Running Ubuntu Containers with Hyper-V Isolation on Windows 10 and Windows Server

Canonical and Microsoft have teamed up to deliver an truly special experience -- running Ubuntu containers with Hyper-V Isolation on Windows 10 and Windows Servers!

We have published a fantastic tutorial at https://ubu.one/UhyperV, with screenshots and easy-to-follow instructions.  You should be up and running in minutes!

Follow that tutorial, and you'll be able to launch Ubuntu containers with Hyper-V isolation by running the following directly from a Windows Powershell:

• docker run -it ubuntu bash

Cheers!
Dustin

Howdy, Windows! A Six-part Series about Ubuntu-on-Windows for Linux.com

I hope you'll enjoy a shiny new 6-part blog series I recently published at Linux.com.

1. The first article is a bit of back story, perhaps a behind-the-scenes look at the motivations, timelines, and some of the work performed between Microsoft and Canonical to bring Ubuntu to Windows.
2. The second article is an updated getting-started guide, with screenshots, showing a Windows 10 user exactly how to enable and run Ubuntu on Windows.
3. The third article walks through a dozen or so examples of the most essential command line utilities a Windows user, new to Ubuntu (and Bash), should absolutely learn.
4. The fourth article shows how to write and execute your first script, "Howdy, Windows!", in 6 different dynamic scripting languages (Bash, Python, Perl, Ruby, PHP, and NodeJS).
5. The fifth article demonstrates how to write, compile, and execute your first program in 7 different compiled programming languages (C, C++, Fortran, Golang).
6. The sixth and final article conducts some performance benchmarks of the CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network, in both native Ubuntu on a physical machine, and Ubuntu on Windows running on the same system.

I really enjoyed writing these.  Hopefully you'll try some of the examples, and share your experiences using Ubuntu native utilities on a Windows desktop.  You can find the source code of the programming examples in Github and Launchpad:

• https://github.com/dustinkirkland/howdy-windows
• http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~kirkland/howdy-windows/trunk/files

Cheers,
Dustin

HOWTO: Ubuntu on Windows

As announced last week, Microsoft and Canonical have worked together to bring Ubuntu's userspace natively into Windows 10.

As of today, Windows 10 Insiders can now take Ubuntu on Windows for a test drive!  Here's how...

1) You need to have a system running today's 64-bit build of Windows 10 (Build 14316).

2) To do so, you may need to enroll into the Windows Insider program here, insider.windows.com.

3) You need to notify your Windows desktop that you're a Windows Insider, under "System Settings --> Advanced Windows Update options"

4) You need to set your update ambition to the far right, also known as "the fast ring".

5) You need to enable "developer mode", as this new feature is very pointedly directed specifically at developers.

6) You need to check for updates, apply all updates, and restart.

7) You need to turn on the new Windows feature, "Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta)".  Note (again) that you need a 64-bit version of Windows!  Without that, you won't see the new option.

8) You need to reboot again.  (Windows sure has a fetish for rebooting!)

9) You press the start button and type "bash".

10) The first time you run "bash.exe", you'll accept the terms of service, download Ubuntu, and then you're off and running!

If you screw something up, and you want to start over, simply open a Windows command shell, and run: lxrun /uninstall /full and then just run bash again.

For bonus points, you might also like to enable the Ubuntu monospace font in your console.  Here's how!

a) Download the Ubuntu monospace font, from font.ubuntu.com.

b) Install the Ubuntu monospace font, by opening the zip file you downloaded, finding UbuntuMono-R.ttf, double clicking on it, and then clicking Install.

c) Enable the Ubuntu monospace font for the command console in the Windows registry.  Open regedit and find this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console\TrueTypeFont and add a new string value name "000" with value data "Ubuntu Mono"

d) Edit your command console preferences to enable the Ubuntu monospace font.

Cheers!
Dustin

Still have questions about Bash and Ubuntu on Windows?

Still have questions about Ubuntu on Windows?

Watch this Channel 9 session, recorded live at Build this week, hosted by Scott Hanselman, with questions answered by Windows kernel developers Russ Alexander, Ben Hillis, and myself representing Canonical and Ubuntu!
For fun, watch the crowd develop in the background over the 30 minute session!

And here's another recorded session with a demo by Rich Turner and Russ Alexander.  The real light bulb goes off at about 8:01.



Cheers,
:-Dustin