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Installing ZSH on WSL: Ubuntu

Installing ZSH on WSL: Ubuntu

Having moved away from development of Ansible/Python/Terraform, and others on Windows a few years ago. I’ve heard that WSL has become much better, especially with its support of VS Code now that they have a WSL connector. So, I decided to give it a try.

However, I did run into one surprising inconvenience, BASH! I have become so accustomed to ZSH over the years on Apple and using oh-my-zsh that all my shortcuts and quick ways to doing things just weren’t there.

I did attempt to use oh-my-bash but there just aren’t the number of plugins already to support the plethora of plugins I need and use on a regular basis. So, next logical step is to install ZSH on my WSL: Ubuntu system.

Requirements

WSL with Ubuntu installed

Steps to install ZSH

  1. Install ZSH.
  2. Verify that ZSH has been installed on the system.
  3. Set ZSH as your default shell.
    NOTE: This used to require modifications to the shortcut to access WSL but in newer versions of WSL you can use the following.

    For older versions you will need to modify the shortcut to WSL and use the command:

  4. Once you close and reopen your WSL Ubuntu shell you should now be in ZSH shell.
    zsh-shell-screenshot

Install of Oh-my-zsh

  1. Ensure that your terminal session is open and use the following command as per https://ohmyz.sh/#install
  2. You should now be able to configure your oh-my-zsh installation by modifying your .zshrc file and enable any plugins you need.
  3. The final result! 🙂 

    Screenshot of oh-my-zsh on WSL: Ubuntu

 

Hopefully that helps, I know it helped me as I venture back to Windows for development of my Ansible playbooks and other tools.

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