WSL is a compatibility layer developed by Microsoft to run Linux executables natively on Windows.
Microsoft unveiled through a blog post the launch of the new version of its layer to run Linux applications on Windows "WSL 2.0" (Windows Subsystem for Linux) and among the most notable changes are the update of the Linux Kernel to version 5.15.123.1-1, experimental configurations and more.
For those who are unaware of WSL, you should know that this is a compatibility layer that Microsoft implemented in Windows so that it can run Linux applications natively.
To achieve this, WSL has a full Linux kernel environment that is extended with WSL-specific patches, including optimizations to reduce kernel startup time, reduce memory consumption, and return Windows memory freed by Windows processes. Linux, leaving the minimum required set of drivers and subsystems in the kernel.
Main new features of WSL 2.0
In this new version that is presented of WSL 2.0 comes with adding various experimental setups of which the experimental configuration stands out, for example. networkingMode, which when set to "mirrored", mirroring Windows network interfaces on Linux is used to ensure network access, rather than using an address translator.
About this experimental configuration, it is mentioned that the new mode features the ability to use IPv6 and Multicast, improved VPN compatibility, support for direct connection to WSL from a local network and support for connecting to Windows servers using localhost (127.0.0.1).
Another experimental configuration that stands out is that of dnsTunneling that allows forwarding DNS requests via the Windows platform-provided resolver, as well as an experimental firewall configuration, which includes using Windows Firewall and Hyper-V Firewall rules to filter traffic in a Linux environment.
In addition to this, it also highlights a performance improvement in WSL 2.0, this is due to the autoMemoryReclaim experimental setup (added to %USERPROFILE%\.wslconfig), which enables automatic freeing of memory occupied by caches on Linux after the processor is idle for 5 minutes. The memory freed in the Linux environment is returned to the main Windows environment, i.e. Linux virtual machines that are not used automatically begin to consume less memory.
On the other hand, andn WSL 2.0 added the sparseVhd experimental setup, which allows automatic reduction of the size of new VHD images. Just as VHD images can automatically grow when the amount of data increases in a Linux environment, they can now also shrink when data is removed from a Linux environment. To enable “sparse” mode for existing distributions, the “–set-sparse” option is proposed, for example “wsl –manage –set-sparse ».
De the other changes that stand out of the new version of WSL 2.0:
- Added an experimental autoProxy configuration, which adds the ability to use information about Windows HTTP proxy settings in a Linux environment.
- For graphical applications launched using WSL, support for docking windows using the “WIN + one of the cursor keys” keyboard shortcut has been implemented.
- All executable files distributed through the WSL package are electronically signed.
The Linux kernel used in the WSL environment has been updated to version 5.15.123. - Fixed microk8s scenario for mirrored networks
Shared mounts can now be created when init sets the distribution namespace - Detached user lock devices before terminating the VM
- Solution to a possible failure of wslservice.exe.
- Added logic to generate a systemd unit to protect the binfmt interpreter
- The WSLg minidistribution, which provides graphics stack components for organizing the launch of GUI applications, has been updated to version 1.0.57.
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