Installation

Visit the Microsoft Store and install Ubuntu.

Click get and then wait for the download to complete. You can view the status of the download by clicking the download icon in the top right corner.

Once it has downloaded, click the launch button from the initial ubuntu screen.

Enter a new username and password.

Launch the Ubuntu App to get a command prompt.

USER@HOST:~$ uname -a
Linux N-CND1042RH7 5.4.72-microsoft-standard-WSL2 #1 SMP Wed Oct 28 23:40:43 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Common Tasks 

Mount your windows home folder

$ cd ~
$ ln -s /mnt/c/Users/mehan home

Disable visual and audio bell/beep in WSL on Windows 10

$ vi ~/inputrc

Add the following

set bell-style none

Turn off Command Prompt Sounds

Open up Sound Settings

Scroll down to Advances Sound options and click it.

Set Console Window Host volume to 0

Advanced Tasks

Adding Docker Support

We can add our user to the docker user group by issuing the following command:

$ sudo usermod -aG docker <USER>

Update permissions on docker.sock

$ sudo chmod 666 /var/run/docker.sock

Adding Kubernetes Support

See https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/install-kubectl-linux/

Install kubectl

# download
$ curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"

#install
$ sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

Adding VPN Support (AnyConnect)

These instructions assume that you are using Ubuntu.

Create a WSL configuration file

In your Ubuntu terminal, issue the following command:

$ sudo vi /etc/wsl.conf

Add the following:

[network]
generateResolvConf = false

Terminate your Linux instance

From a Windows Command Prompt issue the following command:

> wsl --terminate Ubuntu

Delete your existing resolfv.conf file

In your Ubuntu terminal, issue the following command:

cd /etc
sudo rm -Rf resolv.conf

Connect to your VPN

Connect to the VPN using your AnyConnect client.

Determine your VPN Connection DNS IP Addresses

From a Windows Command Prompt issue the following command:

> ipconfig /all 

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : vpn.company.com
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client Virtual Miniport Adapter for Windows x64
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-05-9A-3C-7A-00
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3d7f:b69b:dd71:28d1%25(Preferred)
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::cde5:6a02:e9d2:f284%25(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 135.255.134.209(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.240.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
                                       135.255.128.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 419431834
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-28-25-22-A7-6C-02-E0-CD-FE-58
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 135.5.25.53
                                       135.239.25.53
   Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 135.5.8.20
   Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : 135.5.136.20
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

From the above output, we can see that the VPNs DNS IP addresses are: 135.5.25.53 and 135.239.25.53.

Update your Resolv.conf File

In your Ubuntu terminal, issue the following command:

$ sudo vi /etc/resolve.cong

Replace contents with the following

nameserver <VPN_DNS_IP1>
nameserver <VPN_DNS_IP2>
nameserver 8.8.8.8

Terminate your Linux instance

From a Windows Command Prompt issue the following command:

> wsl --terminate Ubuntu

Lock the Resolv.conf file from Updates

In your Ubuntu terminal, issue the following command:

$ sudo chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

Set the NET IP Interface for the VPN Connection

Open Windows Powershell with Administrative rights:

From this Windows Powershell instance, Issue the following command:

Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object {$_.InterfaceDescription -Match "Cisco AnyConnect"} | Set-NetIPInterface -InterfaceMetric 6000

Create a Task to Apply Workaround on VPN Connect

We can create an automatic Windows task which will automatically open the Powershell and run the command for us.

Create the script file anywhere, I created it in my Users\Public\Scripts\ folder and called it UpdateAnyConnectInterfaceMetrics.ps1. You can however create it where you want and name it what you want. Here is the content:

Now follow these instructions. Do not use quotes when entering file path.

• Open Task Scheduler
• Select Action → Click Create Task

• Name it Update Anyconnect Adapter Interface Metric for WSL2
• Check Run with highest privileges
• Select the Triggers Tab

• Click the New Button

• Select On Event from the Begin the Task pull down.
• Select Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client from the Log.
• Select acvpnagent from the Source.
• Enter 2039 for the Event ID.
• Click OK

• Select the Action Tab

• Click New

• Select Start a program from the Action pulldown.
• Enter Powershell.exe for the Program/script.
• Enter C:\Users\Public\Scripts\UpdateAnyConnectInterfaceMetrics.ps1 for the argument.
• Click OK
• Click the Conditions Tab

• Uncheck the option "Start the task only if the computer is on AC power".
• Click OK to Create the Task.

References