Install WSL (Windows only)

NOTE

On macOS and Linux, skip this page. Your computer can already run everything in this course. Go to Open a terminal.

NanoClaw can't run on Windows by itself. It runs inside WSL, a part of Windows that runs Linux. With WSL you get Ubuntu, a popular version of Linux, running inside Windows like any other app.

You install WSL once. After that, almost everything in this course happens inside Ubuntu: you type your commands into Ubuntu's terminal, and the tools on the next pages are installed in there. The one exception is Docker Desktop, a normal Windows app with its own installer.

This page uses PowerShell, a command window that comes with Windows. It is the only page in the course where you need it.

Check if it's already installed

Click Start and type PowerShell. Right-click Windows PowerShell and choose Run as administrator. Click Yes. Then run:

wsl -l -v

• If you see a list with Ubuntu in it, WSL and Ubuntu are already installed. Check the VERSION column next to Ubuntu: it must say 2. Then skip to step 3 below.
• If it says 1, run wsl --set-version Ubuntu 2 and wait. Version 1 is an older way of running Linux, and some of the programs in this course don't work properly on it. Then skip to step 3 below.
• If you see an error, or a list without Ubuntu, start at step 1.

Install it

1. In the same PowerShell window, type this command and press Enter:

   wsl --install

   Windows downloads WSL and Ubuntu. This takes a few minutes.

   If the command only shows a help text, WSL is already on your computer. Run wsl --install -d Ubuntu instead.

2. Restart your computer.

3. Click Start, type Ubuntu, and open it. The first time, it takes a minute to finish setting itself up.

4. Ubuntu asks you to make a username and a password. They don't need to match your Windows ones. While you type the password, nothing shows on the screen. That is normal. Remember this password: Ubuntu asks for it when you install things.

   If Ubuntu doesn't ask, you already made them earlier. Use those.

5. In the Ubuntu window, update Ubuntu with this command:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

   sudo means "run this as an administrator", so Ubuntu asks for the password you just made.

Check that it works

Open PowerShell again, the same way as before, and run:

wsl -l -v

You should see Ubuntu in the list, with 2 in the VERSION column. Close PowerShell: you won't need it again.

Next

WSL is ready. Next, open a terminal — on Windows, that means opening Ubuntu.