MX-Linux Distro for WSL2 in Windows 11

[XperiaGo]

Hello world,

Having moved to a job where dual-boot is not allowed and having a pure Linux machine also is not allowed, and a VM is forbidden, but ironically using WSL with any distro you like is allowed.
I went to download a MX distro on the Microsoft store, without any luck, looking into the forum it seems nobody has tried jet.

So I decided to create one MX distro for WSL and see how it goes, and involve all who wanted to contribute....

Let's start:

I followed this Microsoft link:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windo ... tom-distro
It state at first to "Obtain a tar file for the distribution"

I used Kali linux running in WSL to get the MX-Linux tar. (To install Kali I followed this https://www.kali.org/docs/wsl/wsl-prepa ... l-kali-wsl)

Create the folder and download the MX iso

Code: Select all

mkdir mxlinux; cd mxlinux;
wget -O MX-21.3_x64.iso https://sourceforge.net/projects/mx-linux/files/Final/Xfce/MX-21.3_x64.iso/download

Extract the iso file (Install 7z if isn't already installed: sudo apt-get install p7zip )

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7z x MX-21.3_x64.iso

Create the mount folder where we are going to mount the MX file system

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mkdir mount
sudo mount -o loop antiX/linuxfs mount

Now the first goal, create the tar of MX distro and copy or move to a windows folder

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cd mxlinux/mount/
sudo tar -zcvf ../distro.tar.gz .
cp distro.tar.gz /mnt/c/Users/[your win user]/Downloads/

Move to the selected folder and import it to WSL giving the name (mxlinux) and the tar file (distro.tar.gz)

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PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads>
PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads> wsl.exe --import mxlinux \Users\[your win user]\Downloads\mxlinux distro.tar.gz
Import in progress, this may take a few minutes.
The operation completed successfully.
PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads>

Is there

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PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads> wsl --list -v
  NAME          STATE           VERSION
* kali-linux    Running         2
  mxlinux       Stopped         2

Enter to MX linux

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PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads> wsl.exe -d mxlinux
root@mx-linux:~# pwd
/root
root@mx-linux:~# uname -a
Linux mx-linux 5.15.90.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 #1 SMP Fri Jan 27 02:56:13 UTC 2023 x86_64 GNU/Linux
root@mx-linux:~# cat /etc/*release*
NAME="MX"
VERSION="21.3 (Wildflower)"
ID="mx"
VERSION_ID="21.3"
PRETTY_NAME="MX 21.3 (Wildflower)"
ANSI_COLOR="0;34"
HOME_URL="https://mxlinux.org"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://mxlinux.org"
PRETTY_NAME="MX 21.3 Wildflower"
DISTRIB_ID=MX
DISTRIB_RELEASE=21.3
DISTRIB_CODENAME="Wildflower"
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="MX 21.3 Wildflower"
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="11"
VERSION="11 (bullseye)"
VERSION_CODENAME=bullseye
ID=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

Now let's update/upgrade our new Fresh MX distro in WSL

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apt update -y; apt upgrade -y; apt dist-upgrade -y; apt full-upgrade; apt autoremove -y;

download/file.php?id=29684&mode=view


The First Win!!!!.....
I worked with basic stuff, and so far no problem, I launched several graphics apps with no issues....



Next objective, try to connect to the XFC desktop of our new MX distro using RDP

I followed the same steps of what I did for Kali, Still no luck (https://www.kali.org/docs/general-use/xfce-with-rdp/):

Change the root password

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passwd
 New password:
 Retype new password:
 passwd: password updated successfully

Install rdp and x11 dbus

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apt install xrdp dbus-x11 xfce4-goodies

Change the default port of rdp

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sed -i 's/port=3389/port=3390/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini

/etc/init.d/xrdp start
/etc/init.d/xrdp status
 xrdp-sesman is running.
 xrdp is running.

Check the port is listening inside the MX distro

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:~# netstat -an | grep 3390
tcp        0      0 127.0.0.1:3390          0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN

Check on win side it sees the port too

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PS C:\> netstat -an | findstr.exe "3390"
  TCP    127.0.0.1:3390         0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
PS C:\>

Add an user we can use in MX

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:~# useradd -m mxlinux-rocks
:~# grep mx /etc/passwd
mxlinux-rocks:x:1001:1001::/home/mxlinux-rocks:/bin/sh

Change the shell to bash (sh to bash)

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:~# vi /etc/passwd
:~# grep mx /etc/passwd
mxlinux-rocks:x:1001:1001::/home/mxlinux-rocks:/bin/bash

:~# passwd mxlinux-rocks
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully

I get the login prompt, I write the credentials, but no environment yet


download/file.php?id=29686&mode=view

Anyway, I can do a lot of things so far... I will keep posting If a get the rdp to works...

[FullScale4Me]

Well done, excellent progress!

