Best Practices for Setting Up a Development Environment on Windows 11 with WSL2 in 2024

Introduction

This guide will walk you through the best practices for setting up a modern development environment on Windows 11 with WSL2, including tools, configurations, and Docker installation directly within WSL2 for optimal performance.

1. Why WSL2 for Development on Windows 11?

WSL2 allows Windows users to run a full Linux kernel inside Windows, delivering a real Linux experience without a virtual machine. Some of the advantages of WSL2 for development include:

• Enhanced Performance: WSL2 runs a real Linux kernel, providing near-native speeds for Linux tools and commands.
• Seamless Integration: Filesystem access between Windows and Linux is fast and accessible from both sides.
• Docker Compatibility: WSL2 provides an ideal environment for Docker, enabling containerized development on Windows without Docker Desktop’s overhead.
• Lightweight and Resource-Efficient: WSL2 uses fewer resources than a traditional VM, making it ideal for modern development needs.

2. Setting Up WSL2 on Windows 11

1. Enable WSL2:
   • Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:powershellCopy codewsl --install
   • This command installs WSL2 and sets it as the default version. If you want to install a specific distro (e.g., Ubuntu 22.04), use:powershellCopy codewsl --install -d Ubuntu
2. Set WSL2 as the Default Version:
   • If you already have other versions of WSL installed, set WSL2 as default with:powershellCopy codewsl --set-default-version 2
3. Verify Installation:
   • Run wsl --list --verbose to confirm WSL2 is installed and verify the version for each distribution.

The most popular WSL2 distros for development are Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Debian, and Fedora. For consistency and ease of use, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is a solid choice, widely supported and documented.

Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Docker in WSL2

Why Docker in WSL2 Is Better for Development?

• Native Linux Filesystem: Running Docker in WSL2 avoids the performance issues of syncing files between Windows and WSL. When code and containers are in WSL2, file I/O operations are faster.
• Linux Kernel: WSL2 uses a real Linux kernel, making Docker behave more like it would on a dedicated Linux machine.
• Reduced Resource Overhead: Docker Desktop for Windows introduces overhead since it has to bridge the Windows and Linux environments.
• Docker Desktop for Windows has issues with slow file syncing, especially for projects with many small files (like PHP projects with vendor directories).

Docker Desktop for Windows does indeed use WSL2 as its backend, which is why it shows WSL2 integration in the resources section. However, even though Docker Desktop uses WSL2 to run Linux containers, it still adds an additional layer of overhead that makes it resource-intensive compared to running Docker entirely within WSL2 without Docker Desktop.

Yes, running Docker directly inside WSL2 is generally a better choice for a more stable, Linux-native development environment on Windows, especially when using PHP, Docker, and PhpStorm for web development.

1. Install Docker Directly in WSL2:
   • Update the package list and install Docker:bashCopy codesudo apt update

sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
sudo apt update

sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io
2. Run Docker Without sudo:
   • Add your user to the docker group to allow running Docker commands Essential Tools and Utilities for Developmentwithout sudo:
   • usermod -aG docker $USER
   • Restart your WSL session to apply changes.
3. Verify Docker Installation:
4. docker --version

Download Docker Compose

1. Get the latest stable version of Docker Compose:
   • Check the Docker Compose GitHub releases page for the latest version (e.g., v2.20.0), and replace <version> with the actual version number:bashCopy codeVERSION=<version> # Replace <version> with the latest version, e.g., 2.20.0 sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/v$VERSION/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
2. Make it Executable:
   • Set executable permissions on the downloaded binary:bashCopy codesudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

7. Essential Tools and Utilities for Development

Container Management Tools:

Portainer

manage Docker containers with a GUI. Portainer can be installed directly within Docker

docker volume create portainer_data
docker run -d -p 8000:8000 -p 9443:9443 --name portainer 
  --restart=always 
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock 
  -v portainer_data:/data 
  portainer/portainer-ce:latest

Lazydocker

• Description: Lazydocker is a terminal-based Docker UI that provides a simple and fast way to manage containers, networks, and volumes from the command line.
• Installation:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jesseduffield/lazydocker/master/scripts/install_update_linux.sh | bash

Summary Comparison