WSL/doc/docs/dev-loop.md

# Building WSL

## Prerequisites 

All prerequisites can be installed automatically by running:

```
tools\setup-dev-env.ps1
```

This uses [WinGet Configuration](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/package-manager/configuration/) to install Developer Mode, CMake, Visual Studio 2022, and the required workloads from [`.vsconfig`](https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/blob/master/.vsconfig). If VS 2022 is already installed, the script detects your edition (Community, Professional, or Enterprise) and uses the matching configuration. If no VS 2022 is found, it defaults to Community.

You can also run a WinGet configuration directly for your edition:

```
winget configure --enable
winget configure -f .config/configuration.winget                   # Community (default)
winget configure -f .config/configuration.vsProfessional.winget    # Professional
winget configure -f .config/configuration.vsEnterprise.winget      # Enterprise
```

> **Note:** `winget configure --enable` is required to enable the configuration feature. The `setup-dev-env.ps1` script runs this automatically.

<details>
<summary>Manual installation</summary>

If you prefer to install prerequisites manually:

- CMake >= 3.25
    - Can be installed with `winget install Kitware.CMake`
- Visual Studio 2022 with the required components:
    - Use VS Installer → More → Import configuration and select [`.vsconfig`](https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/blob/master/.vsconfig)
    - Or: `winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community --override "--wait --quiet --config .vsconfig"`
- Enable [Developer Mode](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/get-started/enable-your-device-for-development) in Windows Settings, or run builds with Administrator privileges (required for symbolic link support)

</details>

### ARM64 development

When building on ARM64 Windows, the [WiX](https://wixtoolset.org/) toolset (`wix.exe`) requires the **x64 .NET 6.0 runtime** because it is an x64 binary. The ARM64 .NET runtime alone is not sufficient.

To install the x64 .NET 6.0 runtime, run the following commands in PowerShell:

```powershell
# Download the official dotnet-install script
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://dot.net/v1/dotnet-install.ps1" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\dotnet-install.ps1"

# Install the x64 .NET 6.0 runtime
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "$env:TEMP\dotnet-install.ps1" -Channel 6.0 -Runtime dotnet -Architecture x64 -InstallDir "C:\Program Files\dotnet\x64"
```

Then set the `DOTNET_ROOT_X64` environment variable so the runtime is discoverable:

```powershell
# Set for the current session
$env:DOTNET_ROOT_X64 = "C:\Program Files\dotnet\x64"

# Set permanently for your user
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("DOTNET_ROOT_X64", "C:\Program Files\dotnet\x64", "User")
```

> **Note:** You may need to restart VS Code or open a new terminal for the environment variable to take effect.

## Building WSL

Once you have cloned the repository, generate the Visual Studio solution by running:

```
cmake .
```

This will generate a `wsl.sln` file that you can build either with Visual Studio, or via `cmake --build .`.

Build parameters:

- `cmake . -A arm64`: Build a package for ARM64
- `cmake . -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release`: Build for release (paired with cmake --build . --config Release)
- `cmake . -DBUILD_BUNDLE=TRUE`: Build a bundle msix package (requires building ARM64 first)

Note: To build and deploy faster during development, see options in `UserConfig.cmake`.


## Deploying WSL 

Once the build is complete, you can install WSL by installing the MSI package found under `bin\<platform>\<target>\wsl.msi`, or by running `powershell tools\deploy\deploy-to-host.ps1`.

To deploy on a Hyper-V virtual machine, you can use `powershell tools\deploy\deploy-to-vm.ps1 -VmName <vm> -Username <username> -Password <password>`

## Running tests

To run unit tests, run: `bin\<platform>\<target>\test.bat`. There's quite a lot of tests so you probably don't want to run everything. Here's a reasonable subset:
`bin\<platform>\<target>\test.bat /name:*UnitTest*`

To run a specific test case run:
`bin\<platform>\<target>\test.bat /name:<class>::<test>`
Example: `bin\x64\debug\test.bat /name:UnitTests::UnitTests::ModernInstall` 

To run the tests for WSL1, add `-Version 1`. 
Example: `bin\x64\debug\test.bat -Version 1` 


After running the tests once, you can add `-f` to skip the package installation, which makes the tests faster (this requires test_distro to be the default WSL distribution).

Example:

```
wsl --set-default test_distro
bin\x64\debug\test.bat /name:*UnitTest* -f
```

## Debugging tests

See [debugging](debugging.md) for general debugging instructions.

To automatically attach WinDbgX to the unit test process, use: `/attachdebugger` when calling `test.bat`.
To wait for a debugger to be manually attached, use: `/waitfordebugger`.
Use `/breakonfailure` to automatically break on the first test failure. 

## Tips and tricks

**Building and deploying faster** 

To iterate faster, create a copy of [```UserConfig.cmake.sample```](https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/blob/master/UserConfig.cmake.sample):

```
copy UserConfig.cmake.sample UserConfig.cmake
```

And uncomment this line:

```
# set(WSL_DEV_BINARY_PATH "C:/wsldev")
```

This will change the build logic to build a smaller package that installs faster.
Also see:

- `WSL_BUILD_THIN_PACKAGE` to build an even smaller package
- `WSL_POST_BUILD_COMMAND` to automatically deploy the package during build

**Code formatting**

Every pull request needs to be clang-formatted before it can be merged.

The code can be manually formatted by running: `powershell .\FormatSource.ps1 -ModifiedOnly $false`.

To automatically check formatting before each commit, run CMake configure (e.g. `cmake .`) and then: `tools\SetupClangFormat.bat`

The pre-commit hook behavior can be configured by setting `WSL_PRE_COMMIT_MODE` in `UserConfig.cmake`:

- `warn` (default) – report formatting issues without blocking the commit
- `error` – block the commit when formatting issues are found
- `fix` – automatically fix formatting and re-stage files