Windows
Windows Development Environment for Software Engineers
How to set up a development environment on Windows 11
Install Windows Terminal
Open Microsoft Store and search for Terminal and install it
Install WSL
create the file C:\Users\<user>\.wslconfig with the following content:
# C:\Users\<user>\.wslconfig
[wsl2]
memory=2GB
processors=2
Open Powershell in Windows Terminal and run the wsl commands
wsl --install # Install WSL, a reboot is often required afterwards
wsl --set-default-version 2 # Set WSL2 as default
wsl --install -d Ubuntu # Install Ubuntu
wsl --setdefault Ubuntu # Set Ubuntu as the default shell
wsl -l -v # Check it's set correctly
Configure Windows Terminal
In Windows Terminal press CTRL+, to open the settings
Set Ubuntu as the default shell in the settings
Configure WSL
In WSL create /etc/wsl.conf
[boot]
command = #add a command you want to run at boot
Note: The [boot] section only works on Windows 11
Some VPNs require a different MTU size that can be set in the boot command section
command = ip link set dev eth0 mtu 1280
WSL welcome message
Silence the welcome message in WSL
touch ~/.hushlogin
Configure SSH
In WSL add a folder in the home directory
mkdir ~/.ssh
add your public and private SSH key files
and set the access control on the files
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
Install Keychain SSH Agent
In WSL
sudo apt update
sudo apt install keychain
and configure Keychain to start when WSL launches
in ~/.profile add the following line
eval `keychain --eval --agents ssh id_rsa`
Configure bash prompt
Find the PS1 section in ~/.bashrc
add the git ps1 settings and the PS1 prompt
GIT_PS1_DESCRIBE_STYLE='contains'
GIT_PS1_SHOWCOLORHINTS='y'
GIT_PS1_SHOWDIRTYSTATE='y'
GIT_PS1_SHOWSTASHSTATE='y'
GIT_PS1_SHOWUNTRACKEDFILES='y'
GIT_PS1_SHOWUPSTREAM='auto'
if [ "$color_prompt" = yes ]; then
PS1='\[\e[0;32m\]\u\[\e[0m\]:\[\e[0;36m\]\w\[\e[0m\]$\[\e[0m\] \[\e[0;33m\]$(__git_ps1)\n\[\e[0m\]λ\[\e[0m\] \[\e[0m\]'
Note: the above PS1 setting is a personal preference
Install VSCode
Download and install VSCode from code.visualstudio.com
Open VSCode and install the extension Remote - WSL from microsoft
Open the WSL shell and run
cd ~ # go to the home folder
code . # run VSCode