Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2)

The Windows Subsystem for Linux lets developers run a Linux environment directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dualboot setup.

Initial Setup

Some initial setup is required on your Windows system before the Linux environment of your choice can be installed. Before you start this process make sure you have the latest version of Windows 10.

  1. Install Docker Desktop for Windows. This will install WSL2 for you, and also enables us to get a centos7 image later on.

  2. In the Windows Start menu open Turn Windows features on or off.

  3. Make sure Windows System for Linux and Virtual Machine Platform are ticked. Click OK.

If you now open a File Explorer and go to the \\wsl$ directory. This will be the location of your linux subsystem.

Install a Ubuntu-18.04 Subsystem

  1. Go to the Microsoft Store and install Ubuntu 18.04. Notice that a new Ubuntu-18.04 directory has appeared in the \\wsl$ location. This is your Ubuntu 18.04 subsystem.

  2. In the Windows Start menu type Ubuntu 18.04 to open its terminal. If it says you are missing a package then follow the link provided to install this package.

  3. Enter a username and password in the terminal when prompted.

You are now in an Ubuntu 18.04 terminal. Any files in the \\wsl$\Ubuntu-18.04\home\<user name> directory will appear in this Ubuntu environment.

Install a Centos7 Subsystem

  1. Open the Windows command prompt and run the follow to get the latest centos7 image

docker image pull centos:centos7

  1. Then make a *.tar file from this image, where 998e is the first four characters of the text outputted by the docker create command.

docker create -i centos:centos7 bash

docker export 998e > centos7.tar

  1. Finally import the file to the wsl directory:

wsl --import Centos7 .\CentosImage\ centos7.tar

Notice that a new Centos7 directory has appeared in the \\wsl$ location. Any files in the \\wsl$\Centos7\root directory will appear in this Centos7 environment.

Running a Linux Subsystem

You can run either of these linux subsystems from the Windows command prompt using

wsl -d [OS]

where [OS] is replaced by Ubuntu-18.04 or Centos7.

Cloning Mantid

Before you clone Mantid code, follow the getting started instructions to install all of the required dependencies for your linux environment.

The Mantid code can then be retrieved in the usual way using git clone from the Ubuntu or Centos7 terminal. The first time you do this you might need to set up an ssh key for authentication.

You are now ready to CMake and build the Mantid code. Follow the Ubuntu 18.04 or Centos 7 build instructions here.

Using Graphical User Interfaces (GUI)

WSL does not currently support GUIs. In order to display a GUI from an application running in WSL you will need to use an XServer. Failure to do so will result in a crash upon launching workbench.

To use an XServer:

  1. Download a compatible XServer onto the host Windows machine. MobaXterm is recommended and has been confirmed to work with Mantid Workbench.

  2. Install MobaXterm and open the MobaXterm app upon completion. Using the Settings drop down menu select Configure. On the X11 tab ensure that X11 server display mode is set to Multiwindow mode and that X11 remote access is set to full.

  3. The XServer should be running by default - this can be checked by clicking the X server icon in the top right hand corner of the MobaXterm interface.

  4. Configure the DISPLAY variable on WSL. The manner in which this is done differs between WSL1 and WSL2. To check which version you have use the command wsl -l -v in the command prompt on the host machine. If you have WSL1, it is recommended to upgrade to WSL2.

  1. On WSL, use cd to navigate to your home directory containing the .bashrc file.

  2. Using vi .bashrc append the following to the file contents:

    export DISPLAY=$(route.exe print | grep 0.0.0.0 | head -1 | awk ‘{print $4}’):0.0.

  3. Exit and re-enter WSL via the command prompt.

  4. Echo the DISPLAY variable, you should see the value <host machine IP Address>:0.0. You can compare this output IP address to that output when running ipconfig /all through the command line on the host machine.

Tips

  • Make sure you install devtoolset-7 for Centos 7 as described in the provided link before CMake and build.

  • It might also be necessary to install some addition packages for Ubuntu 18.04, including libnexus0-dev.