C3rd
Moving WSL to another machine
Posted: 8 Dec 2024, 1:22am - Sunday
In my case, I am moving from Windows 10 to Windows 11. It is my first to do this. I realised how easy I can move my work to another PC/Laptop or new machine.
In my old machine, I exported my Ubuntu by casting the command:
wsl --export Ubuntu E:\wsl\ubuntu.tar
It will take a while, mine was 150Gb for almost an hour. Then I shared my E:\wsl folder so I can easily access the file via network. Or you can copy it to USB drive.
Then go to your new machine or destination PC/laptop. First I unregister the existing Ubuntu I installed in my destination machine.
wsl --unregister Ubuntu
Then I need to import the Ubuntu I recently exported. Either you access the file remotely from your old machine or from the USB drive by casting the command:
mkdir $env:USERPROFILE\WSL\instances\Ubuntu
wsl --import Ubuntu $env:USERPROFILE\WSL\instances\Ubuntu \\OldMachine\wsl\ubuntu.tar --version 2
It will take a while again... Once done, I set it to default.
wsl --set-default Ubuntu
Then we need to set the user in the imported Ubuntu, by default will set to "root"
wsl ~
nano /etc/wsl.conf
Then add the following:
[user]
default=your_username
Save and exit. Restart WSL and when you use WSL, it should be your username.
Reference: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1429369/how-to-transfer-ubuntu-on-wsl-from-one-laptop-to-another