If you want to run an eCommerce store in Windows, you can now do it with WSL. You do not need to install any software or run a virtual machine in Windows 11 to install Magento. You can now install and run Magento directly from Windows 11 via Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Back in 2017, Microsoft released WSL and later WSL2 which lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment, including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications directly in Windows without setting up a virtual machine or dual-boot. WSL2 is the new and improved version that comes with a performance boost, and full system call compatibility, and is built with a new architecture that delivers features that make WSL an amazing way to run a Linux environment in Windows. With Windows 11, installing WSL is a bit different than in Windows 10. However, the steps below are going to show you how to do that. To install and run Magento on Windows 11 you must first install and enable WSL.

Install Windows Subsystem for Linux in Windows 11

To enable WSL in Windows, you will want to open the Command Prompt as administrator. Click on Start then begin typing Command Prompt. Next, right-click Command Prompt app and choose to Run as administrator. When the console opens, run the commands below to install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL): Wait for WSL to be installed. After installing, you should get a success message similar to the lines below: Restart your computer. WSL should be installed and ready to use. When you want to update, simply run the commands below:

Install Specific Linux distro on Windows 11

Now that WSL is installed, you can now install the Linux distro of your choice. To list the available distributions to install, simply run the commands below: You should then see all available distributions that can be installed on WSL. To install a Linux distribution from the list above, simply run the commands below using the distribution name. For example, to install Ubuntu 20.04, run the commands below: You should then get a message that the distribution is installed. After installing, you should get a Ubuntu command console with setup details. Some troubleshooting commands to run when you run into issues.

Install Nginx HTTP Server

Nginx is probably the second most popular open-source web server powering the majority of websites online. Since Magento needs it, use the commands below to install it on Ubuntu. To install Nginx on Ubuntu, run the commands below: After installing Nginx, the commands below can be used to stop, start and restart Nginx services. To validate that Nginx is installed and functioning, open your web browser and browse to the server’s hostname or IP address. You should get a test page if every works. http://localhost

Install MariaDB Database Server

For this tutorial, we’re going to be installing MariaDB. Magento needs a database server to store its content. MariaDB is a truly open-source database server you can run with your projects. It is fast, secure and the default server for almost all Linux. To install MariaDB, run the commands below: After installing MariaDB, the commands below can be used to stop, start and restart MariaDB services. Next, run the commands below to secure the database server with a root password if you were not prompted to do so during the installation. When prompted, answer the questions below by following the guide.

Enter current password for root (enter for none): Press the Enter Set root password? [Y/n]: Y New password: Enter password Re-enter new password: Repeat password Remove anonymous users? [Y/n]: Y Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n]: Y Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n]:  Y Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n]:  Y

To verify and validate that MariaDB is installed and working, log in to the database console using the commands below: Type the root password when prompted. If you see a similar screen as shown above, then the server was successfully installed.

PHP is a general-purpose scripting language that glues all the above components together. Magento is a PHP application and requires PHP and related modules to function. To install PHP and recommended modules, run the commands below. That should get PHP installed with recommended PHP modules that you can run with many PHP-based applications. To validate that PHP is installed, run the commands below: You should see an output like the one below: You can also test with a test PHP script and display the installed version as well as related modules that are enabled or disabled. To do that, run the commands below to create a PHP test file called phpinfo.php Then type the content below and save the file. Save the file. Open your browser and browse to your server hostname followed by phpinfo.php Restart Nginx, then type the address and browse the file. You should see the PHP default test page. At this stage, all required components that Magento needs are installed above. Continue below to download and configure Magento settings.

Create Magento Database

When all the servers are installed above, it’s now time to begin setting up the Magento environment. First, run the steps below to create a blank database for Magento to use. Login to the MariaDB database console using the commands below: Then create a database called magentodb Next, create a database user called magentodbuser and set a password Then grant the user full access to the database. Finally, save your changes and exit.

Download Magento

At this point, Magento is ready to be downloaded and installed. Use the commands below to download the latest version of Magento. To get Magento’s latest release you may want to use the GitHub repository… Install Composer, Curl and other dependencies to get started… When prompted, enter your authentication keys. Your public key is your username; your private key is your password….  ( https://marketplace.magento.com/customer/accessKeys/ ) You’ll have to register for an account to create the key above. After installing curl and Composer above, change into the Nginx root directory and download Magento packages from GitHub… Always replace the branch number with the latest branch. To view Magento releases, see this page. Copy and paste the authentication key… (Your public key is your username; your private key is your password) After downloading Magento packages, run the commands below to install Magento with the following options:

The Magento software is installed in the root directory on localhost…. Admin is admin;  therefore: Your storefront URL is http://exmaple.com The database server is on the same localhost as the webserver…. The database name is magentodb, and the magentodbuser and password is db_user_password_here Uses server rewrites The Magento administrator has the following properties: First and last name are: Admin User Username is: admin  and the password is admin123 E-mail address is: admin@example.com Default language is: (U.S. English) Default currency is: U.S. dollars Default time zone is: U.S. Central (America/Chicago)

Elasticsearch is now enabled with Magento packages. If you’re not using it and you run into trouble after running the commands above, use this line to disable the Elasticsearch module. If you want to run Magento with Elasticsearch instead, read this post. After that, run the commands below to set the correct permissions for Magento 2 to function. Then run the command below to allow the www-data user to own the Magento directory.

Configure Nginx VirtualHost

Below is where you configure the Nginx VirtualHost file for the Magento site you’re creating. This file defines how client requests are handled and processed. Run the commands below to create a new VirtualHost file called Magento in the /etc/nginx/sites-available/ directory. A very good configuration setting for most Magento sites on the Nginx server is below. This configuration should work great. Copy the content below and save it into the file created above. Save the file and exit. After saving the file above, run the commands below to enable the new site, then restart the Nginx server. At this stage, Magento is ready and can be launched by going to the server’s IP or hostname. That should bring up the Magento home page. Log in with the account above and you’re done. That’s it! Conclusion: This post showed you how to install Magento on Windows 11 with Ubuntu. If you find any error above, please use the comment form below to report.