Type in MX Linux CTL-ALT-T and type ip a

Use the "inet" as the IP address to connect to vs 127.0.0.1

[CharlesV]

Ditto! @XperiaGo Great Job!

[XperiaGo]

Hi @FullScale4Me , thanks. Also I tried with the current IP that WSL assigns to MXlinux but it doesn't reply, by default in xrdp.ini 127.0.0.1 is declared instead.

Hi @CharlesV thanks.

I will continue sharing the progress so far.

First, I noticed that I always enter as root in MX-Linux, reading the WSL doc https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windo ... ig#wslconf I found how to logging with another user instead of root.

As root add your user to sudo group and create and add the following:

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sudo usermod -aG sudo mxlinux-rocks

vi /etc/wsl.conf
[user]
default=mxlinux-rocks
[boot]
command="echo WSL booted $(/bin/date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') >> /home/mxlinux-rocks/wslBootHistory.txt"

It will auto log-in as my user, the boot/command part, is to add a "trace" for each time you "boot" into MXlinux, it's optional of course.

So now I can follow the rabbit-logs with a non-root user and see what is going on with xrdp. Checking the logs I saw:

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[20230630-23:26:55] [DEBUG] Closed socket 15 (AF_INET6 ::ffff:127.0.0.1 port 36140)
[20230630-23:26:59] [DEBUG] Closed socket 15 (AF_INET6 ::ffff:127.0.0.1 port 36430)
[20230630-23:27:03] [DEBUG] Closed socket 15 (AF_INET6 ::ffff:127.0.0.1 port 33852)
[20230630-23:27:07] [ERROR] xrdp_wm_log_msg: Error connecting to sesman: 127.0.0.1 port: 3350

Is not possible to connect to sesman ip/port and the socket is using IPv6. With my little experience on WSL, I know that leaving IPv6 enabled cause more troubles than benefits.

So I edit sysctl and added to the end:

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vi /etc/sysctl.conf
# Disable IPv6
net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1

In order to take into account I need to run "sudo sysctl -p", but I will had to do this each time I "boot" into MXlinux, so I added in bashrc to be executed each time:

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vi .bashrc
sudo sysctl -p
cat /etc/resolv.conf
ip route
ip -br a

The resolv and ip command, is to have more visibility that indeed ipv6 was disabled, and a boot into mxlinux looks like this:

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PS C:\> wsl -d mxlinux
[sudo] password for mxlinux-rocks:
net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1
# This file was automatically generated by WSL. To stop automatic generation of this file, add the following entry to /etc/wsl.conf:
# [network]
# generateResolvConf = false
nameserver 172.17.112.1
default via 172.17.112.1 dev eth0 proto kernel
172.17.112.0/20 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 172.17.117.230
lo               UNKNOWN        127.0.0.1/8
eth0             UP             172.17.117.230/20
mxlinux-rocks@mxlinux:/mnt/c/
$

Another try, and the xrdp logs shows me this:

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[20230630-23:35:14] [DEBUG] xrdp_wm_log_msg: connecting to sesman ip 127.0.0.1 port 3350
[20230630-23:35:14] [INFO ] xrdp_wm_log_msg: sesman connect ok
....
....
Cannot read private key file /etc/xrdp/key.pem: Permission denied

Sesman is ok now (with only IPv6 disabled), but xrdp is having rights issue, I fix it adding xrdp to ssl group:

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sudo adduser xrdp ssl-cert

Another try, I got this:

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[20230630-23:56:19] [INFO ] /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg :10 -auth .Xauthority -config xrdp/xorg.conf -noreset -nolisten tcp -logfile .xorgxrdp.%s.log
[20230630-23:56:29] [ERROR] X server for display 10 startup timeout

It seems now, no more "errors" in xrdp side, now time to dig in Xorg logs:

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_XSERVTransmkdir: Mode of /tmp/.X11-unix should be set to 1777
_XSERVTransSocketCreateListener: failed to bind listener
_XSERVTransSocketUNIXCreateListener: ...SocketCreateListener() failed
_XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: failed to create listener for unix

It took me a while, but the solution is here https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/9303
The problem is, for some unknown reasons WSL is making /tmp/.X11-unix a mount point read-only, the work-around for non WSL distros like this is to do:

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sudo mount -o remount,rw /tmp/.X11-unix
sudo chmod -R 1777 /tmp/.X11-unix

Moving forward, no more errors until:

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Fatal server error:
(EE) parse_vt_settings: Cannot open /dev/tty0 (Permission denied)

Again, it took me a while and from here https://github.com/neutrinolabs/xrdp/issues/1159 we need to do:

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sudo adduser mxlinux-rocks tty 
sudo apt install xorgxrdp

And finally the good news, no more errors in xrdp or xorg logs and a working xrdp:

download/file.php?id=29747&mode=view


I will keep posting if I have more progress in other areas.
But so far I consider I have a very complete MX-Linux running on WSL.. cheers!!!

