This writing is about the manual installation of older versions of WSL and covers the following content:
- WSL 1 vs WSL 2.
- OS Requirements to Install WSL.
- How to Install Older Versions of WSL?
- How to Switch/Change Between WSL 1 and WSL 2?
“WSL 1” vs “WSL 2”
As a result of the limitations spotted in “WSL 1”, Microsoft launched the all-new and better version called “WSL 2” which had a couple of new features to overcome the limitations in the previous version. Here’s how the “WSL 1” version can be compared with the “WSL 2” version in terms of features:
| Features | WSL 1 | WSL 2 |
| Performance across OS file systems | Yes | No |
| Fast boot | Yes | Yes |
| Compatible with current versions of VMware and VirtualBox | Yes | Yes |
| Integration between Windows and Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Small resource footprint compared to traditional Virtual Machines | Yes | Yes |
| Managed VM | No | Yes |
| Full system Call compatibility | No | Yes |
| Full Linux Kernel | No | Yes |
Looking at the above comparison table, it is evident that “WSL 2” is better than “WSL 1” in terms of features. “WSL” is only available for specific Windows builds, let’s discuss them.
OS Requirements to Install “WSL”
To install/enable and use “WSL” on your system, ensure that you have at least the following:
- Windows 10 with version 1709/Windows Build 16215 and later for “WSL 1”.
- Windows 10 with version 2004/Windows Builds 18917 and later for “WSL 2”.
To check the version and build numbers, press the “Window” key and enter “About your PC” in the search field:
From the new window, check the “Version” and “OS build”:
Suppose the current version and OS build do not meet the minimum requirements. In that case, you must update your Windows by entering “Check for updates” in the start menu’s search bar and navigating to it:
Now click the “Check for updates” button to download and install the latest Windows updates:
How to Install Older Versions of “WSL”?
First, confirm if “WSL” is installed on your system following this article; if not, install it following this guide.
After the requirements mentioned above are met, you can install/enable the older version “WSL 1” on Microsoft Windows by opening the “Windows PowerShell” with administrative privileges by entering “PowerShell” in the start menu’s search bar.
Now in the “PowerShell” enter the following command to enable “WSL 1”:
You can do the same by switching to “Turn Windows features on or off” settings from the start menu:
From the new window, scroll down and find “Windows Subsystem for Linux” and by marking it, you can enable “WSL” on your system:
Now, apply this command to set the default version of “WSL” to “1”:
It will result in installing/enabling “WSL 1” on your system.
How to Switch/Change Between “WSL 1” and “WSL 2”?
“WSL 2” is enabled by default on all the latest versions and if you want to switch it with “WSL 1”, use the following command:
Conclusion
The older versions of “WSL” cannot be manually installed as currently both (WSL 1 and WSL 2) are pre-installed, but you need to enable them as it is an optional feature that is disabled by default. Once enabled, you can switch between “WSL 1” and “WSL 2”, as per the requirements. This guide explained the manual installation of older versions of WSL.
