Full desktop shell in WSL2 using WSLg (XWayland)

Note

If you want to use Wayland in WSLg in a simpler setup, you can try the WSLg (Wayland) tutorial.

In this tutorial, we will setup GUI in WSL2. No additional software outside WSL (like VcXsrv or GWSL) is required. You will find this tutorial very similar to the one that replaces Xorg with Xvnc. Indeed, it's pretty much the same tutorial, with some few changes.

The key component we need to install is the desktop metapackage you want (GNOME, KDE, Xfce, Budgie, etc), and after that, replace the default Xorg by a script that calls Xwayland instead.

For this setup, I will use Ubuntu 24.04, and install GNOME Desktop. Unfortunately older versions of Ubuntu lack some fundamental things, so we cannot reproduce it in older versions (at least not fully). Since the key components aren't bound to Ubuntu or GNOME, you can use your favorite distro and GUI. Check the Sample screenshots section for examples.

So let's go. First, we need a working WSL2 installation.

Warning

WSLg may not work as expected, since Wayland sockets are disabled for everyone, and not every app can handle this. But if you want to use Wayland apps natively, you can use the command export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$HOME/runtime-dir and then start your WSLg app.

Before going to real business, let's make sure we are updated.

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

You also need to make sure /etc/wsl.conf have the following lines:

[boot]
systemd=true

If not, create/edit this file, add these lines and restart WSL (for example, using wsl.exe --shutdown, then reopening the distro terminal).

Now we are ready to go.

Installing components

Installing GUI

1. First you select your favorite desktop environment metapackage. Here is a list of the most common metapackages:

   Distro	Desktop Environment	Metapackage
   Ubuntu	Budgie	ubuntu-budgie-desktop (currently very buggy, I don't recommend using it)
   	GNOME	ubuntu-desktop
   	KDE	kubuntu-desktop
   	Kylin	ubuntukylin-desktop
   	LXDE	lubuntu-desktop
   	MATE	ubuntu-mate-desktop
   	Studio	ubuntustudio-desktop
   	Unity	ubuntu-unity-desktop
   	Xfce	xubuntu-desktop
   Ubuntu/Debian	Cinnamon	task-cinnamon-desktop
   	GNOME	task-gnome-desktop
   	GNOME Flashback	task-gnome-flashback-desktop
   	KDE Plasma	task-kde-desktop
   	LXDE	task-lxde-desktop
   	LXQt	task-lxqt-desktop
   	MATE	task-mate-desktop
   	Xfce	task-xfce-desktop

2. Once you have chosen the metapackage, let's install it. For example, if you choose ubuntu-desktop, the command will be:

   sudo apt install ubuntu-desktop xwayland
   

   This will install the ubuntu-desktop and xwayland (if not already included as dependency for your metapackage). The installation will take a while, so be patient.

3. If in Ubuntu, you may want to install snap-store. If you don't need it, you can skip this step:

   sudo snap install snap-store
   

Configuring the environment

If you are using Debian, you need to configure the locale (this is not needed in Ubuntu):

echo "LANG=en_US.UTF-8" | sudo tee -a /etc/default/locale

Create and modify services

1. Now we have everything installed, we need to fix the directory /tmp/.X11-unix/, because it's mounted as read-only by default. We will create a new systemd unit:

   sudo systemctl edit --full --force wslg-fix.service
   

2. Paste the code below in the editor:

   [Service]
   Type=oneshot
   ExecStart=-/usr/bin/umount /tmp/.X11-unix
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/rm -rf /tmp/.X11-unix
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/mkdir /tmp/.X11-unix
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/chmod 1777 /tmp/.X11-unix
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/ln -s /mnt/wslg/.X11-unix/X0 /tmp/.X11-unix/X0
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/chmod 0777 /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir
   ExecStart=/usr/bin/chmod 0666 /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/wayland-0.lock
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

3. Exit the editor saving the changes to the file.

4. Let's enable wslg-fix.service:

   sudo systemctl enable wslg-fix.service
   

5. We also need to remove all references to Wayland, because if not, some apps (gnome-terminal, for example) will open outside the desktop shell. We will edit the user-runtime-dir@.service service:

   sudo systemctl edit user-runtime-dir@.service
   

6. Paste the code below in the editor:

   [Service]
   ExecStartPost=-/usr/bin/rm -f /run/user/%i/wayland-0 /run/user/%i/wayland-0.lock
   

Warning

Please read the editor instructions about the correct place to position the text cursor before pasting. If you paste the code in the wrong place, it will be discarded.

7. Exit the editor saving the changes to the file.

8. Now we will change the default startup target, because if not, a shell window will appear everytime you start your distro (for example, opening a Terminal of your distro in Windows).

   sudo systemctl set-default multi-user.target
   

Replacing default Xorg by XWayland

By default, the display manager call multiple Xorg instances, one for each user session, including the login screen, provided by GDM (if you are using the GDM as your display manager, of course). So we will replace Xorg script by a new version which calls Xwayland instead the classic Xorg. This is the real magic we are trying to do.

