Prelude

The Windows Subsystem for Linux lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment — including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications — directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a virtual machine.

WSL empowers you to:

• Choose your favorite GNU/Linux distributions(Arch Linux, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Kali, Debian, Fedora, Pengwin and others).
• Run common command-line free software such as grep, sed, awk, or other ELF-64 binaries.
• Run Bash shell scripts and GNU/Linux command-line applications
• Install additional software using own GNU/Linux distribution package manager.
• Invoke Windows applications using a Unix-like command-line shell.
• Invoke GNU/Linux applications on Windows.

With such power in our hands, we can, therefore, accomplish a lot without having to worry about installing a hypervisor so that we enjoy the goodies of Linux. Once you have your Windows 10 installed and ready, follow the steps below and you are going to have Arch Linux flavor in it.

Step 1: Install the Windows Subsystem for Linux

This is a feature that enables Windows to “host” Linux withing itself. To enable this feature, you can either run a PowerShell command or follow the GUI steps below.

Option 1: Run Powershell command

Open up your PowerShell as Administrator and run the command below

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

Optional 2: Follow the screenshots as illustrated in your desktop

Hit your Windows Key and type in “Control” to search for “Control Panel“.

Once it shows up, click on it to open the application.

Click on “Programs“.

Once within “Programs“, click on “Turn Windows Features on or off“

That will open a small pop up window titled “Windows Features“. Scroll down till you see “Windows Subsystem for Linux“. Click on the check-box to check that option then click on “OK“. This will prompt you to restart your computer. Be good and obey the order. Once you have reboot your computer, proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Head over to GitHub to download ArchWSL

Click on this link to fetch ArchWSL from GitHub. Click on the ZIP file to download it.

Step 3: Extract the downloaded file

Once the file has been successfully downloaded, simply extract it to obtain the application that we are interested in.

Step 4: Click on the Arch.exe application

Now it is time to have our application installed and have Arch beasting on our desktop. Double click the application file and it will open up a command-line like window as shown below.

Once the installation is complete, you should see a message as illustrated below. Press any key and there we are, our application (ArchWSL) is installed.

Step 5: Launch the application

Simply click on the application again and you should have Arch Linux console waiting for your commands.

Using Scoop

scoop bucket add extras
scoop install archwsl

Exe usage:

Usage :
    <no args>
      - Open a new shell with your default settings.

    run <command line>
      - Run the given command line in that instance. Inherit current directory.

    runp <command line (includes windows path)>
      - Run the given command line in that instance after converting its path.

    config [setting [value]]
      - `--default-user <user>`: Set the default user of this instance to <user>.
      - `--default-uid <uid>`: Set the default user uid of this instance to <uid>.
      - `--append-path <true|false>`: Switch of Append Windows PATH to $PATH
      - `--mount-drive <true|false>`: Switch of Mount drives
      - `--default-term <default|wt|flute>`: Set default type of terminal window.

    get [setting]
      - `--default-uid`: Get the default user uid in this instance.
      - `--append-path`: Get true/false status of Append Windows PATH to $PATH.
      - `--mount-drive`: Get true/false status of Mount drives.
      - `--wsl-version`: Get the version os the WSL (1/2) of this instance.
      - `--default-term`: Get Default Terminal type of this instance launcher.
      - `--lxguid`: Get WSL GUID key for this instance.

    backup [contents]
      - `--tar`: Output backup.tar to the current directory.
      - `--reg`: Output settings registry file to the current directory.

    clean
      - Uninstall that instance.

    help
      - Print this usage message.

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Conclusion

It is time to enjoy your Arch instance while in your Windows environment and we hope it will be fun. You can go ahead and install your favorite shell if you are not a fan of Bash, and other modifications as you please. All in all, it is our hope that the article was helpful and enjoyable. You can also consider reading other guides outlined below

How To Install Snap on Arch Linux / Manjaro

How To Install Podman on Arch Linux / Manjaro

Install Terraform on Ubuntu / Debian / CentOS / Fedora / Arch Linux

Arch Linux vs Manjaro – Why I Use Arch / Manjaro Linux

How to install Chef Development Kit on Arch Linux