Skip to content

Server WSL 2.0 Install

High-Speed Server Install On Windows 10 & 11

WSL2 is a bare-metal and fast way to run Row64 server on Windows, primarily because it uses hardware virtualization.

It is also the most integrated Linux and Windows experience.

If you are looking for the simplest Windows install, however, please look at our VirtualBox instructions here:
VirtualBox Instructions

#1 Turn On VM Features

In the Windows Search bar (along the task bar), type: Turn Windows features on or off

Check the box: Virtual Machine Platform

#2 Verify Virtualization is Enabled in BIOS

Open Windows Task Manager. In the Performance tab, when the CPU category is selected, see if virtualization is enabled.

If virtualization is not enabled, follow the instructions from the article to enable it:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enable-virtualization-on-windows-c5578302-6e43-4b4b-a449-8ced115f58e1

#3 Open Powershell as Administrator

Search for PowerShell in the Windows Search bar. Before opening PowerShell, right-click the app in the search results and select: Run as administrator.

#4 Install WSL in PowerShell

Use the following command in PowerShell:

wsl --install

After the installation completes, reboot Windows.

#5 Run Ubuntu

The Ubuntu terminal window might automatically open after Windows reboots.

If you need to manually open Ubuntu, search for "Ubuntu" in the Windows Search bar.

#6 Set Up Ubuntu

The Ubuntu terminal will ask you to set up a user. Use the following credentials:

Username: row64
Password: temp7

#7 Update Ubuntu

Check for Ubuntu updates by using the following commands in the terminal:

sudo apt -y update
sudo apt -y upgrade

#8 Install Row64 Server

Go into your home directory:

cd ~

Download the installer:

wget -O row64server-3.5_amd64.deb "https://drive.usercontent.google.com/download?id=1EbegO7wEFuwF5Y29bVGysnv3x2dcAkZz&export=download&confirm=yes"

Run the Installer:

sudo dpkg -i row64server-3.5_amd64.deb

Next, install connectors with Apache Web Server.
From the terminal, run:

sudo python3 /opt/row64server/install/Connect_Ubuntu.py

NOTE: To simplify installation, this .py will install Apache for you.
If you want to install them yourself, you can modify this .py

#9 Run Test Examples in Firefox

Verify that the installation and setup was successful by running test examples. Refer to the corresponding documentation on how to do this:
Running Test Examples

#10 It works!

Using Windows Explorer

WSL enables you to use Windows Explorer to brows Linux files. As an example, in the PowerShell terminal (inside Ubuntu), use the following commands:

cd /var/www
Explorer.exe .