How to add Azure Linux 3.0 as a Linux distros for WSL ?

[ohault]

• Manually from a command prompt on a local host
• for your Windows PCs in your corporate environnement
• by Microsoft in the list of available distros ( wsl -l -o )
• as WSL Linux distro on the Microsoft Store

[zcobol]

@ohault use Docker and run docker pull mcr.microsoft.com/azurelinux/base/core:3.0 then export the image and import into WSL. It works!

root@toto [ ~ ]# cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Microsoft Azure Linux"
VERSION="3.0.20241101"
ID=azurelinux
VERSION_ID="3.0"
PRETTY_NAME="Microsoft Azure Linux 3.0"
ANSI_COLOR="1;34"
HOME_URL="https://aka.ms/azurelinux"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://aka.ms/azurelinux"
SUPPORT_URL="https://aka.ms/azurelinux"
root@toto [ ~ ]# wslinfo --wsl-version
2.3.25

[charles8191]

Hi, I have a project that does this. https://github.com/charles8191/azurelinux-wsl.git

[elsaco]

There's a new way to package a WSL distro. See details at https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/whats-new-in-the-windows-subsystem-for-linux-in-november-2024/#how-will-it-work

Here are the files I used to create azurelinux.wsl package:

/etc/oobe.sh:

#!/bin/bash

set -ue

DEFAULT_GROUPS='adm,cdrom,sudo,dip'
DEFAULT_UID='1000'

echo 'Please create a default UNIX user account. The username does not need to match your Windows username.'
echo 'For more information visit: https://aka.ms/wslusers'

if getent passwd $DEFAULT_UID > /dev/null; then
  echo 'User account already exists, skipping creation'
  exit 0
fi

# Prompt from the username
read -p 'Enter new UNIX username: ' username

# Create the user
useradd --create-home --uid $DEFAULT_UID $username

# Add use to additional groups
usermod -aG $DEFAULT_GROUPS $username

# Set user password
passwd $username

/etc/wsl-distribution.conf:

# /etc/wsl-distribution.conf

[oobe]
command = /etc/oobe.sh
defaultUid = 1000
defaultName = AzureLinux

[shortcut]
icon = /usr/lib/wsl/wslLinux.ico

[windowsterminal]
ProfileTemplate = /usr/lib/wsl/azurelinux-profile.json

The icon and terminal profiles are not needed, unless you want to customize them. Add the above files to a exported mcr.microsoft.com/azurelinux/base/core image, compress the export and change the extension to .wsl, open the file explorer and double-click to install it.

oobe.sh will run on first launch to setup the default user.

https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/wsl/build-custom-distro