Skip to main content

Windows Subsystem for Linux Setup Guide

Version 1.0​

Windows OS Version​

MOS350 is only supported on Windows 10 and Windows 11 running WSL 2.

Install and Set Up WSL 2 on Windows​

Step 1 — Enable the Windows Subsystem for Linux​

Open PowerShell as an administrator and run:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

Step 2 — Enable the Virtual Machine Feature​

Open PowerShell as an administrator and run:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Step 3 — Verify Virtualisation is Enabled​

Ensure your PC supports virtualisation and that it is enabled in BIOS/UEFI settings. On most modern machines this is enabled by default.

Step 4 — Install MOS350 Windows WSL Service​

note

This step must be completed before any of the steps below.

  1. Download and install the .NET Core 8.0 SDK.
  2. Download and install MOSWinWSLService.installer.msi.

If the installation is successful, a Windows Service called MOS350 WSL Service will be installed, and a Windows user will be created with the following details:

Usermos350
PasswordM@nagerMX8
GroupsAdministrators, Power Users

Step 5 — Restart the System​

Restart your machine to ensure all required components are initialised with the correct parameters.

Step 6 — Run as User mos350​

Open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command to open a new PowerShell window as mos350:

runas /user:mos350 powershell

When prompted, enter the password listed above. This will open a new PowerShell window. All commands from this point onwards must be executed as user mos350.

Step 7 — Install WSL 2​

note

WSL 2 is strongly recommended for system stability. If you are unable to use WSL 2, WSL 1 can be used as a fallback.

Open PowerShell as mos350 and run:

wsl --update
wsl --set-default-version 2

Step 8 — Download Ubuntu​

Open PowerShell as mos350 and run the following commands. If you have already downloaded Ubuntu, skip this step.

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/wslubuntu -OutFile .\Ubuntu.appx -UseBasicParsing

Rename and extract the distro file:

Rename-Item .\Ubuntu.appx .\Ubuntu.zip
Expand-Archive .\Ubuntu.zip

Step 9 — Install the Linux Distribution​

Set-Location .\Ubuntu
.\ubuntu[xx.xx].exe
note

If you already have the distro downloaded, run ubuntu[xx.xx].exe directly to start the installation. See the Microsoft WSL reference for further details.

Step 10 — Set Username and Password​

When prompted, enter mos350 as the username and M@nagerMX8 as the password.

Step 11 — Update and Upgrade the Distribution (Optional)​

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 12 — Set Up MOS350 Sub Operating System​

Open PowerShell as mos350 and ensure Ubuntu is running under WSL 2:

wsl --set-version ubuntu 2

Open the WSL environment:

wsl -d ubuntu

Download the MOS350 setup script:

cd ~
wget -O winwsl_setup.sh "http://update.moleculeos.io/mpackages/files/winwsl/winwsl_setup.sh"

Confirm the file was downloaded successfully:

ls

Set execute permissions on the script:

chmod +x winwsl_setup.sh

Run the script and wait for it to complete. This may take a few minutes depending on your internet connection:

sudo ./winwsl_setup.sh

Upon successful completion you should see:

MOS350 Kernel Fusion installed successfully!

MOS350 User core installed successfully!

Restart the machine to complete setup.

Default MOS Login Details​

Usermos350
PasswordM@nagerMX8

Post-Install Configuration​

Windows Firewall​

Windows Firewall can prevent access to local Modbus servers. Open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command to allow WSL to access local machine ports:

Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Public -DisabledInterfaceAliases "vEthernet (WSL)"

Setting and Getting the Molecule ID​

The Molecule ID is the unique identifier for your device on the Molecule Cloud Platform and Admin Portal.

  • The ID is stored in /etc/mkernel/MID.
  • It must be unique, using only lowercase letters and numbers.
  • It must be exactly 16 characters long.
  • If no ID is set, one will be automatically generated based on the MAC address of network interface eth0.

To retrieve the Molecule ID, open PowerShell as mos350 and run:

wsl cat /etc/mkernel/MID

Register your device on the Molecule Admin Portal using this ID.