Fedora Remix for WSL 44.0.0 Released — GNOME Desktop Support Is Back

newshow-to

Nov 2

Fedora Remix for WSL 44.0.0 is now available. This release upgrades the distro to Fedora 44, brings back GNOME desktop support through a native Wayland session, updates the graphics stack, and extends our WSL1 compatibility fixes.

The main change is the desktop experience: you can now install a full GNOME desktop on WSL2 with a guided setup script and connect from Windows using Windows App or Remote Desktop Connection.

What’s new in 44.0.0

Fedora 44 update

Fedora Remix for WSL is now updated to Fedora 44.
Root filesystem builds and Windows packages have been updated for x64 and ARM64.
Build scripts and release metadata now target Fedora 44.

GNOME desktop support is back

Fedora Remix 44 brings back GNOME through a native Wayland session shared by GNOME Remote Desktop.

Xfce, KDE, and LXDE remain available through xrdp and xorgxrdp.

To install a desktop, run the following as your regular Linux user:

install-desktop.sh

The guided installer lets you select your desktop environment and configure the connection settings. It installs the required packages and configures the appropriate remote desktop services automatically.

For GNOME, setup also asks for dedicated RDP credentials and generates a self-signed TLS certificate.

The default RDP port is 3396. After setup finishes, start Fedora Remix again and connect from Windows using Windows App or Remote Desktop Connection:

localhost:3396

If you selected another port, use that port instead. Follow the installer’s final connection instructions for your selected desktop.

Important:

Desktop installation requires WSL2.
Run install-desktop.sh as your regular Linux user, without sudo. It requests elevated permissions when needed.
Choose GNOME for the new Wayland-based desktop experience, or Xfce, KDE, or LXDE for an Xorg-based desktop through xrdp.
A self-signed certificate warning may appear when connecting.
Keep a Fedora Remix terminal open while using the remote desktop.

Fedora Remix 43 and earlier continue to use the Xorg/xrdp setup through the separate install-desktop-xorg.sh compatibility installer.

Graphics stack

Updated the WSL-specific Mesa packages on x64 to 26.2.4.
Preserved Direct3D 12 integration for WSLg.
Separated mesa-va-drivers installation to avoid dependency conflicts during builds and updates.
Added workarounds for GNOME Remote Desktop crashes involving the D3D12 Vulkan driver.
Configured GTK 4 applications in the GNOME desktop session to use the OpenGL renderer, avoiding Vulkan rendering problems.

ARM64 continues to use Fedora’s graphics packages, including upstream Direct3D 12 support.

Desktop sessions and systemd

Added systemd-pam to new images and WSL2 upgrades, providing components required for user sessions and desktop startup.
Improved Bash and Fish environment handling for remote desktop sessions.
Preserved each desktop session’s own display and audio settings while restoring Windows interoperability.
Fixed Xwayland startup when WSLg provides a read-only /tmp/.X11-unix directory.
Improved detection of the active WSL interoperability socket.

WSL1 compatibility

The gdk-pixbuf/glycin workaround now covers Fedora 44 as well as Fedora 43.

On affected WSL1 installations, the update script:

Checks whether the required memfd capability is available.
Installs or downgrades to a compatible gdk-pixbuf2 2.42 build.
Removes incompatible Glycin packages.
Applies version locks to prevent subsequent updates from undoing the workaround.
Runs compatibility checks before and after package updates.

WSL1 remains supported for command-line use. The new GNOME desktop installer requires WSL2.

First-run setup

New users now receive Bash explicitly as their login shell.
Added membership in the render group for graphics access.
Improved cleanup when password setup fails, allowing account creation to be retried without leaving an incomplete account behind.

Upgrade instructions (43 → 44)

Fedora upgrades in WSL are sensitive to systemd state. The instructions below temporarily disable systemd before performing the upgrade.

Choose Path A if systemd is enabled, Path B if it is already disabled, or Path C if you use WSL1.

Running update.sh alone updates packages and Fedora Remix customizations within your current Fedora release. It does not perform the major-version upgrade to Fedora 44.

0) Back up first

From PowerShell, check your distribution’s registered name:

wsl --list --verbose

Then export a backup:

wsl --export fedoraremix fedoraremix43_backup.tar

Replace fedoraremix in the commands below if your distribution has a different registered name.

Path A — If systemd is enabled

A1) Verify systemd is enabled

Inside Fedora Remix:

ps -p 1 -o comm=

If it prints systemd, systemd is enabled.

