How fun is Windows?

Received new laptop that runs Windows 11 over the weekend.

Had spent some times on customize a few things:

1. Install Google_Pinyin 
2. Setup the input method switching to (left) ctrl-shift notkey.
3. Install WSL/WSL2
4. Install Windows Terminal
5. Install Multipass (VM orchestrator)
6. Setup ssh-keygen
7. Create sample multipass VM with cloud-init
8. Install python3 (in Windows 11)

Between WSL and Multipass, I need to setup the routing in order for them to communicate.

PS> Set-NetIPInterface -ifAlias "vEthernet (WSL)" -Forwarding Enabled

PS> Set-NetIPInterface -ifAlias "vEthernet (Default Switch)" -Forwarding Enabled

And to show the final routing table:

PS> Get-NetIPInterface | select ifIndex,InterfaceAlias,AddressFamily,ConnectionState,Forwarding | Sort-Object -Property IfIndex | Format-Table

One the routing is configured, then I proceed with ssh-keygen and setup the public key authentication between WSL and multipass.

~$ cd .ssh

~/.ssh$ ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "xx@wsl2"

~/.ssh$ ssh-keygen -l -f id_ed25519.pub

~/.ssh$ ssh-copy-id -i id_ed25519.pub xx@remote_server

Next, I need to setup multipass VM with cloud-init.

Create a cloud-init.yaml file for multipass:

-------------------------------

users:

  - default

  - name: xx

    groups: sudo

    shell: /bin/bash

    sudo: ['ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL']

    ssh_authorized_keys:

      - ssh-rsa <rsa keys in one line>

package_update: true

package_upgrade: true

packages:

  - nodejs

  - python3

-------------------------------

PS> multipass multipass launch -c 2 -m 2G -d 20G -n ubuntu-vm --cloud-init cloud_init.yaml

Learnt some tricks in Windows command line. I install Python (with cmdline) and locate where is the python.exe.

PS> winget install python --source msstore

PS> where python

Links:

• Google_Pinyin
• Switch Input Methods on Windows
• Windows Subsystem for Linux Documentation
• What is Windows Terminal?
• Multipass Documentation
• How To Set Up SSH Keys
• Comparing SSH Keys - RSA, DSA, ECDSA, or EdDSA?
• ECDSA vs RSA: Everything You Need to Know
• Ed25519 for SSH
• cloud-init documentation
• 
  

Couldn't open a raw socket. Error: Permission denied (13)

With Multipass, do I still need VMware Player to run Linux with full privilege, under Windows OS ?

WSL is more common choice of running virtual machine nowadays comparing to VMware Player.

With Multipass, everything seems more easier/faster now. 😇 

Here's my story today, on how I need to run nmap port scan to a router.

PS> multipass launch -n scanner

PS> multipass shell scanner

ubuntu@scanner:~$ sudo snap install nmap

ubuntu@scanner:~$ sudo nmap -sU -p 53 192.168.31.1
Starting Nmap 7.93 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2022-10-21 23:17 +08
Couldn't open a raw socket. Error: Permission denied (13)

ubuntu@scanner:~$ sudo snap connect nmap:network-control

ubuntu@suzuki:~$ sudo nmap -sU -p 53 192.168.31.1
Starting Nmap 7.93 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2022-10-21 23:18 +08
Nmap scan report for XiaoQiang (192.168.31.1)
Host is up (0.0027s latency).

PORT   STATE SERVICE
53/udp open  domain

Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 0.06 seconds

ubuntu@scanner:~$ sudo nmap -n -sS -p 1-1024 192.168.31.1
Starting Nmap 7.93 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2022-10-21 23:35 +08
Nmap scan report for 192.168.31.1
Host is up (0.0075s latency).
Not shown: 1020 closed tcp ports (reset)
PORT    STATE SERVICE
53/tcp  open  domain
80/tcp  open  http
443/tcp open  https
784/tcp open  unknown

Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 0.34 seconds
ubuntu@scanner:~$

With this, I have more confidence with Multipass now. 😉

Backup and Restore WSL for Linux

Check WSL version

wsl -l -v 

Backup the (Ubuntu) distro

wsl --export (distribution) (filename.tar)

wsl --export Ubuntu Backup_Ubuntu.tar

wsl --export Ubuntu c:\users\xx\desktop\Backup_Ubuntu.tar

To restore a WSL distro from a backup

wsl --import (distribution) (install location) (file location and filename)

wsl --import Ubuntu d:\wsl c:\users\xx\desktop\Backup_Ubuntu.tar

Install Linux on Windows with WSL

Prerequisites: Setting up WSL on Windows.

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator

 

Install WSL 

wsl --install

List the available online Linux distribution

wsl -l -o

wsl --list --online

Install an Ubuntu distribution

wsl --install -d Ubuntu

Check WSL version

wsl -l -v 

Set the default WSL version (1/2)

wsl --set-default-version 2 

Upgrade an Ubuntu to WSL version 2

wsl --set-version Ubuntu 2

Upgrade to WSL2

Links:

• Install Linux on Windows with WSL
• Set up a WSL development environment
• Basic commands for WSL
• Comparing WSL 1 and WSL 2