Latest windows update allows you to have a full Ubuntu-based Bash shell. This allows you to run the Bash shell and the exact same binaries that you would normally run on Ubuntu Linux.
To get started with bash make sure you are using correct version of Windows.
We would need Windows 10 creators update and a 64 bit version of the Windows 10.
Install Linux bash shell
To install Linix bash shell on windows follow the following steps.
Step 1 – Activate the developer mode
Update & Security > For Developers. Activate the “Developer Mode” as shown below:
Step2: Enable the “Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta)
Next, open the Control Panel, click “Programs,” and click “Turn Windows Features on or Off” under Programs and Features. Enable the “Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta)” option in the list here and click “OK.” After this it will ask you to reboot.
Step 3:
After your computer restarts, open windows command prompt and type bash as shown below. The first time you run the bash.exe file, it will prompt to accept the terms of service. The command will then download the “Bash on Ubuntu on Windows” application from the Windows Store. It will ask you to create a user account and password for use in the Bash environment.
What can you do with bash shell on windows?
- You would be able to use standard Linux SSH utility and discard third party tool like putty.
- You will be able to edit text with VIM from the command line, and manipulate text using Sed and Awk.
- You can also, apt-get to manage their packages, and to install tens of thousands of Ubuntu binaries.
- Basically its good utility for developer/administrators. These may not be very useful to general users. But if you are interested in learning Linux you can start it from here without going into the complexity to install LINUX.
For latest info on installation and features refer here.
