How do I install Bash on Ubuntu on Windows 10?

Question

I'd like to install the Ubuntu Bash on my Windows 10 machine. How do I do that?

Answer 1

First off you have to make sure that you're on Build 14311 or higher of the developer preview, which is available to the general public. From there, follow these steps:

1. In Settings --> Update & Security --> For Developers, enable Developer Mode

   

   You'll get a warning about developer mode, select Yes

   

2. Search for "Windows Features" in the Settings Search (Top Right Corner) and select Turn Windows features on or off

3. Navigate to and then enable (check mark) the `Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta)

   

4. After installation, you'll be required to restart the computer. This is a pretty large install and may take some time.

5. Finally, open a cmd window and execute the command bash. You'll be required to accept the terms and service. Ubuntu will then be download (~1 Gb in size) and then install.

6. Enjoy!

Answer 2

3. Opens a cmd.exe console

Means you need to go to Start -> Run... and type cmd, or by pressing Windows+R.

The cmd.exe/cmd stands for Command Prompt and it's the command-line interpreter on Windows (similar to Bash).

It's better if you install Git for Windows which will provide Bash shell out-of-box. After installation you'll have shortcut created on your Desktop, so you won't have to run cmd anymore in order to run Bash shell.

Answer 3

Assuming you are referring to the newly announced bash that will be available embedded/integrated in Windows 10, then...

Are you on the Developers Preview build 14311 or newer of Windows 10? (not available to general public, yet)? Or have you installed Ubuntu for Windows 10 from the Windows store (again, not yet available)? No to both, then you can't use bash yet.