Xedant Code > WSL Setup

WSL Setup

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Just point any AI chat (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.) to this page in Markdown or to the llms.txt index, and ask it to generate the config files and commands for you. It’ll read the docs, ask you a few questions about your setup, and give you ready-to-use configuration. Save your time — let the model do the reading.

You could also contact me via Telegram — I’m always eager to help. I’m not being just polite here — I really like to chat with like-minded people, especially if you love coding as much as I do.

WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) lets you run a Linux environment directly on Windows without a virtual machine. This makes it a great way to run Xedant Code in a Docker container on Windows — you get the full isolation of Docker with native Linux performance.

Windows 11

Windows 11 includes WSL 2 support out of the box. Open a terminal (PowerShell or Command Prompt) and run:

wsl --install

This installs WSL 2 with Ubuntu as the default distribution. Restart your computer when prompted. After restart, Ubuntu opens automatically — set your username and password for the Linux environment.

Installing Docker

In your WSL terminal, install Docker:

# Install prerequisites
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl

# Add Docker's GPG key and repository
sudo install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
sudo chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo "$VERSION_CODENAME") stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Install Docker Engine
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

# Start Docker
sudo service docker start

# Add your user to the docker group (so you don't need sudo)
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

After adding your user to the docker group, close and reopen the WSL terminal for the change to take effect. Verify Docker works:

docker --version
docker compose version

Running Xedant Code

Create a directory for your project and follow the Docker Setup Guide to configure and launch Xedant Code. Your project files are accessible from both Windows (via \\wsl$\Ubuntu\ in File Explorer) and the WSL terminal.

Windows 10

WSL 2 requires an additional step on Windows 10 — enabling the Virtual Machine Platform feature. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

# Enable WSL
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

# Enable Virtual Machine Platform (required for WSL 2)
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Restart your computer, then open PowerShell again and set WSL 2 as the default:

wsl --set-default-version 2

Install Ubuntu from the Microsoft Store (search for “Ubuntu”) or run:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu

After installation, open Ubuntu and set your username and password. Then follow the same Docker installation steps from the Windows 11 section above.

Accessing the App

Once Xedant Code is running in Docker, open your Windows browser and navigate to http://localhost:5001 (or whatever port you configured). WSL 2 automatically forwards ports to Windows, so you don’t need any extra network configuration.

If for some reason the port isn’t accessible, find the WSL IP address:

# In WSL terminal
hostname -I

Then open http://<that-ip>:5001 in your Windows browser.

Tips

  • File access — Your Windows drives are mounted under /mnt/c/, /mnt/d/, etc. inside WSL. However, for best Docker performance, keep your project files inside the WSL filesystem (e.g., ~/projects/) rather than on Windows drives.
  • Auto-start Docker — To have Docker start automatically when you open WSL, add sudo service docker start to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.
  • Docker Desktop alternative — If you prefer a graphical Docker interface, see the Windows Docker Desktop Guide for setting up Docker Desktop with WSL 2 backend. Docker Desktop integrates with WSL 2 automatically, so you can skip the manual Docker installation.

For Docker configuration details (compose files, environment variables, credentials), see the Docker Setup Guide. For the native Windows installer, see the Windows Setup Guide.