Microsoft has announced that Windows Server 2022 now supports Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2), allowing users to access more features from Linux distributions.
The company has offered some Linux support for over a decade, but the latest announcement, which goes against the pessimistic predictions of many GitHub users, looks like good luck for Windows server users.
WSL 2, originally released May 2019 (opens in a new tab), uses virtualization technology to run an open-source Linux kernel inside a lightweight utility virtual machine (VM). This allows Windows users to run popular Linux applications such as Docker.
Microsoft says that unlike a traditional virtual machine experience, which it says can be slow to start up, is isolated, resource-intensive, and requires your time to manage, WSL 2 lacks these attributes.
Where can I get the update?
Users who wish to install the upgrade can head here (opens in a new tab)as included in latest Windows Server 2022 KB5014021 (opens in a new tab) update. The update is currently optional, but will automatically roll out to users next month.
Users who want to better understand how to install Linux GUI applications from their command prompt can head here. (opens in a new tab)
However, Windows Server updates have not been without problems over the past few months, with Microsoft having to address various issues caused by the January 2021 Patch Tuesday updates.
The company released an emergency out-of-band (OOB) update to fix bugs that caused domain controllers to endlessly reboot, broke Hyper-V, and made ReFS volumes inaccessible while showing them as file systems RAW.
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