Develop with Ubuntu on WSL

Ubuntu on WSL can be used as a powerful development environment on Windows and offers excellent integration with developer tools like Visual Studio Code.

What you will learn

• Installing WSL and Ubuntu on WSL from the terminal

• Setting up Visual Studio Code for remote development with Ubuntu on WSL

• Creating a basic Node.js webserver on Ubuntu using Visual Studio Code

• Previewing HTML served from an Ubuntu WSL instance in a native browser on Windows

What you will need

• A machine running Windows 10 or 11

Install Ubuntu on WSL

Install WSL

Open a PowerShell prompt as an Administrator and run:

> wsl --install

This command will enable the features necessary to run WSL and installs the latest Ubuntu distribution available for WSL.

As this step creates an Ubuntu instance, you will be prompted to create a username and password. An Ubuntu terminal will then open automatically.

Changing from PowerShell to Ubuntu is indicated by a change in the terminal prompt.

PowerShell prompt:

PS C:\Users\username>

Ubuntu prompt:

username@pc:~$

To exit the Ubuntu terminal, type the exit command and execute it by pressing enter, which will return you to the PowerShell prompt.

Tip

It is recommended to reboot your machine after this initial installation to complete the setup.

Install a specific version of Ubuntu on WSL

There are multiple ways of installing Ubuntu on WSL, here we focus on using the terminal. For more detail on installation methods for Ubuntu on WSL, refer to our dedicated installation guide.

To install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, run the following command in a PowerShell terminal:

> wsl --install Ubuntu-24.04

You’ll see an indicator of the installation progress in the terminal:

Installing: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
[==========================72,0%==========                 ]

Note

WSL supports a variety of Ubuntu releases. Read our reference on distributions of Ubuntu on WSL for more information.

Run a specific Ubuntu version

Use wsl -l -v to list all your installed distros and the version of WSL that they are using:

  NAME            STATE           VERSION
  Ubuntu          Stopped         2
* Ubuntu-24.04    Stopped         2

Two instances of Ubuntu are installed:

1. The default Ubuntu version that was installed automatically when you installed WSL

2. The numbered Ubuntu version that you installed manually

You can open a specific instance from PowerShell using its NAME:

> wsl ~ -d Ubuntu-24.04

The ~ is passed to the wsl command to start the instance in the Ubuntu home directory, the -d flag is added before specifying a distro.

Install Visual Studio Code on Windows

One of the advantages of WSL is its integration with native Windows applications, such as Visual Studio Code.

Search for “Visual Studio Code” in the Microsoft Store and install it.

Alternatively, you can install Visual Studio Code from the web link.

During installation, under the ‘Additional Tasks’ step, ensure the Add to PATH option is checked.

Once the installation is complete, open Visual Studio Code.

Install the Remote Development Extension

Navigate to the Extensions menu in the sidebar and search for Remote Development.

This is an extension pack that allows you to open any folder in a container, remote machine, or in WSL. Alternatively, you can just install Remote - WSL.

Once installed you can test the development environment by creating an example local web server with Node.js

Install Node.js and create a new project

Open an Ubuntu terminal using the wsl ~ -d Ubuntu24.04 command.

Ensure the packages in Ubuntu are up-to-date with the following command:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Next, install Node.js and npm:

$ sudo apt-get install nodejs
$ sudo apt install npm

Create a directory for your server.

$ mkdir serverexample/

Change into that directory:

$ cd serverexample/

Then open the directory in Visual Studio Code:

$ code .

The first time you do run code from Ubuntu, it will trigger a download of the necessary dependencies:

Once complete, your native version of Visual Studio Code will open the folder.

Creating a basic web server

In Visual Studio Code, create a new package.json file and add the following text:

{
    "name": "Demo",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "description": "demo project.",
    "scripts": {
        "lite": "lite-server --port 10001",
        "start": "npm run lite"
    }, 
    "author": "",
    "license": "ISC",
    "devDependencies": {
        "lite-server": "^1.3.1"
    }
}

Save the file and then — in the same folder — create a new one called index.html

Add the following text, then save and close:

<h1>Hello World</h1>

Now return to your Ubuntu terminal (or use the Visual Studio Code terminal window) and type the following to install a server defined by the above specifications detailed in package.json:

$ npm install

Finally, type the following to launch the web server:

$ npm start

You can now navigate to localhost:10001 in your native Windows web browser by using CTRL+LeftClick on the terminal links.

That’s it!

By using Ubuntu on WSL you’re able to take advantage of the latest Node.js packages available on Linux as well as the more streamlined command line tools.

Enjoy Ubuntu on WSL!

In this tutorial, we’ve shown you how to connect the Windows version of Visual Studio Code to your Ubuntu on WSL filesystem and launch a basic Node.js webserver.

We hope you enjoy using Ubuntu inside WSL. Don’t forget to check out our other tutorials for tips on how to optimise your WSL setup for Data Science.

Further Reading

• Install Ubuntu on WSL2

• Microsoft WSL Documentation

• Setting up WSL for Data Science

• Ask Ubuntu