mirror of https://github.com/microsoft/WSL.git synced 2025-07-04 07:43:21 +00:00

WSL Team 697572d664 Initial open source commit for WSL.

Many Microsoft employees have contributed to the Windows Subsystem for Linux, this commit is the result of their work since 2016.

The entire history of the Windows Subsystem for Linux can't be shared here, but here's an overview of WSL's history after it moved to it own repository in 2021:

Number of commits on the main branch: 2930
Number of contributors: 31

Head over https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/releases for a more detailed history of the features added to WSL since 2021.

2025-05-15 12:09:45 -07:00

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WSL Overview

WSL is comprised of a set of executables, API's and protocols. This page offers an overview of the different components, and how they're connected. Click on any component to get more details.

%%{ init: {
    'flowchart': { 'curve': 'stepBefore' },
    'theme': 'neutral'
    }
}%%
graph
  subgraph Windows["<b><p style="font-size:30px">Windows</p></b>"]
      C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe["C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe"]---|"CreateProcess()"|wsl.exe;
      wsl.exe[<a href="wsl.exe">wsl.exe</a>]---|COM|wslservice.exe;
      wslg.exe[<a href="wslg.exe">wslg.exe</a>]---|COM|wslservice.exe;
      wslconfig.exe[<a href="wslconfig.exe">wslconfig.exe</a>]---|COM|wslservice.exe;
      wslapi.dll[<a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/win32/api/wslapi/">wslapi.dll</a>]---|COM|wslservice.exe;
      id[debian.exe, ubuntu.exe, ]---|"LoadLibrary()"|wslapi.dll;
      wslservice.exe[<a href="wslservice.exe">wslservice.exe</a>]---|"CreateProcessAsUser()"|wslrelay.exe[<a href="wslrelay.exe">wslrelay.exe</a>];
      wslservice.exe---|"CreateProcessAsUser()"|wslhost.exe[<a href="wslhost.exe">wslhost.exe</a>];
      fs["Windows filesystem (//wsl.localhost)"]
  end
  
  wslservice.exe -----|hvsocket| mini_init
  wslservice.exe -----|hvsocket| gns
  fs---|hvsocket|plan9

  wsl.exe---|hvsocket|relay
  
  subgraph Linux["<b><p style="font-size:30px">Linux</p></b>"]
      mini_init[<a href="mini_init">mini_init</a>]---|"exec()"|gns[<a href="gns">gns</a>]
      mini_init---|"exec()"|init[<a href="init">init</a>];
      mini_init---|"exec()"|localhost[<a href="localhost">localhost</a>];
      
      subgraph "Linux Distribution"["<b><p style="font-size:23px">Linux Distribution</p></b>"]

          init[<a href="init">init</a>]---|"exec()"|plan9[<a href="plan9">plan9</a>];
          init---|"exec()"|sid[session leader];
          sid[<a href="session-leader">session leader</a>]---|"exec()"|relay
          relay[<a href="relay">relay</a>]---|"exec()"|cid["User command (bash, curl)"]
      end

  end

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WSL Overview

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