Swift on the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

• Note that all compiled Swift binaries are only executable within Bash on Windows and are Ubuntu, not Windows, executables (WSL can natively run Ubuntu executables).
• Make sure to run all commands from bash, or the project won't compile.

1. Install WSL

Install and run the latest version of Bash on Ubuntu on Windows installed on your PC.

bash

2. Install dependencies

Install the developer dependencies needed to compile the Swift project. These are identical to the Ubuntu dependencies, with the addition of make.

sudo apt-get install git make cmake ninja-build clang python uuid-dev libicu-dev icu-devtools libbsd-dev libedit-dev libxml2-dev libsqlite3-dev swig libpython-dev libncurses5-dev pkg-config libblocksruntime-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev

3. Upgrade clang

Install a version of clang with C++ 14 support; the default version of clang on WSL results in linker errors during compilation.

sudo apt-get install clang-3.6
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/clang clang /usr/bin/clang-3.6 100
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/clang++ clang++ /usr/bin/clang++-3.6 100

4. Upgrade CMake

Install the latest version of CMake; Swift uses new CMake features such as IN_LIST and won't build without these features.

wget http://www.cmake.org/files/v3.6/cmake-3.6.2.tar.gz
tar xf cmake-3.6.2.tar.gz
cd cmake-3.6.2
./configure
make
sudo make install
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/cmake cmake /usr/local/bin/cmake 1 --force
cmake --version # This should print 3.6.2

6. Clone and build the Swift project

mkdir swift-source
cd swift-source
git clone https://github.com/apple/swift.git
./swift/utils/update-checkout --clone
./swift/utils/build-script -r

7. Hello, Windows (Subsystem for Linux)

cd ./build/Ninja-RelWithDebInfoAssert/swift-linux-x86_64/bin # This path may depend on your build configuration
echo 'print("Hello, Windows")' >> test.swift
swiftc test.swift
./test # Hello, Windows