The ability to run docker containers as wsl instances looks nifty. A bit more overhead since they now run as a VM instead of a container, but you get the ability to start a shell with Windows terminal or access files with Explorer (and thus every program running in Windows)

Looks nice but still a bit sad that Flutter is used instead of something native given that they don't need the app to be cross-platform.

Well, even Microsoft uses React Native for a lot of Windows-only apps.

I wish it was a TUI. Windows is a plague I try to stay away from as much as possible, and it already gives me headaches to setup WSL and manage them over ssh. Some things you just can't do w/o remote desktop... And sometimes WSL crashes and there's literally no way to recover except to restart the whole machine.

The only reason I use Windows is because Nvidia drivers are easier to setup. But once I'm inside my Fedora WSL, that feels like home, not the Windows host.

Looks nice but still a bit sad that Flutter is used instead of something native given that they don't need the app to be cross-platform.

Well, even Microsoft uses React Native for a lot of Windows-only apps.

The only reason I use Windows is because Nvidia drivers are easier to setup. But once I'm inside my Fedora WSL, that feels like home, not the Windows host.

I think the UI is pretty slick but agree having a TUI option as well would be awesome. Everything in wsl management (import, export, register, compact, etc) can be done with shell commands I believe so a tiny performant TUI might be a straight forward thing for op to add in the future though.

Welcome to WSL Manager 👋

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WSL Distro Manager is a free and open source app that provides a user-friendly graphical interface for managing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distributions. With WSL Distro Manager, you can easily install, uninstall, update, backup and restore WSL distros, as well as configure their settings and launch them with a single click. WSL Distro Manager also offers some extra features to enhance your WSL experience, such as sharing Distros between multiple machines, and creating actions to quickly do repetitive tasks. Whether you are a beginner or an expert in WSL, WSL Distro Manager will help you get the most out of it.

🚀 Features

Manage WSL instances
Download and use Docker images as WSL instances - without Docker!
Quick Actions (execute pre-defined scripts directly on your instances for quick configurations)
Download and use Turnkey or other LXC containers (experimental, tested with e.g. Turnkey WordPress)
Use your own repository for rootfs' or LXC containers
and more...

📦 Install

Microsoft Store

This app is available on the Microsoft Store.

Direct download

You can get this app with a direct download from the Releases page. The latest version is available as a zip file.

Install via Winget

The winget package is outdated! Please use the Windows Store version instead.

winget install Bostrot.WSLManager

Install via Chocolatey

This package is maintained by the community (@mikeee). It is not an official package.

choco install wsl2-distro-manager

Install a nightly build

The last build can be found as artifacts in the "releaser" workflow or via this link. If you rather prefer an unsigned msix you can also use this link.

⚙️ Build

Make sure flutter is installed:

flutter config --enable-windows-desktop
flutter upgrade

flutter build windows # build it
flutter run -d windows # run it

Author

👤 Eric Trenkel

Website: erictrenkel.com
GitHub: @bostrot
LinkedIn: @erictrenkel

👥 Contributors

🤝 Contributing

Contributions, issues and feature requests are welcome!
Feel free to check the issues page. You can also take a look at the contributing guide.

Show your support

Give a ⭐️ if this project helped you!

📝 License

Not found what you were looking for? Check out the Wiki

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