Configure an interpreter using WSL
You can use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to work with a Python interpreter available in your Linux distribution.
Fulfill the preliminary steps
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Ensure that you have downloaded and installed Python on your computer.
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Click the Windows button in the lower-left corner of the screen and start typing
System Information
. To ensure that your system works well with WSL, upgrade your Windows to the latest available version. -
Install the Windows Subsystem for Linux and initialize your Linux distribution as described in the WSL Installation Guide.
If your Linux distribution doesn't come with rsync, you need to install it:
sudo apt install rsync
sudo pacman -S rsync
Configure remote interpreter via WSL
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Open the Add Python Interpreter dialog by either way:
When have an open file in the Editor, the most convenient way is to use the Python Interpreter widget in the status bar. Click the widget and select
- Open the Settings / Preferences Dialog by pressing Ctrl+Alt+S or by choosing for Windows and Linux or for macOS.
In the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S, select . Click the icon and select Add.
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In the left-hand pane of the dialog, click WSL.
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Select the Linux distribution and specify the path to the python executable in the selected Linux distribution.
Once done, the new interpreter will be added to your project, and the default mnt mappings will be set.
Note that with WSL you cannot create virtual environments: all packages you install will be added to the corresponding system interpreter. You will be asked to enter your sudo password.
PyCharm allows you to use custom Linux distributions run on WSL. This can be done by editing the wsl.distributions.xml configuration file created by PyCharm automatically after detecting WSL.
Add a custom distribution
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Open the %\HOMEPATH%\.PyCharm2019.3\config\options\wsl.distributions.xml file.
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Add the
descriptor
element and provide settings to access your custom distribution. Note that theid
value should be unique. For example:<!-- ... --> <descriptor> <id>Arch</id> <microsoft-id>Arch</microsoft-id> <executable-path>c:/linux/arch.exe</executable-path> <presentable-name>Arch</presentable-name> </descriptor> <!-- ... -->Consult the Windows registry to check the id and executable-path values.
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Restart PyCharm and add your custom distribution as a remote interpreter as described above.