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MSL documentation
How-to

How-to

Task-focused guides for distributions, disks and scripting.

Import any Linux distribution
Import an arm64 Linux root filesystem or disk image as an MSL distribution with msl –import, and back up or move distributions with –export.
Build a custom distribution
Package a Linux distribution as a .wsl image that MSL installs like the ones in Microsoft’s list, with its own first-run setup and Finder icon.
Mount a disk in MSL
Attach a Linux disk image to MSL’s VM with msl –mount, and reach it from every distribution under /mnt/msl.
Connect USB devices
USB device passthrough isn’t available in MSL; how to reach USB drives and devices instead.
Adjust case sensitivity
How file name case works in MSL distributions and in macOS files under /mnt/macos, and how to get case-sensitive storage for a project.
Manage disk space
How MSL stores each distribution on its own sparse disk, and how to check, grow, compact, move, export and import disks.
Use JSON output in scripts
Read MSL’s state from scripts, editors and CI with –json on –list, –status and –version.
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