Table of Contents

WSL Configuration

Summary

Where to put your project files, how to open them from Windows, how to tune WSL 2's resource usage, and how to back up or move your distro.

Where to put your project files

Keep your projects inside the WSL filesystem - for example under /var/www/, which is exactly where this playbook creates your virtualhosts. Avoid working with projects stored under /mnt/c/... (or any other Windows drive mounted into WSL): crossing filesystems this way can significantly slow down file-heavy operations like composer install, npm install, or a framework's file-watcher.

If you cloned a project onto C:\ before setting up WSL, move or re-clone it into your AlmaLinux 10 home directory or /var/www instead.

Opening a WSL project from Windows

To browse your AlmaLinux 10 files from Windows File Explorer, open:

\\wsl.localhost\AlmaLinux-10\var\www\

(older WSL versions use \\wsl$\AlmaLinux-10\... instead - both work).

From inside AlmaLinux 10, you can also open the current directory in Windows File Explorer directly:

explorer.exe .

.wslconfig

WSL 2 runs inside a lightweight VM, and by default it can use most of your machine's memory and grow its virtual disk indefinitely. You can cap this with a .wslconfig file at C:\Users\<your-windows-username>\.wslconfig (created from Windows, not inside AlmaLinux 10):

[wsl2]
memory=8GB
processors=4
swap=2GB
vmIdleTimeout=60000
networkingMode=mirrored
  • memory / processors: cap how much RAM/CPU the WSL VM can use.
  • swap: swap file size inside the VM.
  • vmIdleTimeout: milliseconds of inactivity before the VM is torn down (frees memory when you're not using WSL).
  • networkingMode=mirrored: mirrors your Windows network interfaces into WSL, which can fix some VPN/corporate-network connectivity issues.

Apply changes with:

wsl --shutdown

then reopen AlmaLinux 10.

The VM's virtual disk (VHDX) only grows - it doesn't shrink automatically as you delete files. See Microsoft's guide on compacting a WSL disk if it grows larger than expected.

Backup and portability

wsl --unregister AlmaLinux-10 (documented in Install AlmaLinux 10) deletes the distro and everything in it - it's a reset, not a backup.

To back up or move your environment instead, export it to a single file:

wsl --export AlmaLinux-10 alma-linux-10-backup.tar

And restore it (to the same machine or a different one) with:

wsl --import AlmaLinux-10 C:\WSL\AlmaLinux-10 alma-linux-10-backup.tar

Next step

See Editor Integration to connect VS Code or PhpStorm, or jump to the FAQ for common troubleshooting.

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