Windows Subsystem for Linux
Using MOOSE on Windows 10 and 11 is experimental and not fully supported.
Caveats:
Peacock does not work correctly (artifacts during rendering: surface normals are flipped).
Different flavors of Linux are available, but be sure to choose a distribution which we support. While MOOSE will ultimately work on just about every flavor of Linux, this document assumes you have chosen Ubuntu 20.04, which is the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) default as of December 2022.
Begin by performing the following external instructions:
Install VcXsrv (Only needed for Peacock)
Launch VcXsrv
Each time you reboot, or basically each time VcXsrv is not running, and you wish to use the graphical capabilities of MOOSE (Peacock), you should start VcXsrv before launching your WSL terminal.
When starting VcXsrv, options for the server can be adjusted. In general, the default options are adequate, except for the following:
Check "Disable access control". This allows the WSL instance to open windows via VcXsrv without requiring an authorization protocol.
Again, all other options for VcXsrv can remain the default.
In some cases, the system firewall may block connections to the X window server. If errors or window rendering stalls are experienced after adopting the VcXsrv settings above, check to make sure that all network connections to VcXsrv are allowed.
Install WSL
To use the simplified installation instructions outlined below, a recent build of Windows should be used (10 version 2004+ and build 19041+, or 11). For more information see Microsoft's information page on WSL.
Open PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt in administrator mode by right-clicking the application and selecting "Run as administrator". In the prompt that appears, one command can be used to install WSL version 2 dependencies and a default Linux distribution of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
wsl --install
Program output will appear showing installation and setup of dependencies before prompting the user for a restart to finish initial setup. See below for an example of the summary output.
C:\Users\USER>wsl --install
Installing: Virtual Machine Platform
Virtual Machine Platform has been installed.
Installing: Windows Subsystem for Linux
Windows Subsystem for Linux has been installed.
Downloading: WSL Kernel
Installing: WSL Kernel
WSL Kernel has been installed.
Downloading: Ubuntu
The requested operation is successful. Changes will not be effective until the system is rebooted.
Setup Linux and Enable GUI Dependencies
Once the restart is complete, a prompt will appear on next boot continuing the Ubuntu Linux installation and requesting a username for the new UNIX user account.
Installing, this may take a few minutes....
Please create a default UNIX user account. The username does not need to match your Windows username.
For more information visit: https://aka.ms/wslusers
Enter new UNIX username:
After entering a username and a new password, a standard Linux bash prompt will appear. An update should be performed to check for any out-of-date packages. To enable usage of Peacock, OpenGL libraries must also be installed.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install x11-apps libglu1-mesa
Configure WSL to use VcXsrv
Modify the bash profile to allow WSL to connect to VcXsrv.
echo "export DISPLAY=$(cat /etc/resolv.conf | grep nameserver | awk '{print $2}'):0.0" >> ~/.bashrc
Close the WSL terminal
With the above complete, close the WSL terminal and re-open it. Proceed to follow (or return to) any of the Linux instructions on our Getting Started page.
Tips
Like WSL installation, the following sections require performing all commands in a PowerShell or Command Prompt in administrator mode!
Your Download's folder while using WSL is located at:
/mnt/c/Users/<Your User Name>/Downloads
Updating the WSL Linux Kernel
The WSL linux kernel receives periodic updates. To perform these updates, one can run:
wsl --update
Change WSL Version
In this instruction set, WSL version 2 is used (and is the default, recommended release). If WSL version 1 is desired, this can be changed by performing the command:
wsl --set-version 1
The default for new Linux kernel instances can be set by performing the following:
wsl --set-default-version n
where n can be replaced by either 1 or 2, depending on the version desired.
Shutdown All WSL Instances
To shutdown all instances of WSL on the machine, perform the following:
wsl --shutdown
WSL can then be restarted from the Start menu.