Windows 10 on Nico Maas

[WSL2/Win10] Limit Resource Consumption of WSLv2

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 has a big problem called “Vmmem” - it is the process WSL uses to allocate RAM for usage within its user context. That itself is all fine, however, there are many known issues that show that even after closing your e.g. Debian session, this memory is not returned to the system. This is also valid for usage of Docker for Windows within the WSLv2 context (meaning using Docker in the “new-style” install, not with the old HyperV machine).

[WSL2/Win10] Install WSLv2

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

1.) Open an administrative Powershell and activate the WSL feature

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

2.) Activate the Virtual Machine Platform, afterwards reboot your computer

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

3.) Download and install the WSLv2 Linux Kernel package from https://wslstorestorage.blob.core.windows.net/wslblob/wsl_update_x64.msi - another Reboot is needed afterwards

4.) Set WSLv2 as default WSL - open an administrative Powershell and enter

wsl --set-default-version 2

5.) Install one or multiple operating systems in WSLv2 - you can find them here. You can also install these “offline”, meaning without the need to use Windows Store. For the offline install, download the needed package from this link, then install it by doubleclicking on the Icon - or via Powershell with

[Win10] Download Enterprise ISO with Media Creation tool / check ISO for available editions

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Download latest Enterprise ISO

To download the latest Windows 10 Enterprise ISO:

Go to https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/software-download/windows10 and download the latest Media Creation tool
Open a admin powershell and launch said tool with some parameters

.\MediaCreationTool20H2.exe /Eula Accept /Retail /MediaArch x64 /MediaLangCode en-US /MediaEdition Enterprise

You will need to enter the license key / serial to be able to download the Enterprise style ISO (you will not be able to chose any type, this is done by the /MediaEdition switch, as well as the language etc..)

Check ISO for version information and available editions

mount ISO in Windows 10 (here mounted as D:)
execute this

dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:D:\sources\install.esd

you will get infos about what is in the ISO (in old versions, the install.esd was known as install.wim, then you need to launch that tool with install.wim instead of install.esd at the end)

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.1316

Details for image : D:\sources\install.esd

Index : 1
Name : Windows 10 Education
Description : Windows 10 Education
Size : 15.736.130.486 bytes

Index : 2
Name : Windows 10 Education N
Description : Windows 10 Education N
Size : 14.956.748.370 bytes

Index : 3
Name : Windows 10 Enterprise
Description : Windows 10 Enterprise
Size : 15.736.284.481 bytes

Index : 4
Name : Windows 10 Enterprise N
Description : Windows 10 Enterprise N
Size : 14.956.654.647 bytes

Index : 5
Name : Windows 10 Pro
Description : Windows 10 Pro
Size : 15.734.489.825 bytes

Index : 6
Name : Windows 10 Pro N
Description : Windows 10 Pro N
Size : 14.959.031.814 bytes

The operation completed successfully.

If you start the tool a second time with a specific index, you can find out more about that “shard”, e.g. to find out more about the Enterprise version, launch the tool with

dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:D:\sources\install.esd /index:3

you will get these infos

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.18362.1316

Details for image : D:\sources\install.esd

Index : 3
Name : Windows 10 Enterprise
Description : Windows 10 Enterprise
Size : 15.736.284.481 bytes
WIM Bootable : No
Architecture : x64
Hal : acpiapic
Version : 10.0.19041
ServicePack Build : 631
ServicePack Level : 0
Edition : Enterprise
Installation : Client
ProductType : WinNT
ProductSuite : Terminal Server
System Root : WINDOWS
Directories : 24132
Files : 96485
Created : 19/11/2020 - 04:20:58
Modified : 10/02/2021 - 14:13:25
Languages :
        en-US (Default)

The operation completed successfully.

[Win10] Offline installation of FoD like OpenSSH Server without VLSC ISO

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 17:00:00 +0000

Windows 10 comes with a lot of additional options to install, which are not part of the “local” installation media.That means things like e.g. the OpenSSH Server component. These options are called “Features on Demand” (FoD) and do need either an active internet connection to download and install, or a specialized FoD ISO which you only can download from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC). If you need to install these options for your Windows 10 Professional or similar offline - without having a valid subscription, you cannot get the needed offline files that way.

