Install Aura On Windows With WSL

Aura does not publish a native Windows executable. On an x86-64 Windows 11 machine, install and run the Linux release inside Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 using Ubuntu 24.04. The CLI, compiler runtime, projects, and VS Code language server all run inside WSL 2.

1. Install WSL 2 And Ubuntu

Open PowerShell as Administrator. Check the available distribution names:

wsl --list --online

Install Ubuntu 24.04:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

Restart Windows if requested. Launch Ubuntu 24.04 LTS from the Start menu and create the Linux username and password requested on first launch.

Microsoft's WSL installation guide documents recovery steps for older Windows builds and existing WSL setups.

2. Confirm WSL 2

In PowerShell:

wsl --list --verbose

The Ubuntu row must show version 2. If it shows version 1, use the exact distribution name displayed by the preceding command:

wsl --set-version Ubuntu-24.04 2

All remaining shell commands in this guide run inside the Ubuntu terminal, not PowerShell.

3. Prepare Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y curl ca-certificates tar coreutils build-essential

The first four packages install and verify Aura. build-essential enables direct native execution and aura build.

4. Install Aura Inside WSL

curl -fsSL https://johnolafenwa.github.io/Aura/install.sh | sh

Add Aura to the Ubuntu login environment:

grep -qxF 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' "$HOME/.profile" || \
  printf '%s\n' 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> "$HOME/.profile"
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Verify both the CLI and native toolchain:

aura --version
cc --version

5. Create A Project In The WSL Filesystem

Keep active Aura projects under the Linux home directory. This gives Linux tools normal permissions and filesystem behavior:

mkdir -p "$HOME/projects/aura-hello"
cd "$HOME/projects/aura-hello"
printf '%s\n' 'print("hello from Aura in WSL")' > hello.au
aura run hello.au

Windows drives are available under paths such as /mnt/c, but the Linux home directory is the recommended location for WSL development projects.

6. Connect VS Code To WSL

Install Visual Studio Code on Windows and select Add to PATH in its Windows installer. Install Microsoft's WSL extension in the local VS Code window.

From the Ubuntu terminal, open the project:

cd "$HOME/projects/aura-hello"
code .

VS Code installs its server inside WSL and opens a remote window. The status bar must show WSL: Ubuntu. In that remote window, install Aura Programming Language into WSL. A locally installed copy is not enough because the extension must launch the aura lsp executable inside Ubuntu.

Continue with the complete VS Code extension guide.

Upgrade Aura

Run the updater from the Ubuntu terminal:

aura upgrade
aura --version

The command upgrades the Linux compiler and runtime inside WSL. Run it in the Ubuntu terminal, not PowerShell.

Troubleshooting

wsl --install displays help

WSL may already be present. Run wsl --list --online, then install the exact Ubuntu distribution name shown by that command.

code is not found inside Ubuntu

Install VS Code on Windows with its Add to PATH option, close the Ubuntu terminal, reopen it, and run code . again.

VS Code cannot find aura

Open a terminal in the WSL: Ubuntu window and run:

command -v aura
aura --version

If the commands fail, restore the PATH export from step 4 and restart the WSL VS Code window. Do not install a Windows copy of Aura; the current compiler distribution is the Linux binary running inside WSL.

Windows on ARM

The current Aura release has no Linux ARM64 archive. Windows-on-ARM WSL hosts are outside the supported distribution matrix for this preview.