It seems the api has changed and the command that one can find online are mostly outdated. How can I change which version of Windows Subsystem for Linux is used?

Formerly:

wsl -l -v

Update

After, upgrading windows to 2004 I was able to use the above command in the Power Shell.

wsl -l -v
> NAME STATE VERSION
> * Ubuntu-18.04 Running 2

Is that sufficient as a confirmation? The wsl shell's of wsl 1 and 2 seem to look identical.

1 Answer

1. At a Windows command prompt, run ver Is the next-to-last numeric group version 18917 or higher? If so, go on to step 2. If not, you have version 1. This illustrates the result when the OS is Build 16299:

2. Open Windows PowerShell (not the Command Prompt) and enter the command wsl -l -v

If version 2 is installed properly, you will see the version number.

If you don't see a version number, or if you see an error message, you have version 1.