Microsoft brings big Windows WSL upgrade with better memory, disk, network management

Microsoft has released the newest preview update (version 2.0.0) for Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). The new update brings multiple improvements with several experimental features like autoMemoryReclaim and Sparse VHD that will help in cache memory and disk space management.

Microsoft explains:

We reclaim a fixed portion of your VM’s memory size, which is calculated so that if your VM was full of cached memory it would go to zero cached memory after 30 minutes (e.g: If you have 3000MB of memory, we reclaim 100MB every minute).

Also, there are networking related enhancements as well with Mirrored mode which adds IPv6 support, better VPN support, among others. Aside from mirrored mode, DNS tunneling improvements and Firewall support has also been added.

The release notes are given below:

• Added support for new opt-in experimental features

   

  • autoMemoryReclaim – Makes the WSL VM shrink in memory as you use it by reclaiming cached memory

     

  • Sparse VHD – Automatically shrinks the WSL virtual hard disk (VHD) as you use it

     

  • Mirrored mode networking – A new networking mode for WSL that adds new features and improves network compatibility

     

    • IPv6 support

    • Connect to Windows servers from within Linux using the localhost address 127.0.0.1

    • Connect to WSL directly from your local area network (LAN)

    • Improved networking compatibility for VPNs

    • Multicast support

       

  • dnsTunneling – Changes how WSL resolves DNS requests to improve network compatibility

     

  • firewall – Applies Windows firewall rules to WSL, and allows for advanced firewall controls for the WSL VM

     

  • autoProxy – Makes WSL automatically use the proxy information from Windows to improve network compatibility

     

• This release also has some significant bug fixes:

   

  • GH 9231 Store WSL isn’t accessible from Session 0

     

  • WSL GUI apps now have Windows snapping with the keyboard (Press WIN + an arrow key to snap to the side)

     

You can read more about the new WSL release on this page on Microsoft's official website.

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