Mintty as a terminal for WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).

Overview

WSLtty components

• wsltty package components (see below) in the user’s local application folder %LOCALAPPDATA%
• a wsltty configuration directory in the user’s application folder %APPDATA% (“home”-located configuration files from a previously installed version will be migrated to the new default location)
• Start Menu shortcuts to start a WSL shell (with some variations, see below)
• *.bat scripts to invoke WSL from the command line (see below)
• optional context menu entries for Windows Explorer to start a WSL shell in the respective folder
• install/uninstall context menu items from Start Menu subfolder WSLtty
• an uninstall script that can be invoked manually to remove shortcuts and context menu entries

Installation

WSLtty installer

Run the installer to install the components listed above. If Windows complains with a “Windows protected your PC” popup, you may need to click “Run anyway” to proceed with the installation. You may need to open the Properties of the installer first, tab “General” section “Security” (if available) and select “Unblock”, to enable the “Run anyway” button.

Installation from source repository

Download or checkout the wsltty repository. Invoke make, then make install. Note this has to be done within a Cygwin environment.

Installation to non-default locations

(For experts) Within the installation process, provide parameters to the script install.bat. The optional first parameter designates the installation target, the optional second parameter designates the configuration directory.

Invocation

WSLtty can be invoked with

• installed Start Menu shortcuts (or Desktop shortcuts if copied there)
• *.bat scripts
• Explorer context menu (if installed from the Start Menu WSLtty subfolder)

Starting the mintty terminal directly from the WSLtty installation location is discouraged because that would bypass some essential options.

Configuration

Command line scripts wsl*.bat

WSLtty installs the following scripts into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps (and a copy in its application folder %LOCALAPPDATA%\wsltty):

• For each installed WSL distribution D, D.bat to start in the current folder/directory
• For each installed WSL distribution D, D~.bat to start in the WSL user home
• wsl.bat to start the default WSL installation in the current folder/directory
• wsl~.bat to start the default WSL installation in the WSL user home
• wsl-l.bat to start the default WSL installation with a login shell

Given that %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps is in your PATH, the scripts can be invoked from cmd.exe, PowerShell, or via WIN+R.

Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts

In the Start Menu, the following shortcuts are installed:

• For each installed WSL distribution D, D in Mintty to start in the WSL user home

In the Start Menu subfolder WSLtty, the following shortcuts are installed:

• For each installed WSL distribution D, D in Mintty to start in the Windows %USERPROFILE% home
• For each installed WSL distribution D, D ~ in Mintty to start in the WSL user home
• WSL % in Mintty to start the default WSL installation in the Windows %USERPROFILE% home
• WSL ~ in Mintty to start the default WSL installation in the WSL user home
• WSL -l in Mintty to start the default WSL installation with a login shell

WSLtty does not install Desktop shortcuts. If you want them, copy the desired ones from the Start Menu subfolder WSLtty.

To ensure a login shell to start in your Linux home directory, add a cd command to your $HOME/.profile on Linux side.

Context menu entries

WSLtty provides context menu entries for all installed WSL distributions, to start a respective WSL shell in a specific folder from an Explorer window. They are not installed by default. To add or remove context menu entries, run the respective script from the Start Menu subfolder WSLtty.

Mintty settings

Mintty can maintain its configuration file in various locations, with the following precedence:

• file given with mintty option -c (not used by wsltty default installation)
• file config in directory given with mintty option --configdir
  • This is %APPDATA%\wsltty\config in the default wsltty installation.
• %HOME%\.minttyrc (usage deprecated with wsltty)
• %HOME%\.config\mintty\config (usage deprecated with wsltty)
• %APPDATA%\mintty\config
• %LOCALAPPDATA%\wsltty\etc\minttyrc (usage deprecated with wsltty)

Note:

• %APPDATA%\wsltty\config is the new user configuration file location. Further subdirectories of %APPDATA%\wsltty are used for language, themes, and sounds resource configuration. Note the distinction from %LOCALAPPDATA%\wsltty which is the default wsltty software installation location.
• The %APPDATA%\mintty\config option provides the possibility to maintain common mintty settings for various installations (like wsltty, Cygwin, MinGW/msys, Git for Windows, MinEd for Windows).
• (About deprecated options) By default, %HOME% would refer to the root directory of the cygwin standalone installation hosting wsltty. So %HOME% would mean %LOCALAPPDATA%\wsltty\home\%USERNAME%. If you define HOME at Windows level, this changes accordingly. Note, however, that the WSL HOME is a completely different setting.

Shell selection

To invoke your favourite shell, replace /bin/bash with its pathname in the Desktop or Start Menu shortcuts and *.bat launch scripts, or Explorer context menu commands.

Components

For mintty, see the Mintty homepage (with further screenshots), the Mintty manual page,
and the Mintty Wiki, including a Hints and Tips page.

It is based on Cygwin and includes its runtime library (sources).

For interacting with WSL, it uses wslbridge.