Bash on Windows10

In other posts I talk about how how using basic bash utilities will help you be more efficient when doing most tasks at work. Here I talk about how you can set this up.

The steps below explain how to enable Bash for Windows 10. I should note that this will require admin privileges. In most Enterprise environments you won't have admin rights and this may require special access to do.

Intalling Windows Subsystem for Linux

1. Press the Windows Key
2. Type Features
3. Click "Turn Windows Features on or off"
4. Enter root password if prompted
5. In the dialog that appears click "Windows Subsystem for Linux (Beta)"
6. Click Ok

Using Bash for the First Time

Once the application is installed you can start using bash (bourne again shell). Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, for the GNU operating system and is extremely versatile and powerful. If you're new to this (which you likely are if you are following this guide) then the power of bash may not be immediately obvious to you. I'll discuss this in detail in later posts.

To start bash you can do either of the following

• Search for "bash" after hitting the Windows key
• Hitting Windows+R to open the Run menu and typing "bash"

A comment about interpreters

By default the interpreter you will run "C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe" inside of is trash. It feels very similar to the command prompt interpreter. I immediately recommend you go and install ConEmu.