Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a great way to run a Linux environment within Windows 10 locally without having to rely on cygwin or using virtual machines.

It is not without its limitations. For instance, raw sockets are not supported so that means if you want to really utilize tools like nmap, you won’t be able to do so. However, from what I’m gathering, it sounds like WSL2 will support raw sockets.

As of today, I’ve updated my home lab Windows 10 systems to the newest non-insider build (Version 1903 (OS Build 18362.116)) and it was my hope that WSL2 would be included. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The wsl.exe command does not have a –set-version parameter yet and a newly installed debian on the my test system with nmap still produces raw socket related errors.

I have high hopes for what will become of WSL. For more information, take a look at this video: