Install openSUSE Tumbleweed on WSL

openSUSE Tumbleweed is a community Linux distribution sponsored by SUSE. It is a rolling distribution, like Arch, that continuously receives the latest packages from the openSUSE community, SUSE, and upstream open source projects.

UPDATE: openSUSE Tumbleweed is now officially in the Microsoft Store.

The following is preserved for reference purposes:

openSUSE Tumbleweed is not in the Microsoft Store but official images are published for WSL. A couple extra steps are required though because the .appx file requires installation of the openSUSE CA certificate. It is not too hard though, so lets give it a go.

Grab the openSUSE Tumbleweed WSL install image, a .appx file, from download.opensuse.org:

In that folder, use Ctrl+F to search for an image ending .appx. It will be called something like:

openSUSE-Tumbleweed-20210803-WSL.x86_64-21153.2.79.0-Snapshot20210803.appx

Download the .appx file:

Next, we need to grab the openSUSE CA certificate from build.opensuse.org:

Copy and paste the certificate into Notepad:

Save the file as openSUSE-UEFI-CA-Certificate.crt making sure to select 'All Files' under 'Save as type':

Exit Notepad.

Open Explorer and navigate to where you saved the openSUSE-UEFI-CA-Certificate.crt:

Double-click on openSUSE-UEFI-CA-Certificate.crt. This will open a window with information about the certificate:

Click 'Install Certficate', highlighted below:

This will open a Certificate Import Wizard:

Select the 'Local Machine' option and then click 'Next'. This will require admin approval.

In the next step, select 'Place all certificates in the following store':

Then click the 'Browse' button.

In the 'Select Certificate Store' window, select 'Trusted Root Certificate Authorities':

Then click 'OK'.

Then click 'Next' to proceed in the Certificate Import Wizard.

On the final page of the wizard, click 'Finish':

You should then see:

Click 'OK' and close the certificate window.

Now, locate the openSUSE .appx file in Explorer, probably in your Downloads folder unless you saved it elsewhere:

Double-click on the .appx file, which will open:

Then click 'Install':

Once unpacked, openSUSE Tumbleweed will launch with the YaST-based firstboot interface:

Select Next, accept the license, and configure your WSL username and password.

You will then find openSUSE Tumbleweed in your Start Menu:

You will also find openSUSE Tumbleweed in the new Windows Terminal:

In Windows Terminal settings you can set openSUSE Tumbleweed to be your default shell:

You can also set the openSUSE Tumbleweed default wallpaper as the background for openSUSE in Windows Terminal:

If you are brave and want to edit the settings.json for Windows Terminal, you can even set the openSUSE icon to be the icon in Windows Terminal:

So you end up with something like this:

Have lots of fun!

See also:

• Troubleshooting GUI Linux apps on openSUSE on WSLg