[WSL2/Win10] virt-manager for kvm on Windows

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 11:46:00 +0000

kvm Virtualisiation is great, however, useable tools to create and manage said VMs are rare. The best tool for the job, virt-manager is only available for Linux machines. But what if you want to manage said VMs also via Windows 10? WSL2 to the rescue: Just install WSL2 as shown by the excellent Microsoft Guide, install i.e. a Debian/GNU Linux instance and then launch into it.

You should update the instance to the latest version first:

[Win10] Random ports blocked while using Docker / WSL / HyperV

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 09:48:57 +0000

I have been using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Docker on my Laptop since a long time. And during last Docker Con, WSL 2 was released to which I switched instantly - which I did not regret.

(Note: Upgrading to WSL 2 and the native Docker for WSL 2 version will cost you your containers and Docker images, there is even a Thanos meme coming around - so I have to give this fair warning ;))

Windows 10 Change Wifi / WLAN Network Priority

Fri, 04 Jan 2019 10:17:42 +0000

1.) Open cmd.exe
2.) netsh wlan show profiles
The wifi profile names will be shown in the current priority order under the section “User profiles”. Its important to note, that the section starts with “Profiles on interface INTERFACE”, where INTERFACE is the interfacename. If you got multiple wifi interfaces, that section will reoccur with its own “User profiles” and priority list.
3.) To change the priority of one network, enter:
netsh wlan set profileorder name="WIFIPROFILE" interface="I" priority=NUMBER
You need to give the correct wifi name as WIFIPROFILE, the interface which uses said profile as I and the NUMBER for the priority, with 1 being the highest, i.e. should be used prefered. You can also define priorities lesser than 1.

How to delete Hyper-V Virtual Networkcards in Windows 10

Tue, 26 Jun 2018 12:20:18 +0000

As a “Edge” Version user of Docker for Windows, I tend to reinstall Docker from time to time, just to get a clean base. However, Hyper-V digs quite deep into the system and creates its own virtual network interfaces, which you just can’t delete from the Hyper-V Manager.

Best option is to use (READ ALL BEFORE COPY AND PASTE, PLEASE!):

netcfg -d

in a Administrator CMD window.

This does only delete virtual network devices - HOWEVER, it does delete devices like i.e. your OpenVPN interface AS WELL - AND does DELETE ALL SETTINGS of other network interfaces, i.e. your IP configuration or all your saved WIFI credentials.

Upgrade WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) on Windows 10

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 07:30:47 +0000

I had installed WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) a long time ago to gain access to Ubuntu 14.04 LTS directly from my Windows 10 Desktop. However, as time passes, Software grows old. Upgrading the Ubuntu Subsystem via apt-get update / do-release-upgrade should work, but that could have some nasty sideeffects, considering that the 14.04 LTS WSL release had been a beta test - so, a reinstall should be better.

Luckily, TechRepublic got this covered. Just open a CMD and run:

Solve Windows 10 does not automount USB Drives anymore

Fri, 04 Aug 2017 08:54:27 +0000

My Windows 10 machine started behaving weirdly and did not mount any USB Drives / Harddrives and such anymore. I had to open the Disk Management Tool and mount them manually, which is quite inconvenient. So I was looking up the error and came across the nearly perfect solution at http://woshub.com/windows-doesnt-assign-letters-to-external-and-usb-flash-drives/ . However, I did change it a bit so that the VDS is changed to automatically start on boot via the CLI :).

Removing Windows 10 Diagnostics from Windows 7/8/8.1

Wed, 02 Sep 2015 20:03:28 +0000

Windows 10 “Security?”: We got opt-out-only-all-included-private-Wifi-Password-Sharing with all your Facebook Friends, access to all data, addressbooks, emails, voice and video as well as the possiblity to shutdown hardware you attached to your PC - if MS does not like it. Quite some people from the Facebook and Computerbild Front already upgraded to the new Windows 10 - “don’t get left behind and get your upgrade” - well… it sounds more like a really evil episode of Dr. Who and the Cyberman to me. Ugh.