In a Windows computer where you don't have permission to install software, does Windows Linux subsystem, cygwin or any complete or partial Linux shell, utility or API emulator have portable versions? Thanks.
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WSL and WSL2 are really a set of optional features in Windows and can’t be made portable (if you actually want to install WSL, don’t follow that guide, use the single-command install). Enabling them requires administrative privileges.
Cygwin can be installed without administrative privileges:
On Windows Vista and later, the setup program will check by default if it runs with administrative privileges and, if not, will try to elevate the process. If you want to avoid this behaviour and install under an unprivileged account just for your own usage, run setup with the
--no-adminoption.
This isn’t the same as a portable installation however. I’m not aware of a truly portable version of Cygwin, but all the files it needs end up inside whatever installation directory you choose in the installer, and the only other change made is the addition of a registry key. See also this FAQ entry on a portable version on CD (which adds additional constraints compared to a portable version on a USB stick, or one intended to be copied to a hard drive).
The portable version of Git for Windows includes Bash and a number of other tools, which may be sufficient for your needs.
MSYS2 can also be copied from one system to another, but you’ll need to update the configuration if the user’s home directory changes (this might also apply to Cygwin).
answered May 6, 2022 at 7:40
