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MSL documentation
Concepts

Concepts

How MSL works across macOS and Linux: files, settings, networking and services.

Working across file systems
Where to keep files, how macOS and Linux see each other’s files, and how to mix macOS and Linux commands with MSL.
Advanced settings configuration
Configure the MSL VM with ~/.mslconfig and each distribution with /etc/wsl.conf, the same files and keys WSL uses.
File access and permissions
How Linux permissions and ownership work on macOS files under /mnt/macos, and on distribution files seen from macOS in ~/.msl/distros.
Networking considerations
How MSL distributions reach the network, share localhost with macOS, resolve names through macOS, and reach servers on the Mac.
Use systemd to manage services
Turn on systemd in an MSL distribution, manage services with systemctl, and keep services running when no terminal is open.
How MSL works
The parts of MSL, how distributions share one lightweight VM, when things start and stop, and where MSL keeps its state on macOS.
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