Argthtjtr

When I start bash on Windows Subsystem for Linux, it drops me in the directory

/mnt/c/Users/<username>

When I ls this directory, I see the directories Desktop, Documents, etc. that I can see are in C:Users<username> using the Windows File Explorer. Since this is where the bash program started, I expected this is my home directory, but when I type either cd or cd ~ I am brought to

/home/<username>

which contains my .bashrc, .profile etc. file which I would expect to find in my home directory in a Linux box. Moreover, entering cd ../.. from here I can see the directories bin, etc and so on, again as expected on a Linux box.

I have two questions regarding all this:

1. What exactly is /mnt/c/Users/<username> compared with C:Users<username>? It seems they are one in the same---so what is /mnt/c/?


2. How can I view the files in /home/<username> using the Windows File Explorer? Not that I'd really ever want to---I'm just trying to get a feel for how Windows is organizing this Subsystem for Linux thing.

For 2: The current path is now related to which distribution you have installed from the Microsoft Store rather than one global path. So, for Ubuntu it is now located at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%PackagesCanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgscLocalStaterootfs

I assume the other distributions will be in a similar location under their respective folders under:

%LOCALAPPDATA%Packages

1. 
   /mnt/c is the exact same as C:. It's just the syntax for getting to it from WSL.


2. Look in C:Users<username>AppDataLocalLxssrootfs.

About the filesystem mounted on /mnt/c

1. What exactly is /mnt/c/Users/ compared with C:Users? It seems they are one in the same---so what is /mnt/c/?

In contrast to Windows, Linux (and the other systems based on Unix) use a single folder structure independent of the number of disks you have. If you have multiple disks, all these disks must me mounted into the folder structure at some point.

• Typically, all the disks (different than the used to boot the system) are mounted in a folder named /mnt or /media
  

WSL has an special type of filesystem named DrvFS that gives you access to the disks used in windows. You can use DrvFS to mount, not only your windows filesystem, but also network disks and other media types.

• In WSL, by default, the C: disk in windows is mounted under /mnt/c
  


• If you have another disk, for instance a D: disk in windows, it will be mounted under /mnt/d
  

The files you can see in /mnt/c are the same you have in C:. If you modify some file, you will get the changes in the windows too.

You may use the mount command to access other types of media (e.g. removable drives or network shares).

About the location of /home/<username>

2. How can I view the files in /home/ using the Windows File Explorer? Not that I'd really ever want to---I'm just trying to get a feel for how Windows is organizing this Subsystem for Linux thing.

In WSL, all the linux filesystem is located under a Windows folder. The location of the folder depends on the version of Windows and of the WSL distribution you are using.

• 
  Initial versions of WSL store the linux filesystem in %LOCALAPPDATA%Lxssrootfs
  


• 
  WSL distributions installed from the Windows Store, starting in Windows Build 16215 (mid of 2017), use a folder like %LOCALAPPDATA%Packages...LocalStaterootfs. The name of the package varies depending on the distribution (e.g. it is different for Ubuntu than for Debian)


• 
  Linux distributions installed using other tools, such as lxRunOffline or WSL-DistroLauncher may store the linux filesystem into any location.

You may check many options to know the location of the WSL folder. For instance, I think the easiest option is to use lxRunOffline to know the installation folder.

## You can use lxrunoffline to check which WSL distributions have installed

## using:   lxrunoffline list



C:> lxrunoffline list

backup

Ubuntu-18.04    



## And you can use it to get the location of any of these WSL installations

## using:   lxrunoffline get-dir -n <name of distribution>



C:> lxrunoffline get-dir -n backup

c:wslinstalledbackup



C:> lxrunoffline get-dir -n Ubuntu

C:UsersJaimeAppDataLocalPackagesCanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgscLocalState

Once you know the location of the installation folder, the /home/<username> is under <installation folder>rootfshomeusername.

• For instance, if your installation folder is c:wslubuntu


• the /home/<username> is in c:wslubunturootfshomeusername
  

NOTE: Both Linux and Windows stores file permissions in different ways. Nowadays, the WSL DrvFS stores the Linux permissions as Streams (metadata) attached to the files you can see in Windows. Microsoft does not recommend to modify linux files using Windows programs. It is possible that some Windows applcations damage the linux permissions without notice it.

1. Using WSL bash console, in your home directory, create a file with an arbitrary specific name such as "test_here.txt".


2. Then using Windows Explorer, using the search box, search for the file test_here.txt.


3. On the found file > right-click > Open file location.

I suppose it might depend on which windows build you are on, but for me in 2018 on Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, Version 1709 (OS Build 16299.522) and also Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.165) [a windows update ironically occurred as I was typing this]
the location is still:

C:Users<username>AppDataLocallxss

The trick is when you're at C:Users<username>AppDataLocal you will not see an lxss folder (unless you happen to have unchecked "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" in your folder options).

However just append lxss in the windows explorer address bar and it will take you to the folder.

(Note I did not have a %LOCALAPPDATA%PackagesCanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc or anything similar that was mentioned in Michael Bonds answer)

Update

Turns out there is legacy WSL which is what I had installed. Now WSL is provided via a Microsoft store app. There are versions for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and also now a few other flavors of Linux (e.g. Debian). If you want to be up-to-date you might want to uninstall legacy WSL and install the Microsoft store version.

Where your home folder is will depend on which of these types of WSL you have installed.