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WSL Images

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets developers install and use a Linux distribution on Windows 10 or 11 without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dualboot setup.

Although there are several Linux distributions listed in Microsofts default distro list, CentOS Stream is currently not one of them.

But it is not very hard to download and run one of our CentOS Stream WSL images on Windows.

Note

All of these steps are to be done on a Windows 10 or 11 machine, not a Linux machine.

Setup

These steps are only needed once.

Install WSL

For all the details, here is Microsofts WSL Install Guide.

  • Open PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt in administrator mode.
wsl --install
  • If WSL is already installed, you will see the WSL help text

Download Image

The CentOS Alternative Images Download page has links to the latest images.

If you would like to look at the older images, here are the CentOS Stream 9 WSL images and the CentOS Stream 10 WSL images.

Install Image

One Click

The easiest way to install our WSL image is to click on it after it is downloaded.

Most browsers will show you the downloaded file and allow you to "Open File" with a click. Click and Windows will install the WSL image.

You can also open the file browser, go to your Downloads directory. Double click the image and Windows will install the WSL image.

Command Line

Installing view the command line allows you to give the WSL image a different name if you wish. * Open PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt in administrator mode. * wsl --install --from-file \path\to\the\centos.wsl --name MyName * Example:

wsl --install --from-file C:\tmp\CentOS-Stream-Image-WSL-Base.x86_64-10-202507151507.wsl --name CS10

Run Image

Note

When you first run the image, you get to choose your username. There will be no password for the user. The user has full sudo access. Please be careful with your commands.

Start Menu

There should be an entry in your start window with the WSL image name. If you did not change the name, then they will be "CentOSStream-10-Alt" or "CentOSStream-9-Alt

Command Line
  • Open PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt in administrator mode.
  • wsl -d ShortName
  • Example:
wsl -d CentOSStream-10-Alt

Misc Commands

If you want to list your local WSL images installed, use the --list option.

wsl --list

The default wsl image is debian. If you want to set it to what we just installed use the --set-default option.

wsl --set-default CentOSStream-10-Alt

If you want to remove a linux distribution from wsl, use the --unregister option.

wsl --unregister debian

You can directly open your default Linux distribution by going to the Windows Start menu and typing wsl This will open your defaul Linux distribution own console window.