Overview, system requirements & virtualization

Overview

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) puts a Linux distribution right inside Windows. We will install WSL2, which outperforms WSL1 in several ways.

The Linux distribution we will run in WSL2 is the very popular Ubuntu, based on Debian. Via the optional Z Shell and Oh My Zsh, we will spend time making Ubuntu pleasurable and less intimidating to use for users accustomed to Windows.

In Ubuntu we will install Docker Engine, which provides containers that allow us to package applications, with all of their dependencies, in isolation from the host operating system and each other. For example, this allows us to run one project in Drupal 9 with PHP 7, at the same time as another in Drupal 10 with PHP 8, at the same time as another plain PHP project etc..

We will install DDEV, which adds power and simplicity to managing Docker-based PHP projects. It is the recommended local development environment for Drupal on all platforms.

Then we will install Drupal itself in this environment.

WSL2 is included in Windows. Ubuntu, Docker Engine, DDEV and Drupal are all free and open source.

Finally we will install the free Visual Studio Code as our IDE, and integrate it with DDEV and Drupal.

In this guide, the terms folder and directory are interchangeable.

System Requirements

• To use the straightforward method of installing WSL2, described in this guide, you must be running Windows 10 version 2004 and higher (Build 19041 and higher) or Windows 11.
• For DDEV on Windows WSL2, you require 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.

Virtualization

WSL2 requires virtualization to be enabled on your PC. Many Windows 10 PCs, and all PCs that come preinstalled with Windows 11, already have virtualization enabled. But if you are running Windows 10, or upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11, check that it is enabled in advance to ensure a smooth installation of WSL2.

As described here, open a Windows command prompt or PowerShell and run systeminfo.exe. In the Hyper-V Requirements section at the bottom, if you see Virtualization Enabled In Firmware: No, enter your BIOS and enable it. Step two in Enable virtualization on Windows 11 PCs explains how. For example, on Asus motherboards the setting is in Advanced > CPU Configuration > Intel Virtualization Technology.

Next steps

If your PC meets the system requirements and you have virtualization enabled, you are now ready to install WSL2 & Ubuntu.