Is Manual Setup for WSL 2 Required? | Generated by AI
Question: Do we need to manually enable the Windows Linux features before installing WSL 2?
Answer:
Yes, conceptually WSL 2 requires enabling Windows features, but on modern Windows the command:
wsl --install
does this automatically:
- Enable Windows Subsystem for Linux
- Enable Virtual Machine Platform
- Install the WSL 2 Linux kernel
- Set WSL 2 as default
- Install Ubuntu
So you usually do not need to open the Windows Features GUI.
If you want to do it manually:
- Press:
Win + R
- Run:
optionalfeatures.exe
- Enable:
✅ Windows Subsystem for Linux
✅ Virtual Machine Platform
Like this:
[✓] Windows Subsystem for Linux
[✓] Virtual Machine Platform
Then reboot.
After reboot:
Open PowerShell as Administrator:
wsl --set-default-version 2
Then install Linux:
wsl --install -d Ubuntu
For Windows 11, also make sure CPU virtualization is enabled:
Task Manager → Performance → CPU:
Virtualization: Enabled
If it says Disabled, enable:
- Intel VT-x / Intel Virtualization Technology
- AMD SVM
in BIOS.
For your Lenovo Xiaoxin 14, this is usually already enabled, but worth checking if WSL2 complains about virtualization.
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