F42 beta WSL images

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1

Hello there,
I tried setting up WSL with fedora last year but recently I came across new announcement that Fedora 42 beta WSL image is out for testing.

I have tried following the doc and successfully set up Fedora on Windows Server 2022, I have tried installing Apache, Caddy, and some other packages, and all work perfectly.
For instance, I could access the default apache web server page using the local fedora IP address using browsers on Windows Server.

I have some confusion though, I really appreciate it if someone could clear it out for me.

  1. Does WSL only support base images without any packages installed? How does Fedora Server and Fedora Workstation differ in this situation?
  2. Does SELinux and Firewalld work without any extra setup?
  3. Is software RAID possible while running Fedora with WSL? I mean how can we protect data written into disks by Fedora in WSL cases?

Thanks

2

I believe the answer is no as you are using the windows disks via something 9 protocol. Do all disk management in windows.

Remember the reason you are trying wsl is because virtual machines do not work reliable on top of windows. And wsl is virtualised, but not the disks, which are proxied onto windows disks.

3

You need to dnf install extras as your use case requires.
You can run gui apps if you wish, I tested that and it works.

4

There is the hyperv firewall protecting the system.
I am not sure what extra protection firewalld would provide.

No idea about selinux. Have you checked if it’s enabled?

5

Indeed, 9P protocol when using WSL2: Plan 9 rides again; WSL file access | Nelson's log

6

@barryascott
Thank you for the explanation.

Remember the reason you are trying wsl is because virtual machines do not work reliable on top of windows. And wsl is virtualised, but not the disks, which are proxied onto windows disks.

Yes, you’re right.

You need to dnf install extras as your use case requires.
You can run gui apps if you wish, I tested that and it works.

Actually, I wanted to run Fedora Server therefore I don’t need GUI, but I really couldn’t tell if this Image includes any important packages that should be included in Fedora Server.

No idea about selinux. Have you checked if it’s enabled?

I have tried enabling through setenforce 1 command but it doesn’t work. The status of the SELinux still shows disabled. What if the Windows server is compromised, in that case, the Firewall might be an additional layer of protection on top of the windows firewall.

7

I assume for same reason you are not going to buy hardware for Fedora server to run on. In which case you will need to decide what you can compromise on.

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