Microsoft has implemented a significant enhancement to the integration between Windows 11 and the Linux ecosystem, officially releasing support for containers in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). This feature is particularly relevant for development professionals.
For those unfamiliar, WSL is a utility that allows running various Linux distributions within the Windows environment, eliminating the need to use virtual machines or configure a dual boot in certain scenarios. Although introduced in Windows 10, it has received substantial improvements in Windows 11.
One of the notable additions is container support. A container can be understood as a package that groups an application along with all its dependencies—including libraries, configuration files, and modules—allowing it to be executed in a standardized manner across various computing environments.
Although developers, IT administrators, and other professionals could already work with containers in WSL, they had to rely on third-party solutions. With this update to the Windows Subsystem for Linux, the tool itself now offers native support for this capability.
The feature, officially named WSL Containers (WSLC), was presented in June during the Build 2026 event. After a period of testing and refinement, it is now being widely made available concurrently with the release of Windows 11 version 26H2, although the two new features are not intrinsically linked. It is important to note that the current focus of WSL is on Windows 11, but it maintains compatibility with Windows 10 and Windows Server.
The operation of WSL Containers occurs through a command-line interface (CLI). Microsoft highlighted several use cases. A fundamental command is the one that starts WSLC, depending on specific parameters. For example, a simple command allows activating an Ubuntu environment, executing the echo command to display the message 'Hello, world!', and subsequently removing the container using the –rm parameter:
wslc run --rm ubuntu:latest bash -c «echo Hello, world!»
Additionally, WSLC can be triggered via an API. This enables applications developed for Windows to run containers in WSL directly, which can be very useful for automating certain tasks.
To access this new functionality, users must type the command wsl –update in PowerShell or Command Prompt to ensure WSL is up to date (version 2.9.3 or higher is required). If the tool is not yet installed, it can be installed using the command wsl –install. More information on how to use WSLC is available in the official documentation.