Using cygwin X in WSL1 and MingW (and others)

Cygwin comes with an X Server that can be useful with tools other than Cygwin itself. With a few modifications, we can add cygwin's X Server support to other shell implementations including cygwin, mingw64 (such as git for windows), msys2, WSL1, WSL2, and others.

With a few minor modifications, we can save the DISPLAY variable to files accessible by any shell. Once the DISPLAY value is accessible, an rc file can load it and it will automatically be used.

Optionally, we can even add a "one click" link to the start menu to start the xserver

TL;DR

Open Command Prompt

mkdir C:\cygwin64
powershell -NoProfile -Command "Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://cygwin.com/setup-x86_64.exe" -OutFile "c:\cygwin64\setup-x86_64.exe"
cd \cygwin64
setup-x86_64.exe -l C:\cygwin64\packages -qnNd -P xorg-server -P xinit -P libiconv
.\bin\bash.exe -l

Now that you are in cygwin bash

cd /
curl -LO https://gist.githubusercontent.com/andyneff/712b2b02e1757f23526776a997856c29/raw/startx.bat
curl -LO https://gist.github.com/andyneff/712b2b02e1757f23526776a997856c29/raw/startxwin

And Add this to your WSL .bashrc

if [ -f ~/.displayrc ]; then
  source ~/.displayrc
  # This prevents an annoying Terminal hang every time an ssh client tried to access a dead X session
  if ! timeout 1 xhost &> /dev/null; then
    unset DISPLAY
    rm ~/.displayrc
  fi
fi

Finally run: C:\cygwin64\startx.bat

Getting started

1. Download cygwin installer and place it in C:\cygwin64\setup-x86_64.exe

2. Open up a command prompt to C:\cygwin64 and run: setup-x86_64.exe -l C:\cygwin64\packages -qnNd -P xorg-server -P xinit -P libiconv (all you need to do is click Next and Pick the mirrors. The required packages will already be selected)

3. Download these two files (startx.bat and startxwin and put them in C:\cywin64\. (If you put them somewhere else, you will need to update the first two %~dp0s in startx.bat to point to C:\cywin64\)

   • Recommended way:
   • Start Cygwin

   cd /
   curl -LO https://gist.githubusercontent.com/andyneff/712b2b02e1757f23526776a997856c29/raw/startx.bat
   curl -LO https://gist.github.com/andyneff/712b2b02e1757f23526776a997856c29/raw/startxwin
   

4. Edit your .bashrc (Your WSL bashrc, for example) to include the following (other other rc files if you don't use bash)

   if [ -f ~/.displayrc ]; then
     source ~/.displayrc
   fi

5. (Optional) There are other ways to do this, but here is one way to add a shortcut to your start menu

   • Create a shortcut to startx.bat (anywhere, your Desktop for example). Name it and give it the icon you want
   • Move the shortcut to one of the two locations:
     • C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu (for all users, need admin access)
     • C:\%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu (for just you)
   • Now the shortcut will show up on your Start Menu under Recently Added
     • Sometimes you need to type in the name to search for it. If you named the shortcut "StartX", type that in to find it
     • 
   • Right click the icon, and select "Pin to Start"

6. Run the startx.bat file for the first time. When prompted by Windows Firewall (or your firewall) Allow xwin.exe to communicate on the appropriate networks (Domain and Private, for example. Public networks is strongly discouraged, for privacy and security concerns)

7. Now you should see two in your system tray

FAQ

1. What about WSL2's X Server?
   • I suspect if the WSL2 server leave nothing lacking, this will all become obsolete. Lets hope that happens!
2. Does this work on WSL2?
   • It should...
   • localhost from WSL 2 does not work: microsoft/WSL#4619
   • IP for vEthernet (WSL) is used instead of localhost
     • If there are multiple Network adapters with WSL in the name, this could cause error.
3. What about WSL2 with VPN?
   • There are many things that can go wrong with WSL2 on VPN, and many of them will need to be solved manually. The most extreme would be to use VPN Kit to add internet to WSL2