Security News > 2022 > September > Microsoft adds 'systemd' to the Windows Subsystem for Linux

Microsoft adds 'systemd' to the Windows Subsystem for Linux
2022-09-22 18:03

Microsoft and Canonical have teamed up to add systemd support to the Windows Subsystem for Linux, allowing a larger number of compatible apps to be installed.

As systemd is responsible for launching all other services, it runs as the first process created by the Linux kernel on startup.

Yesterday, Microsoft and Canonical announced that the latest preview version of the Windows Subsystem for Linux in Windows 11 Insider builds now supports systemd, allowing you to install applications that require the service manager.

"Supporting systemd required changes to the WSL architecture. As systemd requires PID 1, the WSL init process started within the Linux distribution becomes a child process of the systemd," explained Microsoft's Craig Loewen in a new announcement.

"Because the WSL init process is responsible for providing the infrastructure for communication between the Linux and Windows components, changing this hierarchy required rethinking some of the assumptions made with the WSL init process."

You now need to enable systemd by launching your desired WSL Linux distribution and adding the following lines to /etc/wsl.


News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-adds-systemd-to-the-windows-subsystem-for-linux/

Related vendor

VENDOR LAST 12M #/PRODUCTS LOW MEDIUM HIGH CRITICAL TOTAL VULNS
Microsoft 701 841 4687 4342 3722 13592
Linux 18 397 1368 1114 696 3575