Run rippled on Windows using WSL
Published: 2023-11-10 14:49:10

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets you install a Linux distribution (such as Ubuntu) and use Linux applications without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dualboot setup. This enables Windows users to install the XRP Ledger in their familiar Windows environment.

This guide documents how I did that on my Windows 10 machine.

**TLDR**
1. Install WSL with Ubuntu 22 ([https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install))
2. Install rippled on Ubuntu 22 ([https://xrpl.org/install-rippled-on-ubuntu.html](https://xrpl.org/install-rippled-on-ubuntu.html))

**A little more detailed steps**
First ensure your machine fulfills the [system requirements](https://xrpl.org/system-requirements.html). At the time of this writing rippled 1.12.0 runs stable as validator on an older physical computer from 2012 with the following specs:
- Intel I7-2600 2.4GHz
- 4x 8gb DDR3 RAM
- 240gb SSD (OCZ Agility 6GB/s)
- Network on-board (Asus P8Z68 DELUXE) 
- Solid internet connection 600Mbit/s down, 60Mbit/s up

Microsoft provides a great guide how to [install WSL](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install) and a few important commands. I performed the following steps:
1. Start Windows Console
2. Run `wsl --install` to install WSL on your Windows 10 (or later) machine
3. Run `wsl --install -d Ubuntu-22.04` to install Ubuntu 22 Linux. This may take a few minutes
3. After initial installation you need to specify a username and password for your newly installed Linux
4. After installing Ubuntu-22 you're maybe directly logged in. Exit your session and close the terminal. This should prevent a possible error while installing rippled at step 3 ("Permission denied" at wget)

Your Ubuntu Linux is now installed and ready. Let's continue with installing rippled. An article on [xrpl.org](https://xrpl.org/install-rippled-on-ubuntu.html#installation-steps) provides a detailed step by step guide what to do. I followed each step as mentioned in that article.
1. Start Windows Console
2. Run `wsl` to enter Linux command prompt
3. Follow the [Installation Steps](https://xrpl.org/install-rippled-on-ubuntu.html#installation-steps) command by command
4. At step 4 you must change the command. Adjust `focal` to `jammy` due our previously installed Ubuntu Linux as mentioned in the installation guide
5. Ensure every command runs successfully  and doesn't print any errors into your Console.

After rippled is successfully installed, you can run `rippled server_info | grep server_state`. This shows current [rippled server state](https://xrpl.org/rippled-server-states.html). The initial network sync may take some minutes. The command shows "full" as soon as your server is fully caught-up with the network and could participate in validation, but is not doing so (because it has not been configured as a validator). If you plan to run your fresh node as validator you should follow the guide [Run rippled as a Validator](https://xrpl.org/run-rippled-as-a-validator.html#run-rippled-as-a-validator).

Congrats! You're now running rippled on your own machine 🎉

**Helpful commands and resources**
- Stop a running Linux instance: Run `wsl --shutdown` in a Windows Console
- Linux "Task-Manager": `htop`. Ensure your machine provides enough RAM.
- [Basic commands for WSL](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/basic-commands)
- [Node Configurator](https://xrplf.github.io/xrpl-node-configurator/#/) assists you generating a rippled.cfg config for your node