Phase 2: Install WSL2 and Move AlmaLinux 9 to Another Drive

Install WSL2 and Move AlmaLinux 9 to Another Drive

A guide for myself (Harisfazillah Jamel aka LinuxMalaysia), born from my professional experience as a Linux system administrator and enhanced with AI tools to ensure comprehensive coverage and clarity for technical audiences.

This guide details the process installing AlmaLinux 9 Windows 11 Pro Windows Subsystem for Linux version 2 (WSL2), onto a non-default drive (D:), ensuring a efficient setup.

We assume, WSL2 distributions are installed on the C: drive. You can refer this link for Phase 1: Installing AlmaLinux 9 WSL2 on Windows 11 Pro.

Open File Explorer.

Navigate to

C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Packages

Locate the folder named (as example)

AlmaLinuxOSFoundation.AlmaLinux9_<some_unique_string>

Open the folder, then navigate to LocalState.

Find ext4.vhdx, which contains your AlmaLinux 9 installation.

Shutdown AlmaLinux 9 Before Backup

Open PowerShell as Administrator.

Shutdown AlmaLinux 9.

wsl -t AlmaLinux9

Or shut down all WSL instances.

wsl --shutdown

Use this command to make sure AlmaLinux9 instance stopped.

wsl --list --verbose

Create a Backup Folder (Optional)

Open PowerShell as Administrator.

Create a backup directory.

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "D:\WSL\AlmaLinux9-Template"

Copy the ext4.vhdx file to the backup folder.

Copy-Item "C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\Packages\AlmaLinuxOSFoundation.AlmaLinux9_<unique_string>\LocalState\ext4.vhdx" -Destination "D:\WSL\AlmaLinux9-Template\ext4.vhdx"

Create the new installation folder.

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "D:\WSL\AlmaLinux9"

Shutdown AlmaLinux 9.

wsl -t AlmaLinux9

Or shut down all WSL instances.

wsl --shutdown

Unregister the existing AlmaLinux distribution.

wsl - unregister AlmaLinux9

Import the distribution from the new location.

wsl - import AlmaLinux9 D:\WSL\AlmaLinux9 D:\WSL\AlmaLinux9-Template\ext4.vhdx

Set the default for running AlmaLinux 9 (depending on the user you have created).

wsl -d AlmaLinux9 -u almalinux

Launch AlmaLinux 9.

wsl -d AlmaLinux9

The performance of AlmaLinux in WSL2 depends on the speed of the D drive. SSDs provide better performance than HDDs.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed WSL2 and moved AlmaLinux 9 to the D: drive. Remember to keep your system updated.

sudo systemctl start firewalld
sudo systemctl enable firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --set-default-zone=public

Stay vigilant with security best practices.

Harisfazillah Jamel aka LinuxMalaysia

20250401

Originally published at https://gist.github.com/linuxmalaysia/491098eea7160aa184e85c19d6b68acc