WSL Quick Dev Setup

Make sure virtualization is enabled:

Open Task Manager
Performance Tab
Select CPU
Check for "Virtualization Enabled"

If virtualization is not enabled

You will need to boot into your EFI/BIOS setup screen and enable it. This is different for every manufacturer.

Install Ubuntu WSL

wsl --install

Reboot

This usually requires a reboot. When the PC reboots be looking for an Ubuntu window to automatically open.

Don't close it by accident!

Set up username/password

Set a username and password for your Linux system. Remember this username and password!

Change default terminal profile

Press Control+, to get to the settings
Change the default profile to Ubuntu
Click Save
Close the settings tab

Install apt packages

sudo apt update

sudo apt install -y build-essential git python-is-python3 python3-venv zip unzip tree

Setup git name and email address

Replace the bits in <> with your own information

git config --global user.name "<firstname lastname>"
git config --global user.email "<youremail@yourdomain.com>"

Install and switch to zsh

sudo apt install -y zsh
chsh -s /bin/zsh

Close the terminal and reopen it to use ZSH

zsh-newuser-install.
You are seeing this message because you have no zsh startup files
(the files .zshenv, .zprofile, .zshrc, .zlogin in the directory
~).  This function can help you with a few settings that should
make your use of the shell easier.

You can:

(q)  Quit and do nothing.  The function will be run again next time.

(0)  Exit, creating the file ~/.zshrc containing just a comment.
     That will prevent this function being run again.

(1)  Continue to the main menu.

(2)  Populate your ~/.zshrc with the configuration recommended
     by the system administrator and exit (you will need to edit
     the file by hand, if so desired).

--- Type one of the keys in parentheses ---

At this prompt choose option 2.

Install fnm and nodejs

# installs fnm (Fast Node Manager)
curl -fsSL https://fnm.vercel.app/install | bash

# download and install Node.js
fnm use --install-if-missing 20

# verifies the right Node.js version is in the environment
node -v # should print `v20.14.0`

# verifies the right NPM version is in the environment
npm -v # should print `10.7.0`

Create a new projects directory for WSL.

mkdir ~/projects

From now on you will put any new projects in this new folder.

Instal VSCode WSL extension and reinstall other extension inside WSL

open VSCode
Search for the extension: WSL by microsoft
Install it.
Install any other extensions you were previously using in WSL (Python extension etc)
Close vscode

To test, create a sample project in your projects directory

# Change into yoru projects dir
cd ~/projects
# make a directory
mkdir test-project
# Change into it
cd test-projects
# create an empty python file
touch hello.py
# Open vscode
code .

Put some python code into the hello.py file and verify you can run the code.

You can also test making a virtual environment. From now on you will use the same commands as the macOS user have been using.

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Test pip installing something, perhaps rich or you could also pip install django or anything else really.

Once you've tested this you can remove this test-project folder.

Customize your prompt (Optional)

There's two options for this, one is using the built in capabilities of zsh to configure a prompt

The other is to install starship, a customizable prompt program and replace the zsh prompt.

Only choose one of the following options:

Setup a zsh prompt to show git info (Option 1)

You can do this or setup the starship prompt below

Edit your ~/.zshrc file and add the following lines:

# Load the vcs_info module, which shows version control system info (like git branch, status, etc.)
autoload -Uz vcs_info

# Hook the vcs_info function into the "precmd" function, which runs right before the prompt is displayed.
# This ensures the version control information is updated before each new prompt.
precmd() { vcs_info }

# Enable vcs_info for git repositories. It tells vcs_info to gather information specifically for git.
zstyle ':vcs_info:*' enable git

# Customize the format of the vcs_info display.
# %F{cyan} sets the text color to cyan. %s shows the VCS (version control system) type.
# %b shows the branch name, and %f resets the text color. %u and %c show the staged and unstaged changes.
zstyle ':vcs_info:*' formats "%F{cyan}(%s) %b%f %u %c "

# Check for uncommitted changes in the working directory before each prompt.
zstyle ':vcs_info:*' check-for-changes true

# Customize the display for staged changes in green.
zstyle ':vcs_info:*' stagedstr '%F{green}(staged)%f'

# Customize the display for unstaged (modified) changes in red.
zstyle ':vcs_info:*' unstagedstr '%F{red}(modified)%f'

# Enable the prompt to be re-evaluated every time it is displayed. This allows dynamic content like vcs_info to be updated.
setopt prompt_subst

# Update the shell prompt (PS1) to include the vcs_info output.
# ${vcs_info_msg_0_} contains the vcs_info message (like git branch and status).
# %F{green}%/%f shows the current working directory in green. 
# %F{yellow}%#%f shows the prompt symbol (# for root, % for normal users) in yellow.
PS1='${vcs_info_msg_0_}
%F{green}%/%f
%F{yellow}%#%f '

After restarting your terminal you should see a nicer more colorful prompt

Install starship prompt (Option 2)

curl -sS https://starship.rs/install.sh | sh

Open your ~/.zshrc file in vscode

code ~/.zshrc

Remove these lines from the top of your .zshrc file

autoload -Uz promptinit
promptinit
prompt adam1:w

And add the following line in it's place

eval "$(starship init zsh)"

Save the file, close vscode and your terminal, and open a new terminal to activate starship.

Accessing your files from Windows.

Check out this link from Microsoft https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/filesystems

Accessing old projects

This is easy, you can just clone them down again in your new projects folder.

cd ~/projects
git clone <git clone url here>

Other odds end ends

Setting up SSH key

If you've been using SSH keys for git, you will need to go through the process of generating a new key.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519

You can set a passphrase or leave it empty, it's up to you.

Then grab the public key and put it on your clipboard

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Then paste it into github or gitlab or whereever you need to use it.

bartdorsey/wsl-quick-dev-setup.md