WSL Arch Linux Initial Setup

This repository contains Ansible playbooks that set up and configure an Arch Linux instance in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Historical Note

In previous versions of the playbooks, the base setup utilized the official Arch Linux Docker image, which ran as a custom distribution on WSL. However, this approach is no longer used, and the playbooks are now designed to work seamlessly with a standard Arch Linux WSL installation.

Prerequisites

Before using these playbooks, ensure you have WSL with Arch Linux installed on your Windows system. To get started, follow the official guides:

• Microsoft's official guide to install WSL
• Arch Linux WSL installation guide

In general, you need:

1. A working Arch Linux WSL installation with systemd support
2. Basic packages installed (bash, sudo, etc.)
3. A user with sudo privileges

Playbooks

init.yaml

The init.yaml playbook is designed to validate and establish the prerequisites needed before running the main setup. It serves two primary purposes:

1. Validation: It checks if the necessary prerequisites are in place (such as locale settings and required packages).
2. Kickstart: It prepares the environment for the main setup.yaml playbook by installing essential tools and configuring basic system settings.

Key tasks performed by init.yaml include:

• Creating an initial user with sudo privileges
• Setting up the system locale to C.UTF-8
• Installing Ansible packages if not already present
• Installing and configuring the yay AUR helper
• Setting up an AUR builder user for package management

Run this playbook first to ensure your system is ready for the main setup process:

ansible-playbook init.yaml

setup.yaml

The main playbook that configures your Arch Linux WSL environment. This playbook handles the bulk of the system configuration after the prerequisites have been established by init.yaml.

Key tasks performed by setup.yaml include:

• WSL Configuration: Sets up wsl.conf for optimal WSL behavior
• System Optimization:
  • Configures pacman.conf for better usability and faster package management
  • Optimizes makepkg.conf for faster builds using native architecture
  • Sets up system locale based on your preferences
  • Configures time synchronization for WSL (important as the clock may drift when suspending/hibernating the Windows host)
• Package Installation: Installs a curated set of useful packages including:
  • Development tools (nano, git, etc.)
  • Modern CLI replacements (eza, bat, ripgrep, etc.)
  • Cloud tools (aws-cli, kubectl, helm, etc.)
  • Container tools (docker, docker-compose)
  • Java development environment
• Tool Configuration:
  • Sets up nano with syntax highlighting
  • Configures procs and starship for better terminal experience
  • Sets up git with your personal information
  • Configures Java environment with Amazon Corretto
  • Sets up Terraform/OpenTofu via tenv
  • Configures Docker for non-root usage
  • Installs 1Password CLI with AWS integration
  • Customizes your bash environment

Run this playbook after successfully completing the init.yaml playbook:

ansible-playbook setup.yaml

You can customize the playbook behavior by modifying the variables in the host_vars/localhost file.