[XperiaGo]

Another progress...

This time on Windows 10, I did it to a co-worker, and It worked too :)

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PS C:\> systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"
OS Name:                   Microsoft Windows 10 Home
OS Version:                10.0.19044 N/A Build 19044
PS C:\> wsl -d mxlinux
[sudo] password for mxlinux:
net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1
net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1
# This file was automatically generated by WSL. To stop automatic generation of this file, add the following entry to /etc/wsl.conf:
# [network]
# generateResolvConf = false
nameserver 172.29.32.1
default via 172.29.32.1 dev eth0 proto kernel
172.29.32.0/20 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 172.29.34.191
lo               UNKNOWN        127.0.0.1/8
eth0             UP             172.29.34.191/20
mxlinux@mlinux:~
$ uname -a
Linux mlinux 5.15.90.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 #1 SMP Fri Jan 27 02:56:13 UTC 2023 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$ cat /etc/lsb-release
PRETTY_NAME="MX 21.3 Wildflower"
DISTRIB_ID=MX
DISTRIB_RELEASE=21.3
DISTRIB_CODENAME="Wildflower"
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="MX 21.3 Wildflower"

The only difference, was to explicit mark IPv4 on xrdp.ini

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mxlinux@mlinux:~
$ grep 3390 /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini
;   port=3390
port=tcp://:3390
mxlinux@mlinux:~
$ sudo netstat -anp | grep -w LISTEN
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:3390            0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      95/xrdp
tcp6       0      0 127.0.0.1:3350          :::*                    LISTEN      92/xrdp-sesman

PS C:\> NETSTAT.EXE -an | findstr.exe "3390"
  TCP    127.0.0.1:3390         0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
PS C:\>

And the remote connection worked flawless.....

So far, all is working as expected.
Cheers!

[CharlesV]

Very cool. Thank you for keeping us up on this!

[XperiaGo]

Another update!

Now is time time to go from MX21 to MX23 without re-installing from zero. I used this method https://mxlinux.org/wiki/system/upgradi ... nstalling/

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mxlinux@mxlinux:~
$ cat /etc/*release*
NAME="MX"
VERSION="23 (Libretto)"
ID="mx"
VERSION_ID="23"
PRETTY_NAME="MX 23 (Libretto)"
ANSI_COLOR="0;34"
HOME_URL="https://mxlinux.org"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://mxlinux.org"
PRETTY_NAME="MX 23 Libretto"
DISTRIB_ID=MX
DISTRIB_RELEASE=23
DISTRIB_CODENAME="Libretto"
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="MX 23 Libretto"

PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="12"
VERSION="12 (bookworm)"
VERSION_CODENAME=bookworm
ID=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

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mxlinux@mxlinux:~
$ pstree
init(mxlinux)─┬─Relay(12)─┬─at-spi-bus-laun─┬─dbus-daemon
              │           │                 └─3*[{at-spi-bus-laun}]
              │           ├─dbus-daemon
              │           └─dbus-launch
              ├─SessionLeader───Relay(1535)───bash───pstree
              ├─init───{init}
              └─{init(mxlinux)}
mxlinux@mxlinux:~
$ ps 1
  PID TTY      STAT   TIME COMMAND
    1 ?        Sl     0:00 /init
mxlinux@mxlinux:~
$ stat /init
  File: /init
  Size: 1978872         Blocks: 3872       IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: 0,2     Inode: 5           Links: 1
Access: (0777/-rwxrwxrwx)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2023-08-04 20:25:23.622654099 +0200
Modify: 2023-04-20 00:55:09.000000000 +0200
Change: 2023-08-04 20:25:23.030000000 +0200
 Birth: -
mxlinux@mxlinux:~
$ file /init
/init: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, version 1 (SYSV), statically linked, stripped

Job done, now time to play in Libretto.

• Does any one knows how to get the look and feel of libretto? (wallpapers etc...)
  Do I have to install a specific packet?

Cheers!!!

[Danathar]

Hello world,

Having moved to a job where dual-boot is not allowed and having a pure Linux machine also is not allowed, and a VM is forbidden, but ironically using WSL with any distro you like is allowed.
I went to download a MX distro on the Microsoft store, without any luck, looking into the forum it seems nobody has tried jet.

So I decided to create one MX distro for WSL and see how it goes, and involve all who wanted to contribute....

