# WSL #windows **I started using WSL from version 2, so the following tips may only work for version 2.** ⚡ LxRunOffline [LxRunOffline](https://github.com/DDoSolitary/LxRunOffline/wiki) is a command line tool to manage WSL instances. It also can install many Linux distributions that are not listed in Microsoft Store. I also have written a [script wrapper](https://github.com/doitian/dotfiles-windows/blob/master/bin/Install-WSL.ps1) to manage the WSL instances. ⚡ Use Windows Executable WSL can use Windows executable directly. For example ``` sudo ln -snf "$(which git.exe)" /usr/bin ``` This allows WSL to use the `git.exe` in Windows as `git`. Another example is using `powershell` to get the host IP: ``` powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "(Get-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias Wi-Fi -AddressFamily IPv4).IPAddress | Write-Host -NoNewLine" ``` ⚡ Port Forward The ports listened on 0.0.0.0 in WSL2 are automatically forwarded to Windows. For example, running `python3 -m http.server` in WSL, the browser in Windows can open `http://localhost:8000` directly. But this does not work reversely. WSL instance cannot access Windows ports via `localhost` nor `127.0.0.1`. An workaround is using the public IP of the Windows.