL

wsl --list

Set the default distribution to use

wsl --set-default <distro>

When you use the command wsl alone, it will run the selected default distro in the current directory.

Run a specific distro

wsl --distribution <distro>

Run a distro in specific directory

wsl --cd <directory>

Example

wsl --cd "/"
wsl --cd "~"
wsl --cd "C:\Users\Bob"

Finalize all running distros and close WSL

wsl --shutdown

Export a WSL distro (backup)

wsl --export <distro> <filename>

Where <distro> is the name of the distribution you want to export, and <filename> the address where the .tar file will be exported.

Example

wsl --export Ubuntu-20.04 UbuntuBackup.tar

You can create backups of your distros with this.

Import a WSL distro

wsl --import <distro> <install_location> <filename>

Where <distro> is the name of the distribution (it can be anything), <install_location> is the address where the filesystem will be installed, and <filename> is the address where the exported .tar file is located.

Example

wsl --import MyUbuntu "C:\WSL\Ubuntu" UbuntuBackup.tar

Delete a WSL distro

wsl --unregister <distro>

Example

wsl --unregister Ubuntu-20.04

THIS WILL REMOVE EVERYTHING INSIDE THAT DISTRO!

And it's not recoverable. Make sure to backup!