Local Environment Setup - Windows
Last updated
Last updated
Today, we'll be setting up our local development environment for Windows 10. For the Mac instructions, see .
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a Linux distribution that allows you to run Windows applications in a Linux environment, the environment used by most software developers.
Within a few easy steps, you can get this done. Press Windows Key + S open up the search bar, and type “Windows Features.”
Click on the “Turn Windows features on or off”
Select Windows Subsystem for Linux and click OK. (This will require a restart of Windows to get things installed).
After your computer starts up again, open the Windows Search, find the Windows PowerShell application, and Run as Administrator.
Type the following commands in the Windows PowerShell application:
This will update and install WSL on your computer!
Open Powershell as Administrator. You can do this by right-clicking on Powershell and selecting "Run as Administrator" or by searching for Powershell in the Windows search bar and selecting "Run as Administrator".
Check the version of WSL by running wsl -l -v and take note of the value under NAME and VERSION
If the version is 2, you are good to go! You may close Powershell.
If the version is 1, you can change it to version 2 with a command like wsl --set-version Ubuntu-22.04 2 where you would replace Ubuntu-22.04 with the name listed under NAME from the command in step 2.
You should see "Conversion in progress, this may take a few minutes (it can take as long as 30 minutes or more)
If you see a warning telling you to install/update the WSL 2 kernel, you may be asked to visit https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel. Do so and install the WSL Linux kernel update package for x64 machines.
If you see "Please enable the Virtual Machine Platform Windows feature and ensure virtualization is enabled in the BIOS." do the following:
In the Windows search bar, look for "Turn Windows features on or off"
Scroll down and select "Virtual Machine Platform" and then click "Ok"
Reboot your computer.
Re-open Powershell and return to step 2
Visual Studio Code is the standard IDE used by developers.
Download the latest build and install it in your PC.
Now open VS Code and press Ctrl + Shift + P to open the Command Palette and search "WSL".
Then, select WSL: Connect to WSL in New Window.
This should open a new VS Code window running using WSL!
VS Code should automatically detect your WSL installation and suggest an extension.
If not, you can click on the “Extensions” tab in VS Code. Search for "Remote - WSL" and install (I will have a penguin icon).
Visual Studio Code will open and will indicate its successfully connected to the server at WSL.
When you open the terminal from VS Code you will see the bash terminal at WSL.
You should pin Ubuntu Terminal and VS Code to the taskbar since you'll be using them a lot.
Go back to the Ubuntu terminal. Inside the terminal, type the following command and press enter:
Close the Ubuntu terminal and re-open it
Install the "Long Term Support" version of Node by entering the command nvm install --lts.
Confirm that you have Node installed by running the command node --version and you should see something like v18.18.0 in response.
Confirm that you have npm installed by running the command npm --version, and you should see something like 9.8.1 in response.
You are now set up with Node and npm!
Every time you open your Terminal, you'll be in the home directory. Run pwd to see the current path. You'll see home/your-user-name.
Using your Terminal as a command line, create a folder structure where you can put all your Marcy Lab code. We recommend:
You can do using the following commands:
cd to navigate to the home directory.
mkdir development to create a folder for all your work.
cd development where you will create more subdirectories.
mkdir unit-0 unit-1 unit-2 etc... to make multiple folders at once.
ls to list the contents of development/ and ensure the folders were created.
If you ever want to view these files on your computer in File Explorer, run the command explorer.exe . in your terminal. File Explorer will open your current working directory.
Next, ensure that you are in your development directory with the pwd command. Then, type the command code . into your terminal and it will open VS Code for you. You'll use this command a lot so remember it!
Familiarize yourself with VS Code. This will be your new coding environment.
Your directories and files are in the left panel.
You can start a new "VS Code Terminal" by selecting View > Terminal from the top menu bar.
The "VS Code Terminal" works exactly the same as your Ubuntu "Terminal"!
Note: These instructions are based on Microsoft's documentation found . The instructions published by Microsoft will always be more accurate than the instructions found below. As of 9/27/2023, the instructions below are accurate.
Visit and download VS Code.
Note: These instructions are based on Microsoft's documentation found . The instructions published by Microsoft will always be more accurate than the instructions found below. As of 9/27/2023, the instructions below are accurate.
