Summary

In this chapter, you have seen how to access files in the Windows file system from WSL distributions, and how to launch Windows applications from Linux, including using the wlsview utility to easily launch the default Windows application for a file. You've learned how to pipe input between Windows and Linux scripts, including how to map paths between the two file system schemes using wslpath when required.

At the end of the chapter, you saw how to map from Linux sockets to Windows-named pipes, and used this technique to make your Windows SSH keys available in WSL. This allows you to avoid copying your SSH keys into each WSL distribution and instead manage your SSH keys and passphrases in a single, shared place, making it easier to control and back up your SSH keys.

All of this helps to bring Windows and Linux closer together with WSL and to drive greater productivity in your daily workflows.

We've spent quite a lot of time in the terminal in this chapter...