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X Linux on WSL Guide

This guide describes how to build, import, and run X Linux on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Prerequisites

  • Windows 10/11 with WSL enabled.
    • Install WSL via PowerShell (Admin): wsl --install
  • A Linux environment (VM or another WSL distro) to run the build script, as archiso tools are required.

1. Build the WSL Image

From this repository on your Linux machine:

chmod +x xbuildwsl.sh
sudo ./xbuildwsl.sh

This will create the file out-wsl/x-YYYY.MM.DD.tar.zst.

2. Copy the Image to Windows

Move the tarball to a location accessible by Windows (e.g., C:\Users\YourUser\Downloads\).

3. Import into WSL

The built image is compressed with Zstandard (.tar.zst) for better compression. WSL does not support importing .tar.zst files directly. You need to decompress it first or pipe the content.

Option A: Simplified Import in the same folder of the file (Recommended)

  1. if you have wsl2 installed:
wsl --import x C:\WSL\x x-2026.01.31.tar.zst
  1. if you`re without wsl2 but also you want to specify this:
wsl --import x C:\WSL\x x-2026.01.31.tar.zst --version 2

Option A: Decompress First (Recommended)

  1. Decompress the file using a tool like 7-Zip or zstd command line on Windows:

    zstd -d x-2024.10.01.tar.zst

    This will produce x-2024.10.01.tar.

  2. Import the .tar file:

    # Usage: wsl --import <DistroName> <InstallLocation> <PathToTarball>
wsl --import x C:\WSL\x C:\Users\YourUser\Downloads\x-2024.10.01.tar

Option B: Pipe Import (Advanced)

If you have zstd installed in another WSL distro or Windows, you might be able to pipe it, but Option A is safer.

  • : Name you want to give the distro (e.g., x).
  • : Disk path where the VHDX file will be stored.
  • : Path to the .tar file (after decompression).

4. Run X Linux

Start your new distribution:

wsl -d x-linux

5. Post-Import Configuration

Since the import creates a root shell by default, you may want to create a regular user:

  1. Create User:

    useradd -m -G wheel -s /bin/bash yourusername
passwd yourusername
passwd # Set root password

  2. Configure Sudo: Uncomment the %wheel group line in /etc/sudoers:

    EDITOR=nano visudo
# Uncomment: %wheel ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

  3. Set Default User (Optional): Create a /etc/wsl.conf file to auto-login as your user:

    [user]
default=yourusername

    Then restart WSL (wsl --shutdown in PowerShell).

Enjoy X Linux on WSL!