Welcome Windows users! Your operating system comes from a different lineage than most operating systems. Windows has its roots in MS-DOS and Windows NT, while macOS and Linux both are "Unix" style operating systems. We will be using the Unix command line in this course so everyone in class is using the same command line tools and programs. Windows does not include a unix style system by default, so we are going to use an add-on piece of Microsoft Technology called "Windows Subsystem for Linux" (WSL).
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a Linux Virtual Computer that you run on your PC. It gives you all the same tools and command line utilities that your mac and Linux-using classmates use.
To install WSL you must have a specific version of Windows 10.
For x64 systems: Version 1903 or higher, with Build 18362 or higher.
If you do not have this version or cannot update to this version, please contact an instructor.
Future versions of Windows will include an automatic installer for WSL, but for now you will have to use the manual install instructions:
Windows Subsystem for Linux Installation Guide for Windows 10
Follow this guide to install WSL 2 and Ubuntu Linux.
You will launch the Ubuntu terminal when the instructions in our curriculum tell you to open a Terminal.
You should always store your code files in your Ubuntu home directory and not in your Windows users home directory on your C: drive. Many of the tools we use will perform better and be more stable if the files exist on the Ubuntu filesystem.
If you do need to access the files in your Ubuntu home directory from Windows
Explorer you can type Windows + R to bring up the run command dialog and type
\\wsl$\home\<your-user> replacing your-user with your Ubuntu user name (you
can find this out by typing whoami at your Ubuntu terminal prompt.)
If you want to access your Windows hard drive from Ubuntu you can use the path
/mnt/c inside of the Ubuntu virtual machine.
If you ever need to restart the Ubuntu virtual machine, you need to open a Powershell window and run the following command:
wsl --shutdownNext time you open the Ubuntu terminal it will start the virtual machine back up.
Now that you have WSL installed you can install all the rest of these tools in this order:
Note: Even if you have some of the software listed above already installed, it is still necessary to read through all of the instructions. You may need to upgrade to a new software version, or change some configurations.
Watch this video walkthrough of the Windows 10 Setup