Microsoft’s WSL Containers Are Now Generally Available on Windows 11

Microsoft has officially made WSL containers generally available, giving Windows developers a built-in way to build, run, and manage Linux containers through the Windows Subsystem for Linux. The release introduces the wslc.exe command-line tool, native APIs for Windows apps, enterprise management options, and growing integration with development tools including Visual Studio Code and Aspire.

The announcement is another major step in Microsoft’s effort to make Windows a more capable platform for Linux-first, AI, cloud-native, and container-based development. WSL has already become a key part of Microsoft’s Windows developer strategy, especially after the company open-sourced the project in 2025.

WSL containers arrive for everyone

Developers can get started by opening a terminal and running:

wsl --update

Updating WSL provides access to the new WSL containers functionality, including the wslc.exe command-line interface. Microsoft has also added container.exe as an alias, allowing developers to use more familiar container commands while working directly on Windows.

The new platform consists of two main components:

• WSL containers CLI: wslc.exe can build, run, deploy, and manage Linux containers on Windows.
• WSL containers API: Native Windows apps can programmatically manage Linux containers, opening the door for locally hosted AI workloads, testing pipelines, and applications that use cloud-based container services locally.

Microsoft first previewed the feature as part of its broader Windows developer announcements at Build 2026, describing WSL containers as a built-in container runtime that could reduce the need for third-party layers in many workflows.

New commands for container workflows

The general-availability release includes several features that were added or refined since public preview. Microsoft says the work focuses on reducing friction in everyday container operations, expanding networking options, and improving visibility into the local container environment.

New WSL container capabilities include:

• wslc container restart to restart an active container.
• wslc container cp to copy files into or out of containers through tar archives.
• wslc system info to view the status of the local WSL containers environment.
• wslc network connect and wslc network disconnect to attach or remove containers from networks.
• Real-time container activity streaming with wslc events.
• Container health-check support.
• --stop-timeout support for wslc create and wslc run, including -1 for no timeout.
• Mount support during container creation and execution.
• Configurable storage paths for the default WSL containers session.

For developers who regularly work across Windows and Linux filesystems, Microsoft also highlighted potential performance benefits. The company says WSL containers can support up to 2x faster access to Windows files from Linux environments, targeting one of the common bottlenecks in cross-platform local development.

Enterprise controls arrive with Intune and Defender

Microsoft is positioning WSL containers as more than a local developer convenience. The general-availability release adds enterprise-focused management and security integrations for organizations that want to use Linux containers on managed Windows devices.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint’s existing WSL integration now includes WSL containers. This allows security teams to view container process, file, and network activity while connecting it back to the Windows host, rather than requiring an entirely separate investigation workflow.

Microsoft Intune also gains specific settings for the feature, including:

• The ability to enable or disable WSL containers on managed devices.
• A registry allow list that restricts image pulls to approved container registries.
• Controls intended to help organizations meet security and compliance requirements when developers pull container images.

That is a notable distinction from many traditional local container setups. Microsoft is trying to bring the same policy, observability, and management model used across enterprise Windows deployments into Linux container workflows.

Visual Studio Code and Aspire support

The WSL containers ecosystem is also expanding through integrations with popular development tools. Microsoft pointed to support from Visual Studio Code, Aspire, and community-built management utilities.

Developers can now use WSL containers as a default driver for VS Code Dev Containers, while the VS Code Container extension can manage wslc environments. Aspire, Microsoft’s cloud-native development stack, can also use WSL Containers as a first-class container runtime.

Other early projects include:

• Lazywslc, a terminal user interface for managing WSL containers.
• WSL Container Desktop, a WinUI 3 desktop app for WSL containers, k3s, and container registries.
• WSLc remote, a wrapper that enables wslc use from inside WSL distributions.

These integrations could make WSL containers particularly appealing for developers who want Linux container compatibility but prefer to remain in a Windows-centered toolchain.

Compose support is next

Microsoft says its most-requested next feature is Compose support. The company is working toward enabling wsl compose up with existing compose.yaml files unchanged, though it has not yet shared a release date.

The company is also investigating broader improvements to WSL networking, cross-OS file performance, and compatibility. Microsoft says the new consomme network mode, currently enabled for container workflows, is designed to improve network compatibility for developer and enterprise scenarios.

For Windows developers, this release makes Microsoft’s direction clear: WSL is evolving from a way to access Linux command-line tools into a more complete execution environment for modern Linux workloads. That broader push was already visible in Microsoft’s recent Project Zenith developer-PC initiative, where WSL and WSL containers were positioned as foundational parts of a ready-to-code Windows experience.

Developers can update WSL now with wsl --update, download the latest build from the Microsoft WSL GitHub releases page, or read Microsoft’s full WSL containers announcement.