1. First, let's backup the original Xorg script.

   sudo mv /usr/bin/Xorg /usr/bin/Xorg.original
   

2. Then, we create a new Xorg script.

   sudo nano /usr/bin/Xorg.Xwayland
   

3. Paste the code below in the editor:

   #!/bin/bash
   for arg do
     shift
     case $arg in
       # Xwayland doesn't support vtxx argument. So we convert to ttyxx instead
       vt*)
         set -- "$@" "${arg//vt/tty}"
         ;;
       # -keeptty is not supported at all by Xwayland
       -keeptty)
         ;;
       # -novtswitch is not supported at all by Xwayland
       -novtswitch)
         ;;
       # other arguments are kept intact
       *)
         set -- "$@" "$arg"
         ;;
     esac
   done
   
   # Check if the runtime dir is present, and create it if not
   if [ ! -d $HOME/runtime-dir ]
   then
    mkdir $HOME/runtime-dir
    ln -s /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/wayland-0 /mnt/wslg/runtime-dir/wayland-0.lock $HOME/runtime-dir/
   fi
   
   # Point the XDG_RUNTIME_DIR variable to $HOME/runtime-dir
   export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$HOME/runtime-dir
   
   # Find an available display number
   for displayNumber in $(seq 1 100)
   do
     [ ! -e /tmp/.X11-unix/X$displayNumber ] && break
   done
   
   # Here you can change or add options to fit your needs
   command=("/usr/bin/Xwayland" ":${displayNumber}" "-geometry" "1920x1080" "-fullscreen" "$@")
   
   systemd-cat -t /usr/bin/Xorg echo "Starting Xwayland:" "${command[@]}"
   
   exec "${command[@]}"
   

   Please note the resolution of the virtual screen. You can change that to fit your needs (1366x768, 3840x2160, etc).

4. Exit the editor saving the changes.

5. Finally, we set the correct permissions for the file and create a link to it:

   sudo chmod 0755 /usr/bin/Xorg.Xwayland
   sudo ln -sf Xorg.Xwayland /usr/bin/Xorg
   

Warning

Sometimes, system updates replace Xorg link with the original version. Just repeat this step if this happens, and Xwayland will work again as Xorg replacement.

Configuring the monitor resolution under GDM and GNOME

Currently, one of the annoying things is the resolution of Xwayland. Even with the -geometry switch, GDM and GNOME don't not respect it. Fortunately, this can be overriden by creating a monitors.xml file. Let's do it then.

1. First, we create it in the current user directory:

   mkdir ~/.config
   nano ~/.config/monitors.xml
   

2. Paste the code below in the editor (here it is configured for a 1920x1080 resolution, so change it to reflect your resolution if necessary):

   <monitors version="2">
     <configuration>
       <logicalmonitor>
         <x>0</x>
         <y>0</y>
         <scale>1</scale>
         <primary>yes</primary>
         <monitor>
           <monitorspec>
             <connector>XWAYLAND0</connector>
             <vendor>unknown</vendor>
             <product>unknown</product>
             <serial>unknown</serial>
           </monitorspec>
           <mode>
             <width>1920</width>
             <height>1080</height>
             <rate>59.963</rate>
           </mode>
         </monitor>
       </logicalmonitor>
     </configuration>
   </monitors>

3. Exit the editor saving the changes to the file.

4. Now let's copy this file to GDM's home directory:

   sudo mkdir /var/lib/gdm3/.config
   sudo cp ~/.config/monitors.xml /var/lib/gdm3/.config/
   

5. Finally, we set the correct permissions to the monitors.xml of GDM user:

   sudo chown -R gdm:gdm /var/lib/gdm3/.config/
   

6. Restart WSL using wsl.exe --shutdown, then reopen your distro terminal.

Running your distro with GUI enabled

Now you have everything ready to start. Just do the following command:

sudo systemctl start graphical.target

After a while (usually a few seconds, but it can take more if you don't have a SSD), the login screen must appear.

After logging in, the logged user's desktop must appear. When you log out, the screen will show the login interface again. This applies to GDM (which is the case if you installed Ubuntu Desktop). In GDM, you can change this behavior changing the configuration file like this:

1. sudo nano /etc/gdm3/custom.conf

2. Uncomment and edit the following lines:

    AutomaticLoginEnable=true
    AutomaticLogin=[your username without the brackets]
   

Shutting down

One important thing is: once you start your WSL instance, you cannot just stop it. You must perform a standard Linux shutdown. You can do one of the alternatives below:

• Power off option on GUI menu
• sudo poweroff

After doing that, you can safely shut down your WSL instance, either by wsl.exe --terminate or wsl.exe --shutdown. Not doing the shutdown process may cause damage to your WSL instance. So be careful.

Troubleshooting

1. If it doesn't work at first, try to check your journalctl logs:

   journalctl -b -t /usr/lib/gdm3/gdm-x-session -t /usr/bin/Xorg --no-pager
   

   If you are using Debian, then the command is:

   journalctl -b -t /usr/libexec/gdm-x-session -t /usr/bin/Xorg --no-pager
   

   In the output, you must see what command line was generated for Xwayland, and which error messages appear. Of course, even if it works correctly, you can check the logs just to see what is happening, or for debugging.

2. You must check if the custom Xorg script was not replaced by the default version of it. If it was the case, just repeat the steps of Replacing default Xorg by Xwayland section.

3. Check if Xorg is your default display server, not Xephyr or Wayland. If it's not, you must change it to have Xorg as your default display server.

4. If you are using LightDM, you also need to check logs at /var/log/lightdm (you will need to use sudo to cat files in that directory). The Xwayland output will be in the file /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log.

5. If it still doesn't work, you can try to restart WSL with wsl.exe --shutdown (don't forget to save everything that is unsaved before, because WSL will shut down completely), then open your distro terminal again and repeat the steps of section Running your distro with GUI enabled.

Sample screenshots

GDM

LightDM (Kubuntu)

GNOME

KDE (Kubuntu)

LXDE (Lubuntu)

Xfce (Xubuntu)

Contributors

Thanks to this guys, whose feedback made this tutorial reach the current level of quality and completeness (and it will be more and more complete as more feedback is given).

• asoretmadolell