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Windows WSL2

This page covers specific considerations when using DevSpaces on Windows with WSL2.

Performance​

File System Performance​

When working with WSL2, file system performance can be impacted when accessing Windows files from within WSL2. For optimal performance:

  • Store your project files in the WSL2 file system (/home/username/projects/) rather than in the Windows file system (/mnt/c/...)
  • The WSL2 file system (ext4) provides significantly better I/O performance than accessing Windows files via /mnt/c/
  • Docker volumes should also be stored within the WSL2 file system when possible

Memory and CPU Allocation​

WSL2 uses a virtual machine with configurable resources:

  • Edit .wslconfig in your Windows user home directory (C:\Users\<username>\.wslconfig)
  • Configure memory and CPU limits:
[wsl2]
memory=8GB
processors=4

Restart WSL2 after making changes:

wsl --shutdown

Docker Desktop Settings​

If using Docker Desktop on Windows:

  • Ensure WSL2 integration is enabled in Docker Desktop settings
  • Allocate sufficient resources to Docker Desktop (Settings → Resources)
  • Consider using Docker directly in WSL2 instead of Docker Desktop for better performance

Rights​

File Permissions​

When accessing files from Windows (/mnt/c/...), be aware that:

  • File permissions may differ from native Linux files
  • Some operations may require elevated permissions
  • It's recommended to work within the WSL2 file system (/home/...) to avoid permission issues

For general permission issues, see the Permissions page.

Windows Firewall and Antivirus​

Windows Defender or other antivirus software may interfere with WSL2 networking:

  • Add WSL2 network interfaces to firewall exceptions if needed
  • Consider excluding WSL2 directories from antivirus real-time scanning for better performance

Git​

File Mode Changes​

When working with Git repositories in WSL2 that are also accessed from Windows, you may encounter file mode changes in Git:

old mode 100755
new mode 100644

This happens because Windows and WSL2 handle file permissions differently. To prevent Git from tracking these permission changes, disable file mode tracking:

git config core.filemode false

This setting applies to the current repository. To set it globally for all repositories:

git config --global core.filemode false
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