WSL2 - Install Linux C/C++ Compilers

[jussij]

1. Make sure WLS2 has been installed on the machine. For example, see the details found here: https://phoenixnap.com/kb/upgrade-wsl-to-wsl2

Use the following wsl.exe command to check a Linux distribution has been installed and is set as active:

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wsl.exe --list

This command will show a listing similar to the following:

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Windows Subsystem for Linux Distributions:
Ubuntu-24.04 (Default)
docker-desktop
docker-desktop-data

The default distribution can be set using the following command, changing the distribution name to suit:

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wsl -s Ubuntu-24.04

2. Open the newly installed WSL2 distribution and at the resulting command line update the packages using this command:

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sudo apt update

3. Install the build-essential package using this command:

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sudo apt install build-essential

This command will install everything to run the gcc, g++ and make tools.

4. Optionally you can install the manual pages for these tools using this command:

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sudo apt-get install manpages-dev

5. To test the C compiler installation run this command:

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gcc --version

That command should result in this output:

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gcc (Ubuntu 9.3.0-10ubuntu2) 9.3.0
Copyright (C) 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

6. To test the C++ compiler installation run this command:

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g++ --version

That command should result in this output:

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g++ (Ubuntu 13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04) 13.3.0
Copyright (C) 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Running these Compiler from Inside Zeus

The Zeus compiler and tool configurations have an option to run the command using Bash. This equates to running the compiler or tool from inside the Linux subsystem.

This means you can run the Linux compilers inside Zeus and have the output captured in the editor.
For example, the image below shows the compiler settings required:

wsl-compile.png (134.46 KiB) Viewed 346 times

The compiler command line used is as follows:

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g++ "$f" -g -o "$fb"

That command line is expanded used the details (file name and file base name) of the currently active file.

Testing the Zeus Compiler Setup

Consider a test.cpp that contains the following code:

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#include <iostream>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    std::cout << "Hello World!" << std::endl << std::endl;

    for (int i = 0; i < argc; ++i)
    {
      std::cout << "Argument: " << i << " => " << argv[i] << std::endl;
    }

    return 0;
}

Assume that file lives in the following Windows location:

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C:\Projects\c++\test.cpp

Inside the WSL Linux terminal this will map to the following location:

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/mnt/c/Projects/c++/test.cpp

After running the compile that directory will now contain these files:

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test  test.cpp

The test is the executable and it can be run in the WSL terminal using the following command:

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./test

Running that executable produces the following output:

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Hello World!

Argument: 0 => ./test

This executable can also be run inside of Zeus using the Tools, Bash Command Line menu which will display this dialog:

wsl_run.png (17.86 KiB) Viewed 344 times

With the test.cpp as the active file and using the inputs shown, this will then result in the following output being captured inside of Zeus:

wsl-output.png (3.53 KiB) Viewed 344 times