Using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

 

1. You'll need Windows 10, build number 15042 or greater to use WSL
   You can check your version by going to Settings -> System -> About.

    

2. Enable Developer Mode:
   Start Menu → Settings → Updates & Security → For developers → and then check "Developer Mode".

    

3. Turn on "Windows Subsystem for Linux":
   Start Menu → Settings → Search for "Turn Windows features on or off".
   From that menu, check the box next to "Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta)"

    

4. You'll probably need to reboot your computer.

    

5. Launch bash:
   Hit windows key, search for "bash", and select "bash" (before installation is complete) or "Bash on Ubuntu on Windows" (after installation is complete).
   This should launch a bash.exe terminal.

   The first time you open the bash WSL terminal, it will ask to install Ubuntu on Windows. Press 'y' and enter to continue. Then choose a username & password.

    

6. Install Ubuntu updates:
   (Type these commands into your bash terminal.)

       sudo apt-get update
       sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
   

    

7. Install the necessary packages for this course:

       sudo apt-get install g++ clang gdb zip valgrind
       sudo apt-get install gcc-multilib g++-multilib
   

   And press 'y' to continue.

    

8. Ensure that we can properly terminate a runaway WSL program:
   (In case Ctrl-c does not work for you.)

   NOTE: Do not attempt to edit WSL system files from Windows. The permissions and filesystem will get messed up and you'll need to reinstall everything to recover.

   From the WSL bash terminal (using vi to edit the file):

       vi ~/.bashrc
   

   Press 'G' to go to the end of file. Press 'A' to append to the end of the line.
   Press enter twice. Then type:

      stty intr \
   

   Then Ctrl-v, Ctrl-k. And the last line of the file should now look like this:

      stty intr \^K
   

   Then press escape, then press ':wq' and enter to save the file.
   To have the new command take effect, run:

      source ~/.bashrc
   

   Now if you want to quit a running program, press Ctrl-k.
   (Ctrl-c might work for you too.)

    

9. Install Dr. Memory for WSL:
   Follow these instructions...

    

10. Install a good code editor on Windows.
    If you don't already have a favorite, we recomend Sublime Text.

     

11. Create a new directory for your work for this course on Windows.
    Save the sample files to this directory.

    • temperature.cpp
    • infinite_loop.cpp
    • memory_bugs.cpp

    NOTE: It's easier if you avoid spaces or other non-alphanumeric characters (underscore is fine) in your file & directory names.

     

12. In your WSL bash terminal, go to your directory for the course.
    Windows paths are available in WSL from the /mnt/ mount point.
    For example, if you saved the file here:
    C:\Users\myusername\Documents\DataStructures\temperature.cpp
    

        
        cd /mnt/c/Users/myusername/Documents/DataStructures/
    
        ls
    

    And you should see your file.

    NOTE: If you have spaces in your directory or file names, you'll need to escape them with a backslash. E.g., Data\ Structures.

    Now compile the file:

        clang++ -o temperature.out temperature.cpp
    

    And then run it:

        ./temperature.out
    

    Or to test it through the memory debugger:

        drmemory -- ./temperature.out
    

    Or:

        valgrind ./temperature.out
    

     

13. To disable the tab-complete bell in WSL bash terminal (it quickly gets annoying):

    NOTE: Do not attempt to edit WSL system files from Windows. The permissions and filesystem will get messed up and you'll need to reinstall everything to recover.

    From the WSL bash terminal (using vi to edit the file):

        sudo vi /etc/inputrc
    

    Scroll down to the line:

        # set bell-style none
    

    press 'x' twice to uncomment that line:

        set bell-style none
    

    press ':wq' and enter to save the file.

    You'll need to close and restart your bash terminal for it to take effect.

     

14. Now, Test Your Installation.

     

15. If you have trouble with Valgrind on WSL, you may need to follow these instructions:

    http://www.albertgao.xyz/2016/09/28/how-to-use-valgrind-on-windows/