microsoft / microsoft/WSL

Ability to build/install WSL distros from containerfiles directly

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#40,428 4 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
feature
Dominant language
C++
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Description

**Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.**
We're using WSL as the main way to use Codex / coding agents in our team these days. One annoying thing is having to setup everyone's machines one by one. We're having to install the distribution, then run some scripts to make sure the environment is set up correctly, etc.

**Describe the solution you'd like**
Ideal solution would be to be able to just do `wsl --install-from-containerfile ` (and maybe some parameters for the containerfile such as username/password to be used).

**Describe alternatives you've considered**
The alternative solution is to script `docker`/`podman export` and then do `wsl --import` the resulting tar file ([docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/use-custom-distro)). There's also the option to build a .wsl file ([docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/build-custom-distro)).

**Additional context**
It looks like the pieces are there, we just need to be able to essentially say `wsl --install-from-containerfile` with a containerfile that's committed to a git repository and have everything set up for everyone instead of having to either copy tar files around or distributing `run-this-only-once.sh` scripts.

It's fine if this functionality requires podman or docker to also be installed, as long as it's not forcing people to use any other CLI tool other than `wsl` itself.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the existing WSL command paths for `wsl --install` and `wsl --import`, then compare them with the documented Docker/Podman export workflow and `.wsl` build process linked in the issue. The work is done when a Containerfile path can be supplied through the WSL CLI, optional setup parameters are handled, and the resulting distribution is installed for use.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
docker
Domain
cli, operating-systems
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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