Microsoft releases WSL 2 2.0 with mirrored network mode and IPv6 support

Microsoft has released a major update to Windows Subsystem for Linux. WSL 2.0.0 will include a completely new network option that mirrors Windows settings and has IPv6 support. It is also possible to automatically free up disk space from now on.

WSL 2.0.0 is one of the largest updates to the Windows Subsystem for Linux to date, specifically for version 2 and not the first version. This actually concerns WSL 2 version 2.0.0. The September update is now available to all users. It is still a prerelease, Microsoft writes in the release documentation.

One of the innovations in WSL 2.0.0 is a mirrored networking mode. This should replace the traditional NAT architecture that was in the old WSL. With the new mirrored mode, WSL connects directly to the LAN or from a local host address. IPv6 and multicast are supported and VPN stability has been improved. WSL will have the option to inherit firewall rules and proxy information from Windows, and users can indicate how WSL handles DNS requests.

Another important addition is that of disk and memory space. Users can now automatically shrink virtual hard drives when they are no longer needed. The same can be set for memory caches. WSL then looks at CPU usage to check whether users are no longer active. In that case, the cache memory is automatically cleared.

Update: the piece makes it clearer that it concerns version 2.0.0 of WSL 2 and not the original WSL.