Running Orange in WSL 2 (Windows)

[fahminlb33]

I wanted to share my tips on how to install Orange in Windows inside WSL 2. I come up with this idea because I had several problems with Orange before (#5535, #5540) and couldn't figure out how to solve them in Windows without making some complicated changes to my system.

Here's how to do it:

Setup

1. Setup WSL 2 on your PC (https://docs.microsoft.com/windows/wsl/install-win10)
2. Install Ubuntu app from Microsoft Store
3. Install vcXsrv (https://sourceforge.net/projects/vcxsrv/), you can use other tools like Xming or Cygwin/X too

Running vcXsrv

1. Start vcXsrv by double clicking XLaunch icon
2. Select multiple window, then click Next
3. Select start no client, then click Next
4. Check the Disable access control, then click Next
5. Click Finish, the server is now started in the background

If you get a Windows Firewall notice, allow both private and public network to allow the server to communicate from within WSL 2 and Windows host.

Running Orange

1. Open new bash terminal from start menu, then install Orange (using conda or pip)
2. If you're using Bash, edit the .bashrc and add the following line:

export DISPLAY=$(awk '/nameserver / {print $2; exit}' /etc/resolv.conf 2>/dev/null):0
export LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1

3. Save and then close the bash terminal
4. Open new bash terminal and start orange by running orange-canvas

Orange should be launched in a moment. You can use files from your Windows host too by navigating to Windows mount point such as /mnt/c, but it's better to copy the file from Windows to WSL before using it in Orange.

I like this method because I don't have to worry about Orange compatibility in Windows and also for me Orange runs a bit faster in Linux than in Windows. Hope this helps!

References

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/61110603/how-to-set-up-working-x11-forwarding-on-wsl2