Microsoft has implemented support for the WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) in Windows Server 2022. Initially, the WSL2 subsystem, which enables the execution of Linux executables on Windows, was offered only in Windows workstation editions, but now Microsoft has ported this subsystem to the server editions of Windows. The components to support WSL2 in Windows Server are currently available for testing as an experimental update KB5014021 (OS Build 20348.740). In the June cumulative update, support for Linux environments based on WSL2 is planned to be integrated into the core of Windows Server 2022 and made available to all users.
To enable the execution of Linux executables in WSL2, the use of an emulator that translated Linux system calls into Windows system calls was abandoned, and they switched to providing an environment with a full-fledged Linux kernel. The kernel offered for WSL is based on the Linux kernel 5.10 release, which is enhanced with WSL-specific patches that include optimizations to reduce kernel boot time, decrease memory consumption, return memory freed by Linux processes to Windows, and maintain only the minimally necessary set of drivers and subsystems in the kernel.
The kernel runs in a Windows environment using a virtual machine, which is already utilized in Azure. The WSL environment operates in a separate disk image (VHD) with an ext4 file system and a virtual network adapter. User-space components are installed separately and are based on builds from various distributions. For instance, the Microsoft Store offers builds of Ubuntu, Debian GNU/Linux, Kali Linux, Fedora, Alpine, SUSE, and openSUSE for installation in WSL.
Source: opennet.ru
