Enter the new uncomfort zone with Linux and Rust. This post documents the process and will serve as a reference for later usage.

Setup a Linux box

Having another machine with Linux operation system is cool but not necessary. Welcome to the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2).
I am on Windows 11, I follow the instruction from Microsoft Docs.
With the Terminal and Powershell installed, run the command

wsl

The terminal displays the help with possible commands. I want to understand them a bit before actually executing any command.

wsl --list --online

Displays all the distributions. The Ubuntu is the default if none is specified. Let’s use the default. Remember to run as Administrator

# Explicitly specify the distribution for clarity
wsl --install --distribution Ubuntu

Nice! Installed and rebooted.

Create a folder (dir) to store code

$ mkdir code

Visual Studio Code with WSL

I am following the document here.

• Install Remote Development extension
• Navigate to the Ubuntu terminal, type code .. Magic begins

Rust on Linux

The Rust documentation is rich. I follow its programming book

$ curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh

After successfully installed Rust on Linux box, I need to restart the shell. It is to ensure that system understands the new environment variables. Otherwise, it does not understand the changes

# This will not recognize as a command
$ cargo
# Reset the profile/shell (bash shell)
$ source ~/.profile
# This will work
$ cargo

Write some code and struggle

fn main() {
    println!("Hello Rust 101");
}

I got the first error "linker ‘cc’ not found"
Ok. Get it the linker

$ sudo apt install build-essential

Enjoy the fruit

# Compile the code
$ rustc ./main.rs

# Run it
$ ./main

Summary

So what have I accomplished so far? I have setup a new development environment which includes

• A Linux box running on Windows 11 using WSL 2
• Visual Studio Code remote development. It allows me to stay on the Windows and write code in the Linux box. It is neat and straightforward. VS Code is amazing
• Install and write a "hello word" rust application

What a great way to start a weekend!