A2) Temporarily disable systemd

Edit /etc/wsl.conf:

sudo nano /etc/wsl.conf

Set systemd=false under the existing [boot] section, preserving any other settings:

[boot]
systemd=false

Close Fedora Remix, then terminate the distribution from PowerShell:

wsl.exe --terminate fedoraremix

WSL reads the updated configuration the next time the distribution starts.

A3) Run the upgrade

Start Fedora Remix again, then run:

sudo dnf -y upgrade --refresh
update.sh

sudo dnf -y install dnf-plugin-system-upgrade
sudo dnf4 -y system-upgrade download --allowerasing --releasever=44
sudo dnf4 -y system-upgrade reboot

With systemd disabled, the reboot command is expected to report a systemd-related error. Continue by running the upgrade directly:

sudo dnf4 -y system-upgrade upgrade

After the upgrade, update the CA certificate path used by the wslu repository and refresh the repository metadata:

sudo sed -i.bak \
  's|^sslcacert=/etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt$|sslcacert=/etc/pki/ca-trust/extracted/pem/tls-ca-bundle.pem|' \
  /etc/yum.repos.d/whitewaterfoundry_wslu.repo

sudo dnf makecache --refresh

Then complete the cleanup and refresh Fedora Remix customizations:

sudo dnf4 -y autoremove
sudo dnf4 -y clean all
sudo mandb
sudo dnf4 -y system-upgrade clean
update.sh

Verify the installed release:

cat /etc/fedora-release
cat /etc/os-release

The release information should now identify Fedora 44.

A4) Re-enable systemd on WSL2

Systemd is recommended for WSL2 and required for the new GNOME desktop setup.

Edit /etc/wsl.conf again:

sudo nano /etc/wsl.conf

Set:

[boot]
systemd=true

Close Fedora Remix and terminate it from PowerShell:

wsl.exe --terminate fedoraremix

Start Fedora Remix again, then verify:

ps -p 1 -o comm=

It should print systemd.

Path B — If systemd is already disabled

If the following command returns something other than systemd, you can proceed directly with A3 above:

ps -p 1 -o comm=

Complete all A3 steps, including the repository certificate-path correction and the final update.sh run.

On WSL2, follow A4 afterward to enable systemd, especially if you plan to install GNOME.

Path C — WSL1 upgrade instructions

WSL1 needs additional compatibility checks around package changes, particularly for gdk-pixbuf/glycin. Run update.sh before and after the major-version upgrade.

Inside Fedora Remix:

sudo dnf -y upgrade --refresh
update.sh

sudo dnf -y install dnf-plugin-system-upgrade
sudo dnf4 -y system-upgrade download --allowerasing --releasever=44
sudo dnf4 -y system-upgrade reboot

The reboot command is expected to report a systemd-related error on WSL1. Continue:

sudo dnf4 -y system-upgrade upgrade

After the upgrade, correct the wslu repository’s CA certificate path and refresh the metadata:

sudo sed -i.bak \
  's|^sslcacert=/etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt$|sslcacert=/etc/pki/ca-trust/extracted/pem/tls-ca-bundle.pem|' \
  /etc/yum.repos.d/whitewaterfoundry_wslu.repo

sudo dnf makecache --refresh

If you encounter the known WSL1 lock or systemd-related errors, run update.sh to reapply the compatibility fixes. For unrelated transaction failures, resolve the reported error before continuing.

Finish with:

update.sh

sudo dnf4 -y autoremove
sudo dnf4 -y clean all
sudo mandb
sudo dnf4 -y system-upgrade clean

update.sh

Verify the release:

cat /etc/fedora-release
cat /etc/os-release

The release information should identify Fedora 44. Leave systemd disabled on WSL1.

Install GNOME after upgrading

Once Fedora Remix 44 is running on WSL2, launch the desktop installer as your regular user:

install-desktop.sh

Follow the prompts, restart Fedora Remix when setup finishes, and connect using Windows App or Remote Desktop Connection:

localhost:3396

If you selected another port, use that port instead. Sign in with the RDP credentials you entered during setup.

Support

If you encounter installation, desktop, or upgrade issues, open an issue on GitHub or use the support resources shown in the first-run welcome message.

Please include your Fedora Remix version, Windows version, whether you use WSL1 or WSL2, and the relevant error messages.

fedoraremix

Carlos Ramirez