Notice:

I will not be continuing tihs project for the foreseeable future. I have entirely changed to various distributions of Linux for all of my systems. Should there be a time in the future where I am required to use Windows, I would likely resume it at that time in the future.

automate-wsl-distro-deployment

Eventually seeks to automate installation of WSL2 for xrdp connectivity to Xubuntu hosted on Windows 10 along with USB passthrough via usbipd as well as additional requisite configurations in Windows and the distro.

Present manual process in Windows 10 Pro:

Install and access Ubuntu CLI:

1. Open admin-level CMD or PS.
2. Install wsl: wsl --install
3. Update wsl: wsl --update
4. Install Ubuntu: wsl --install -d Ubuntu
   • If An error occurred during installation. Distribution Name: 'Ubuntu' Error Code: 0x80072eff is encountered, Win + R > wsreset.exe and re-run installation command; additional troubleshooting for 0x80072eff
5. Access Ubuntu: wsl --distributionName Ubuntu --user userName

Install and configure xfce and xrdp:

1. Remove any traces of xrdp: sudo apt-get purge xrdp
2. Install xrdp: sudo apt-get install xrdp
3. Install xfce: sudo apt-get install xfce4
4. Install additional xfce packages: sudo apt-get install xfce4-goodies

Configure xrdp on xcfe:

1. sudo cp /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini.bak
2. Change xrdp port to allow concurrent RDP and shell access: sudo sed -i 's/3389/3390/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
3. sudo sed -i 's/max_bpp=32/#max_bpp=32\nmax_bpp=128/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
4. sudo sed -i 's/xserverbpp=24/#xserverbpp=24\nxserverbpp=128/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
5. echo xfce4-session > ~/.xsession
6. Modify /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh
   • to comment-out
     • #test -x /etc/X11/Xsession && exec /etc/X11/Xsession
     • #exec /bin/sh /etc/X11/Xsession
   • and append these lines to the end of the file:
     • # xfce
     • startxfce4
   1. sudo sed -i 's:test -x /etc/X11/Xsession \&\& exec /etc/X11/Xsession:#test -x /etc/X11/Xsession \&\& exec /etc/X11/Xsession:g' /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh
   2. sudo sed -i 's:exec /bin/sh /etc/X11/Xsession:#exec /bin/sh /etc/X11/Xsession\n# xfce\nstartxfce4:g' /etc/xrdp/startwm.sh

Start the xrdp service:

1. sudo /etc/init.d/xrdp start

Connect to Ubuntu using RDP:

1. In Windows, Win + R > %windir%\system32\mstsc.exe to open "Remote Desktop Connection"
2. Set Computer to localhost:3390
3. Click on Connect
4. Set Session to Xorg
5. Populate username and password
6. Click on OK
7. Verify Xubuntu desktop.

Backup the distribution:

1. In the Window OS admin-level CLI, execute wsl --export <distro> <filename.tar>
   • e.g., wsl --export Ubuntu C:\projects\Ubuntu-wsl2-usbip.tar

To restore this backup of the distribution:

1. In the Windows OS admin-level CLI, execute wsl --unregister <distro> to remove the problem distribution.
   • e.g., wsl --unregister wsl2-usbip
2. In the Windows OS admin-level CLI, execute wsl --import <distro> <install location> <filename>
   • e.g., wsl --import wsl2-usbip C:\projects\wsl-dist C:\projects\Ubuntu-wsl2-usbip.tar

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Current task:

Start WSL2 when Windows starts

1. How to Run WSL2 at Startup on Windows

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To do:

1. implement installation of wsl and Windows Terminal using Chocolatey
2. implement automated configuration of this entire process using Ansible
   • Windows
   • Chocolatey (community? module)
   • Linux

Wishlist:

• resolve usbipd passthrough issue with Windows 10
  • include in automation if resolved

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Acknowledgements and references

• WSL reference: Install WSL
• The post by Muhammad Ridwan Hakin • Apr 30 '20 • Edited on Jun 6 in "Linux on Windows: WSL with Desktop Environment via RDP" was extremely helpful to configure Xubuntu for xrdp.