Tips to Make WSL2 a Little More Comfortable

TL;DR

WSL2 is very easy to use and comfortable, but sometimes there are things that would make it even better if they were possible. I plan to add more tips as I find solutions.

Basics

exe Files

In WSL2, you can use Windows exe files. There are many usable exe files, but here is a summary of the ones I have used.

By using Command Prompt or PowerShell, you can bridge the WSL2 side and the Windows side. Also, clip.exe is convenient when you want to copy strings to the clipboard.

The wslpath Command

Since WSL2 paths have a different format from Windows, you need to convert them to a format that the Windows side can interpret when using these exe files.

This is easy with the wslpath command. It works as follows. By default, it converts a Windows path to a WSL path, but on the WSL side you almost always want the reverse, so you will likely use wslpath -aw. Converting to an absolute path gives a sense of security.

wslpath
Usage:
    -a    force result to absolute path format
    -u    translate from a Windows path to a WSL path (default)
    -w    translate from a WSL path to a Windows path
    -m    translate from a WSL path to a Windows path, with '/' instead of '\'

EX: wslpath 'c:\users'

Detecting Whether You Are on WSL2

When configuring dotfiles and similar settings, you may want to detect whether you are on WSL2.

I use the following approach:

if [[ $(uname -r) == *'microsoft'* ]]; then
    echo WSL2
fi

Practical Use Cases

The open Command

For those who have used a Mac, this is a command that opens a file with its default application. In WSL2, you can achieve this as follows:

cmd.exe /c start $(wslpath -aw $file)

If you want to open it with Explorer:

explorer.exe $(wslpath -aw $file)

Copying Strings to the Clipboard

Simply pipe strings to clip.exe.

echo "hello" | clip.exe

Copying Images to the Clipboard

This requires a tricky approach. If you pass a PowerShell script as an argument to powershell.exe, it will execute it. Create the following ps1 file with any name.

[Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('System.Drawing');
[Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('System.Windows.Forms');

$filename = $Args[0];
$file = get-item($filename);
$img = [System.Drawing.Image]::Fromfile($file);
[System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard]::SetImage($img);

powershell.exe "./imgcopy.ps1 image.png"

Pasting Images from the Clipboard

This can be achieved using PowerShell's Get-Clipboard.

powershell.exe "(Get-Clipboard -Format Image).Save('image.png')"

References

• to-clipboard.ps1