# WSL

First open Powershell as administrator and launch the following command:

```powershell
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
```

This command will install WSL on your computer. After this, you'll need to ==**reboot**==.

## Upgrade to WSL 2

If you're on WSL 1 and want to upgrade to WSL 2, here is the process:

1. Open an elevated powershell and paste the following command:

    ```powershell
    dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
    ```

2. Then, enable the Virtual Machine Platform optional feature.

    ```powershell
    dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart
    ```

3. Now restart your computer to apply these features. Once it's done, open an elevated powershell again and set the default wsl version to 2

    ```sh
    wsl --set-default-version 2
    ```

!!! warning "You might see this message after running the command above"
    WSL 2 requires an update to its kernel component.
    For information please visit [wsl2kernel](https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel).

If you install the MSI from [wsl2kernel](https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel). Once you have the kernel installed, please run `wsl --set-default-version 2` again and it should complete successfully without showing the message.

## Start WSL

After reboot, open the microsoft store and install the distribution of your choice, for instance: ==Ubuntu 20.04 lts==. Once it's done, open it and after a few minutes you'll be prompted for the creation of a user account.

To make sure it's correctly installed and working, you can open Powershell and paste the following command :

```powershell
wsl.exe --list --running
```

Now you should see the name of your distribution in the list. And follow [set_up_your_environment](setup_your_environment.md#install-your-linux-distribution)