Win-KeX 2.0: Open Programs with Linux GUI in Windows 10 WSL2

The Windows subsystem for Linux , or WSL, is one of the most revolutionary features that we can find in this operating system. Thanks to it we will be able to install a Linux distribution on top of Windows 10 with Hyper-V. In this way, in addition to being able to use Windows as usual, we will also be able to install and use Linux programs and tools without resorting to virtual machines or having to restart the PC to enter another system.

The only limitation is that WSL only works in terminal mode. In other words, you cannot run programs with a graphical interface, only tools that work in terminal. And while the new WSL 2 is going to do away with this limitation, it hasn’t yet. Therefore, there are developers, like those of Kali Linux, who have been working on their own to be able to offer users this possibility. And, finally, it is a reality thanks to Win-KeX .

Win-KeX 2.0

What is Win-KeX

Win-KeX, or Windows plus Kali Desktop eXperience , is a graphical environment developed to run on top of WSL, specifically in version 2 of the Windows subsystem for Linux. Broadly speaking, what this tool achieves is to provide users who use Kali Linux in WSL with a graphical interface that allows them to work with the tools and programs as if they were installed on the computer.

The first version of this tool, although it was a milestone, was quite limited. Among other things, the distro ran in a separate window and looked more like a virtual machine than a native application. Fortunately, this and many other things have changed with the release of the new Win-KeX 2.0 .

What’s New in Win-KeX 2.0

The first of the novelties, highly requested by users, is that, from now on it is possible to run this tool with normal or root user permissions, depending on the needs of each user.

Another novelty that we can find in this new version is the Seamless mode . Until now, Kali in WSL had a “Windows mode” that allowed us to open a separate window and run everything we needed within it. Now, thanks to this new mode, we will be able to add the Kali taskbar to the top of the screen and open all the programs we want from it. The windows of these programs share the desktop with those of Windows itself.

Kali Linux WSL2 Seamless

Other interesting news that we can find are:

  • We can open KeX from any directory without having to navigate to a specific path.
  • Allows you to enable system sound by adding the –sound, or -s, parameter to the run command.
  • Clipboard sharing between Kali and Windows.

Of course, in order to use this new version we must give permission to Win-KeX in the firewall, and enable its access in public networks.

Requirements and installation

In order to use this tool, all we need to do is make sure that we have Hyper-V and the Windows Subsystem for Linux installed and enabled. In addition, it is necessary to have the new WSL2 on our PC, so we will have to have previously updated to Windows 10 version 2004 (or 1903 and 1909 if we have updated WSL manually).

It is also necessary to manually update the Windows 10 Linux Kernel , which we can download from here . We cannot forget to mark WSL2 as the default version with the following command:

wsl --set-default-version 2

Once this is done, the only thing left to do is download Kali Linux from the Microsoft Store.

Developer: Kali Linux


Once downloaded, we complete the initial wizard and, after doing so, we execute the following command to install KeX:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install kali-win-kex

When it’s done, our Kali Linux will be ready, in terminal mode. To start using it in graphical mode, we must execute one of these two commands:

  • Single window mode with sound: win-kex –win -s
  • Seamless mode with sound: win-kex –sl -s