Summary

  • Microsoft updates WSL kernel to version 6.6, the latest LTS release.
  • The updated Linux kernel means there are fewer out-of-tree patches.
  • The latest version of WSL is currently only available as source code, but should fully roll out soon.

Windows Subsystem for Linux is, in the eyes of many, one of the best features of Windows 11. And now, Microsoft has delivered a very welcome update to the platform that finally updates the Linux kernel, bringing it to version 6.6, the latest available as an LTS (long-term servicing) release.

If you've been following WSL closely, you probably already know that the kernel used for it has been stuck on version 5.15 for years. In fact, that version of the Linux kernel was first released in November 2021, so it's over two and a half years old at this point. There have been newer Linux kernel releases since then, like version 6.1 at the start of 2023. But Microsoft never adopted it for its Linux implementation in Windows, despite receiving updates as recently as one month ago. The latest update to WSL2, which is currently only available through GitHub, finally brings it to the latest LTS release, which was first released last November.

👁 Microsoft and Linux text with heart in the middle
How to setup and install WSL 2 on Windows 10 and 11

To use Linux on your Windows PC first you need to install WSL 2. Here's how to do just that on both Windows 10 and 11 in minutes.

What's new in the latest WSL update?

Feature-wise, there aren't big changes with a Linux kernel update, but having a newer kernel means Microsoft has been able to remove some out-of-tree patches it was building on top of the older kernel. That's because those changes have now been upstreamed into the Linux kernel itself. If you want the full list of changes in this WSL update, here's what it includes:

  • First WSL2 kernel release updated to v6.6 from v5.15
  • Release rolling-lts/wsl/6.6.36.3
  • Update to stable kernel version v6.6.36
  • New x86 and ARM64 configs including loadable modules
  • dxgkrnl: Do not print error messages when virtual GPU is not present
  • Fewer out of tree patches. Sets of patches now included from upstream:
    • page reporting commits (feature/page-reporting/5.15)
    • vpci commits (feature/vpci/5.15)
    • memory reclaim commits (feature/memory-reclaim/5.15)
    • vsock commits (fix/vsock/5.15)

Since it's only available through GitHub right now, you can't actually install this version yourself easily, as you'll need to build it from the source code first. If you're not comfortable doing that, these changes should be coming soon to the stable release of WSL, so you just have to wait a little longer.