WSL Arch distro Setup

Check that Virtual Machine Platform & Windows Subsystem for Linux are enabled

As you can see from the list, Arch Linux is not an officially supported distro by Microsoft

Therefore, you need to use a user-created program

https://github.com/yuk7/ArchWSL

There are 3 ways to install Arch.exe, which handles the Arch distro installation:

Install from zip file, appx file installation, or using scoop

We'll use the appx installation method here.

https://github.com/yuk7/ArchWSL/releases

First, download the appx file and cer file from the link above.

There are files marked as online and ones that aren't - just download the same set.

Then install the certificate and run the appx as described in the link below.

Or you can complete it simply with the script below. Of course, you'll need to update the version according to yuk7/ArchWSL releases.

Invoke-WebRequest -URI https://github.com/yuk7/ArchWSL/releases/download/22.10.16.0/ArchWSL_Online-AppX_22.10.16.0_x64.cer -OutFile arch.cer
Invoke-WebRequest -URI https://github.com/yuk7/ArchWSL/releases/download/22.10.16.0/ArchWSL_Online-AppX_22.10.16.0_x64.appx -OutFile arch.appx

Import-Certificate -FilePath .\arch.cer -CertStoreLocation Cert:\LocalMachine\TrustedPeople
Add-AppxPackage -Path .\arch.appx

Install Certificate for AppX

Wait a moment and the installation will complete.

How to Setup

YAY Installation

This is a tool that makes it easier to use AUR, one of the advantages of Arch Linux.

Refer to the link below.

GitHub - Jguer/yay: Yet another Yogurt - An AUR Helper written in Go

After installation, you should also perform the tasks described in the link below.

GitHub - Jguer/yay: Yet another Yogurt - An AUR Helper written in Go

ZSH and oh-my-zsh, powerlevel10k Setup

zsh & oh-my-zsh Setup

$ sudo pacman -S zsh
$ chsh -l
/bin/sh
/bin/bash
/usr/bin/git-shell
/bin/zsh
/usr/bin/zsh
$ chsh -s /bin/zsh
$ yay -S oh-my-zsh-git
$ cp /usr/share/oh-my-zsh/zshrc ~/.zshrc

powerlevel10k & zsh-syntax-highlighting & zsh-autosuggestions

$ sudo git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k
$ sudo git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting
$ sudo git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions

You need to modify the .zshrc file slightly.

Change ZSH_THEME as follows.

ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

Also add the following to the plugins section.

plugins=(
	git
  zsh-syntax-highlighting
  zsh-autosuggestions
)

Install fonts from the following site for the powerlevel10k theme.

Nerd Fonts - Iconic font aggregator, glyphs/icons collection, & fonts patcher

After installation, change the font for the Arch profile in Windows Terminal to the newly installed font.

Apply the changes by restarting the terminal or using source .zshrc.

Windows Terminal Theme

Dark theme for Windows Terminal and 302+ apps - Dracula

Browser Settings and Various Utilities

wslu Wiki

If you still get xdg-open related errors after installing wslu, see the command below https://github.com/cli/cli/issues/826

sudo ln -s $(which wslview) /usr/local/bin/xdg-open

$ sudo pacman -S github-cli
$ sudo pacman -S bat
$ yay -S logo-ls

Set up your aliases as needed.

Programming Language Installation

rust

sudo pacman -S rustup
rustup default stable

Add the following to your .zshrc file

## rust cargo install path
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.cargo/bin

go

yay -Yc
sudo pacman -S go

Add the following to your .zshrc file

## custom GOPATH & Go config
export GOPATH=$HOME/.go
export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin

python

sudo pacman -S python

node

!If you need to use multiple versions of node, install nvm.

sudo pacman -S nodejs npm

Since Arch manages everything with the latest versions, you don't really need tools like asdf-vm.

Remove Windows Unnecessary Path

By default, Windows exe-related paths that you'll never use are automatically added.

This can cause situations like running npm but having it execute the Windows-installed npm.

You won't know until you use the which command, putting you in a situation where you can't solve the problem.

To fix this, perform the following.

$ sudo vim /etc/wsl.conf

[interop]
appendWindowsPath = false

$ exit
c:\Users\user> wsl --shutdown
c:\Users\user> wsl
$ echo $PATH

This solves the problem.

However, some additional issues arise.

You can no longer use some Windows commands you used to use like code, clip.exe, explorer.exe.

Therefore, add the following settings to .zshrc.

## windows necessary path
export PATH="$PATH:/mnt/c/Users/minpeter/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft VS Code/bin:/mnt/c/Windows/system32:/mnt/c/Windows/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0:/mnt/c/Program Files/Docker/Docker/resources/bin"

I initially wanted to add git-credential-manager.exe as well, but determined it wasn't necessary since the path is defined in the .gitconfig file.

A beautifully configured terminal is complete.

Install vscode and a few extensions on top of this, and you have a perfect development environment.