Let's start:

I followed this Microsoft link:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windo ... tom-distro
It state at first to "Obtain a tar file for the distribution"

I used Kali linux running in WSL to get the MX-Linux tar. (To install Kali I followed this https://www.kali.org/docs/wsl/wsl-prepa ... l-kali-wsl)

Create the folder and download the MX iso

Code: Select all

mkdir mxlinux; cd mxlinux;
wget -O MX-21.3_x64.iso https://sourceforge.net/projects/mx-linux/files/Final/Xfce/MX-21.3_x64.iso/download

Extract the iso file (Install 7z if isn't already installed: sudo apt-get install p7zip )

Code: Select all

7z x MX-21.3_x64.iso

Create the mount folder where we are going to mount the MX file system

Code: Select all

mkdir mount
sudo mount -o loop antiX/linuxfs mount

Now the first goal, create the tar of MX distro and copy or move to a windows folder

Code: Select all

cd mxlinux/mount/
sudo tar -zcvf ../distro.tar.gz .
cp distro.tar.gz /mnt/c/Users/[your win user]/Downloads/

Move to the selected folder and import it to WSL giving the name (mxlinux) and the tar file (distro.tar.gz)

Code: Select all

PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads>
PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads> wsl.exe --import mxlinux \Users\[your win user]\Downloads\mxlinux distro.tar.gz
Import in progress, this may take a few minutes.
The operation completed successfully.
PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads>

Is there

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PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads> wsl --list -v
  NAME          STATE           VERSION
* kali-linux    Running         2
  mxlinux       Stopped         2

Enter to MX linux

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PS C:\Users\[your win user]\Downloads> wsl.exe -d mxlinux
root@mx-linux:~# pwd
/root
root@mx-linux:~# uname -a
Linux mx-linux 5.15.90.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 #1 SMP Fri Jan 27 02:56:13 UTC 2023 x86_64 GNU/Linux
root@mx-linux:~# cat /etc/*release*
NAME="MX"
VERSION="21.3 (Wildflower)"
ID="mx"
VERSION_ID="21.3"
PRETTY_NAME="MX 21.3 (Wildflower)"
ANSI_COLOR="0;34"
HOME_URL="https://mxlinux.org"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://mxlinux.org"
PRETTY_NAME="MX 21.3 Wildflower"
DISTRIB_ID=MX
DISTRIB_RELEASE=21.3
DISTRIB_CODENAME="Wildflower"
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="MX 21.3 Wildflower"
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="11"
VERSION="11 (bullseye)"
VERSION_CODENAME=bullseye
ID=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.debian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://www.debian.org/support"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.debian.org/"

Now let's update/upgrade our new Fresh MX distro in WSL

Code: Select all

apt update -y; apt upgrade -y; apt dist-upgrade -y; apt full-upgrade; apt autoremove -y;

download/file.php?id=29684&mode=view


The First Win!!!!.....
I worked with basic stuff, and so far no problem, I launched several graphics apps with no issues....



Next objective, try to connect to the XFC desktop of our new MX distro using RDP

I followed the same steps of what I did for Kali, Still no luck (https://www.kali.org/docs/general-use/xfce-with-rdp/):

Change the root password

Code: Select all

passwd
 New password:
 Retype new password:
 passwd: password updated successfully

Install rdp and x11 dbus

Code: Select all

apt install xrdp dbus-x11 xfce4-goodies

Change the default port of rdp

Code: Select all

sed -i 's/port=3389/port=3390/g' /etc/xrdp/xrdp.ini

/etc/init.d/xrdp start
/etc/init.d/xrdp status
 xrdp-sesman is running.
 xrdp is running.

Check the port is listening inside the MX distro

Code: Select all

:~# netstat -an | grep 3390
tcp        0      0 127.0.0.1:3390          0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN

Check on win side it sees the port too

Code: Select all

PS C:\> netstat -an | findstr.exe "3390"
  TCP    127.0.0.1:3390         0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING
PS C:\>

Add an user we can use in MX

Code: Select all

:~# useradd -m mxlinux-rocks
:~# grep mx /etc/passwd
mxlinux-rocks:x:1001:1001::/home/mxlinux-rocks:/bin/sh

Change the shell to bash (sh to bash)

Code: Select all

:~# vi /etc/passwd
:~# grep mx /etc/passwd
mxlinux-rocks:x:1001:1001::/home/mxlinux-rocks:/bin/bash

:~# passwd mxlinux-rocks
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully

I get the login prompt, I write the credentials, but no environment yet


download/file.php?id=29686&mode=view

Anyway, I can do a lot of things so far... I will keep posting If a get the rdp to works...

Running Linux in WSL makes me feel like a hypocrite But I recognize the need and the fact that if that's the only way you can get a real shell minus what we used to do with cygwin, it's worth it.

Congrats on getting it running!

[Eadwine Rose]

Images in posts changed to links, please read the forum rules.

[Adrian]

Does any one knows how to get the look and feel of libretto? (wallpapers etc...)

It's mx23-artwork, also to quote from migration document: "A new conky theme, MX-CownTangram, can be copyied into your $HOME/.conky folder from /usr/share/mx-conky-data"
For the bootsplash you need to run mx-boot-options and select: MXLiveLogo