Run Linux Natively on Windows 10

Microsoft has introduced the WSL Subsystem for Linux, which lets users run their favorite Linux distributions directly from Windows 10 without dual-booting or using a virtual machine.

Limitations of Windows Subsystem for Linux

While this is a step in the right direction for Microsoft, it's not quite there yet in terms of full functionality. Specifically, WSL does not support AF_PACKET for security restrictions. This means that you won't be able to put a Wi-Fi adapter in promiscuous mode (or monitor mode), and tools that require raw sockets to function properly won't work, such as Nmap.

Installation the Windows Subsystem for Linux

Step-1:

To do so, run the PowerShell with administrator rights and hit the following command.

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

Step-2:

Download the 'Kali Linux' Application from the Microsoft Store by searching for "Kali Linux" on the list. And from there, click "Get" to begin installing. It will ask for system reboot after the package download it will install automatically. Once your system has rebooted and you've logged back into your account, launch the Kali from the Cortana bar.

Step-3:

The user will be prompted every time to enter the root password for the configuring the package since the default version of Kali Linux in the windows-10 OS installed without root permission. So, to enable the root privilege, hit the following commands.

Sudo –i
Chmod +s /bin/su

Step-4:

With that done, you'll be prompted to create and configure a Kali Linux username and password. When all set, the important first thing don't forget is to add the kali Linux repository in the /etc/apt/source.list file and then update it just like any Linux system with the following command.

Sudo apt-get update
Sudo apt-get upgrade

Step-4:

It might be possible that the Windows Defender could treat or detect Kali repository as viruses or malware and blocks some portion of the program. To prevent these errors, add Windows Defender exclusion for the Kali Linux folder.

Step-5:

Since this version of kali Linux will be in command mode out rightly. Now we need to set up the XFCE desktop manager but need to install some utilities first. Run the following command to install wget which is a utility that can download files over HTTP. Enter your password you created in the previous step when prompted and hit Y to proceed with the download and install.

sudo apt-get install wget
wget https://kali.sh/xfce4.sh
sudo sh xfce4.sh

Step-6:

Now it is time to start up the xrdp server to connect to the XFCE desktop manager using Remote Desktop. Run the following command

sudo /etc/init.d/xrdp start

Step-7:

Finally, the xrdp server has started, then open up the remote command connection (RDP) prompt using mstsc and connect to 127.0.0.1:3390. Then, you are required to logged-in with the previously defined ID and Password in the GUI. And, you got the full-fledged Linux XFC desktop. Enjoy.