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James Blair d15e12040f Improved remaining windows setup steps.

2020-09-26 08:16:23 +12:00

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Windows 10 Setup

Install windows subsystem for linux
Install an x server for wsl
Configure windows ten
Configure a web browser

# Download the vcxsrv installer
powershell.exe curl.exe -L -0 $env:TEMP\installer.exe  https://sourceforge.net/projects/vcxsrv/files/latest/download

# Install vcxsrv
powershell.exe $env:TEMP\installer.exe

Install windows subsystem for linux

To get underway we need to enable WSL2. This requires a 64bit installation of Windows 10 professional, build 18362 or higher.

# The vritual machine platform optional feature is required for wsl2
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

# Once the virtual machine platform is enabled we can enable wsl2
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

Once the wsl feature is enabled it is recommended to update the linux kernel package for wsl2.

# Download the update
powershell.exe curl.exe -L -o $env:TEMP\wsl_update_x64.msi https://wslstorestorage.blob.core.windows.net/wslblob/wsl_update_x64.msi

# Install the update automatically
Start-Process msiexec.exe -Wait -ArgumentList '/I $env:TEMP\wsl_update_x64.msi /quiet'

Before we install a specific distribution of wsl we need to set the default version of wsl to version 2.

Note: you may need to reboot your machine before this command will complete successfully.

powershell.exe wsl --set-default-version 2

After enabling the wsl feature we need to download the distribution installer and open it.

For my tooling setup I currently use the Ubuntu distribution after historically preferring Debian. The reason for the shift is the native apt installation for an up to date emacs installation available in Ubuntu.

# Download the appx package for ubuntu distribution.
powershell.exe curl.exe -L -o $env:TEMP\ubuntu.appx https://aka.ms/wslubuntu2004

# Install the appx package
powershell.exe Add-AppxPackage $env:TEMP\ubuntu.appx

Note: If you encounter an error while adding the package, I have needed to use the wsreset command in the past to first reset the windows store application.

After the installer runs we need to manually enter a username and password for the unix account that wsl will use.

You can use the following command to verify the distribution and version you now have installed powershell.exe wsl --list --verbose.

Install an x server for wsl

One of the ways we extend standard wsl functionality is installing an x server on windows to allow graphical applications to be run.

This has the added benefit of allowing command line clipboard tools like xclip to be used within wsl.

The x server I've found to be rock solid for this purpose is VcXsrv. Which is also open source.

# Download the vcxsrv installer
powershell.exe curl.exe -L -0 $env:TEMP\installer.exe  https://sourceforge.net/projects/vcxsrv/files/latest/download

# Install vcxsrv
powershell.exe $env:TEMP\installer.exe

After following through the installer we want to ensure VcXsrv launches at startup with our desired configuration.

To achieve this we can add an xlaunch configuration which is just xml with a fancy extension to our machines startup folder.

cd /c/ProgramData/Microsoft/Windows/Start\ Menu/Programs/Startup
cat > VcXsrv.xlaunch << EOF
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<XLaunch WindowMode="MultiWindow" ClientMode="NoClient" LocalClient="False" Display="-1" LocalProgram="xcalc" RemoteProgram="xterm" RemotePassword="" PrivateKey="" RemoteHost="" RemoteUser="" XDMCPHost="" XDMCPBroadcast="False" XDMCPIndirect="False" Clipboard="True" ClipboardPrimary="True" ExtraParams="" Wgl="True" DisableAC="True" XDMCPTerminate="False"/>
EOF
cmd.exe /c VcXsrv.xlaunch

Configure windows ten

Enable all tray icons to be visible and restart explorer

# Ensure all tray icons are visible
powershell.exe Set-ItemProperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Micorosoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer EnableAutoTray 0

# Restart explorer
powershell.exe ps explorer | kill

Additionally I normally take the following actions:

Update taskbar layout

I normally take the following steps immediately for a new installtion, I have not found an easy way of automating this as yet:

Hide the search box.
Hide the task view button.
Unpin all but explorer.

Update start menu layout

I prefer to have no pinned "tiles" in my start menu. The script below will unpin all applications from start.

Note: In subsequent versions of Windows 10 this script seems to fail so I am back to doing this manually for now…

 powershell.exe -NoLogo 
    (New-Object -Com Shell.Application). 
NameSpace('shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}'). 
Items() | 
%{ $_.Verbs() } | 
?{$_.Name -match 'Un.*pin from Start'} | 
%{$_.DoIt()}

Lock screen configuration

I prefer a simple lock screen with no clutter so normally take the following steps:

Untick show tips
Set background to be picture and use in folder
Remove status detailed or otherwise for apps on lock screen

Fix inactive window title colors

One of the annoyances I have in windows ten is after setting a title bar color for windows as part of standard theming any inactive windows have an awful white glare instead of retaining that color. Thankfully there is a registry tweak we can do to fix this.

powershell.exe Set-ItemProperty HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Micorosoft\Windows\DWM AccentColorInactive ff484a4c

Configure a web browser

My current browser of choice is Firefox. This is primarily due to their respect for open source, user privacy and security and customisation.

# Download the firefox installer
powershell.exe curl.exe -L -o $env:TEMP\firefox.exe https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox

# Launch the installer
#env:TEMP\firefox.exe

One of the customisations we apply is to update the color of the newtab page in firefox to match the rest of the theme we use and prevent white glare. To achieve this we use usercss.

Note there is an about:config setting that needs to be set to enable these stylesheets to be used toolkit.legacyUserProfileCustomizations.stylesheets

cd /c/Users/$USER/AppData/Roaming/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/[Default Profile]/chrome/
cat > userContent.css << EOF 
/* https://userstyles.org/styles/90565/firefox-adjust-white-flash-when-opening-new-tab */
/* https://userstyles.org/styles/142191/remove-new-tab-flash */
@-moz-document url-prefix(about:preferences), url-prefix(about:blank), url-prefix(about:newtab) {
  html, body, #newtab-customize-overlay {
    background: #323232 !important;
    color: #b2b2b2 !important;
  } 
}

@-moz-document url(chrome://browser/content/browser.xul)
{

  browser[type="content-primary"]
  {
    background: #323232 !important;
    color: #b2b2b2 !important;
  }
}

@-moz-document url(chrome://browser/content/browser.xul)
{

  browser[type="content-primary"], tabbrowser tabpanels, #appcontent > #content
  {
    background: #1B1B1B url("chrome://global/skin/media/imagedoc-darknoise.png") repeat fixed !important;
    color: #b2b2b2 !important;
  }
}

@-moz-document url(about:blank),
               url(about:preferences),
               url(about:config),
               url(about:newtab)
{
  #newtab-window,
  html,
  body, 
  #newtab-customize-overlay 
  {
    background: #1B1B1B url("chrome://global/skin/media/imagedoc-darknoise.png") repeat fixed;
    color: #b2b2b2 !important;
  }
}

EOF

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