Developers Arch Linux reported about coordination with Microsoft regarding the publication of official assemblies for the WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). The assemblies will be included in the WSL List of the environment offered for quick installation of “WSL –Install” (for installing ARCH it will be enough to perform “WSL –install Archlinux”). Since Arch Linux follows a Rolling-release model for updates, the assembly is planned to be updated once a month.
The assemblies will be formed in new format, which allows distribution directly from servers without the need for them to be loaded in the Microsoft Store catalog. This new method eliminates packaging the image in the appx format and avoids including Windows-specific code in the assembly. It involves placing a TAR archive with the distribution’s systemic environment, along with a /etc/wsl-distribution.conf file containing metadata like name, icon, user identifier, and configuration scripts for the environment’s initial launch.
Canonical also announced the distribution of the Ubuntu assembly for WSL in the new format yesterday. The official Ubuntu assembly has been added to the WSL distribution list, allowing users to install it by running the “WSL –Install Ubuntu” command. Versions of Ubuntu 24.04, 22.04, 04.04, and 18.04 are available for installation, with version 22.04 being set as default when “ubuntu” is indicated. Users can make changes to the assembly locally and install them using the command “WSL –install –from-file ubuntu.tar.wsl.”
