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WSL 2 Advanced: GPU Support, systemd, and Development Setup

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Take WSL 2 further: enable systemd, use GPU acceleration for ML workloads, set up a complete development environment, and configure WSL networking for advanced use cases.

Once you've installed WSL 2, there's a lot more you can do with it. This guide covers systemd, GPU passthrough, development environments, and advanced configuration.

Enable systemd

WSL 2 supports systemd since September 2022 — enables services that normally require it (Docker, Apache, PostgreSQL as system services).

Add to /etc/wsl.conf inside WSL:

[boot]
systemd=true

# Create or edit the file
sudo nano /etc/wsl.conf

Restart WSL: in PowerShell:

wsl --shutdown
wsl

Verify:

systemctl status
ps aux | grep systemd

GPU Acceleration (CUDA / Machine Learning)

WSL 2 supports GPU passthrough via NVIDIA CUDA or DirectML.

Requirements:

  • NVIDIA GPU with updated Windows driver (version 470.76+)
  • WSL 2 (not WSL 1)
  • Ubuntu or supported distribution

Inside WSL:

# Install CUDA toolkit (Ubuntu)
wget https://developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/cuda-keyring_1.1-1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i cuda-keyring_1.1-1_all.deb
sudo apt update
sudo apt install cuda-toolkit

# Verify GPU is accessible
nvidia-smi

For PyTorch:

pip install torch torchvision --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu118
python -c "import torch; print(torch.cuda.is_available())"

Complete Development Environment

# Update packages
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Essential build tools
sudo apt install -y build-essential git curl wget unzip

# Node.js via nvm
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc
nvm install --lts
node --version

# Python 3 with pip
sudo apt install -y python3 python3-pip python3-venv
pip3 install --upgrade pip

# Docker (via systemd, now supported)
sudo apt install -y docker.io
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# PostgreSQL
sudo apt install -y postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql
sudo systemctl start postgresql

Access WSL from Windows Network

By default WSL 2 runs in a private NAT network. To expose a service:

# Port forward: expose WSL port 3000 to Windows localhost
netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=3000 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 connectport=3000 connectaddress=(wsl hostname -I)

# Remove forward
netsh interface portproxy delete v4tov4 listenport=3000

Or configure in .wslconfig:

[wsl2]
localhostForwarding=true

WSL services on port 3000 are then accessible at localhost:3000 in Windows.

WSL Networking Modes

NAT (default): WSL gets its own IP, Windows and WSL can communicate, but WSL is not directly on your LAN.

Mirrored (Windows 11 22H2+): WSL shares the Windows network stack — same IP, no bridging issues.

Enable mirrored mode in .wslconfig (at C:\Users\YourName\.wslconfig):

[wsl2]
networkingMode=mirrored

Custom DNS in WSL

If DNS doesn't work correctly inside WSL:

# Disable automatic DNS
sudo bash -c 'echo "[network]
generateResolvConf = false" >> /etc/wsl.conf'

# Set custom DNS
sudo bash -c 'echo "nameserver 1.1.1.1
nameserver 8.8.8.8" > /etc/resolv.conf'

# Make immutable so WSL doesn't overwrite
sudo chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

Limit WSL Resource Usage

By default WSL 2 can use up to 80% of host RAM. Limit it:

C:\Users\YourName\.wslconfig:

[wsl2]
memory=6GB
processors=4
swap=2GB
swapFile=C:\\Temp\\wsl-swap.vhdx

Apply: wsl --shutdown then relaunch.

Backup and Restore WSL Distro

# Export distro to .tar file
wsl --export Ubuntu "D:\Backup\ubuntu-2024.tar"

# Import on new machine or restore
wsl --import Ubuntu "C:\WSL\Ubuntu" "D:\Backup\ubuntu-2024.tar" --version 2

# Set default user after import
ubuntu config --default-user yourusername

WSL Disk Management

WSL uses a virtual disk (.vhdx). If it grows large:

# Find location of WSL disk
Get-ChildItem "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages" -Recurse -Filter "*.vhdx" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
  Select-Object FullName, @{n='GB';e={[math]::Round($_.Length/1GB,1)}}

# Compact the disk (WSL must be shut down)
wsl --shutdown
# Then in diskpart:
# select vdisk file="path\to\disk.vhdx"
# attach vdisk readonly
# compact vdisk
# detach vdisk

Summary

Enable systemd with /etc/wsl.conf [boot] systemd=true. For GPU: install NVIDIA CUDA inside WSL. Use .wslconfig to limit memory and set network mode. Mirrored networking mode (Windows 11) removes most connectivity friction. Back up distros before major changes with wsl --export.

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