An out-of-date distro can sometimes interfere with attempts to install new packages. Fortunately, that task is quite easy!įrom the WSL command prompt, first run apt-get update to update the Ubuntu package lists. These tools are not installed by default on Ubuntu, so you have to install them. Make a directory called projects and then subdirectory under that called helloworld: mkdir projects cd projects mkdir helloworldĪlthough you will be using VS Code to edit your source code, you'll be compiling the source code on Linux using the g++ compiler. The shell appears with a command prompt that by default consists of your user name and computer name, and puts you in your home directory. If you installed an Ubuntu distro, type 'Ubuntu' in the Windows search box and then click on it in the result list. During installation, remember your Linux user password because you'll need it to install additional software. Install Windows Subsystem for Linux and then use the links on that same page to install your Linux distribution of choice. To successfully complete this tutorial, you must do the following steps: If you have any problems, feel free to file an issue for this tutorial in the VS Code documentation repository. For those subjects, there are many good resources available on the Web. This tutorial does not teach you about GCC or Linux or the C++ language. For more background, see VS Code Remote Development.Īfter completing this tutorial, you will be ready to create and configure your own C++ project, and to explore the VS Code documentation for further information about its many features. We recommend this mode of WSL development, where all your source code files, in addition to the compiler, are hosted on the Linux distro.

Visual Studio Code has support for working directly in WSL with the Remote - WSL extension. Note: Much of this tutorial is applicable to working with C++ and VS Code directly on a Linux machine. WSL is a Linux environment within Windows that runs directly on the machine hardware, not in a virtual machine. GCC stands for GNU Compiler Collection GDB is the GNU debugger. In this tutorial, you will configure Visual Studio Code to use the GCC C++ compiler (g++) and GDB debugger on Ubuntu in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Configure IntelliSense for cross-compiling.

How to install gdb on windows