Notes for Windows users

From Windows 10 and above, you should be able to connect to our servers through OpenSSH in a PowerShell/Windows Command Prompt.

PowerShell commands are very different from Linux commands, so if you want to practice Linux commands or have a Linux environment for personal usage on a Windows laptop, you can follow this instruction to install Linux with WSL. If you encounter errors, start by following the instructions in the documentation that the error messages link to. By default, the Linux distribution will be Ubuntu. If you want to use other distributions, please use the '-d' flag with the install command:

wsl --install -d <Distribution Name>

After installing WSL, we recommend follow these instructions to set up the environment.

If you are using PowerShell and git commands aren't working, you can follow this guide to check for Git or install it if need.

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Archival

Another option is to install Ubuntu subsystem for Windows on Windows 10 or later. Here are the instructions:

1. Click Start and search for Developer mode. Click the first option ("Use developer features") and check enable developer mode.
2. NOTE: It will ask you to restart your computer during this step, so be sure to save your work first. Run the Windows PowerShell (Terminal) in admin mode (right-click Start and select the option). Then copy the following and paste it in and hit Enter:
   
   Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux
   
   Type 'Y' and press Enter when it asks you to restart.
3. Go to Microsoft Store and install Ubuntu (just plain Ubuntu).
   1. When you enter your password, it will not show asterisks or dots. It will appear that you are not typing. In fact, you are. Enter your password carefully (twice) and it will behave as expected.
   2. When you see USERNAME@DESKTOP-RANDOMNUMBERSANDLETTERS, you're done.
   3. To enable copy and paste via Ctrl+Shift+V

Some quirks of interfacing Windows with Linux:

• It's common for a Linux operating system to appear to mount the main Windows filesystem under /drives, usually /drives/c/.
• Within /drives/c, directories and filenames observe such Windows conventions as capitalizing (e.g.) "Users" and "Documents".
• If you're in a Linux environment, the Windows "\" becomes a Linux "/".

Alternatives: MobaXterm and Putty are other options (Keyword spam: PC, shell, WSL)

X applications on Windows: You may only need X forwarding, not a full local Linux command line. If that's you, see our page about X apps for this setup.