Windows compatibility
How to start a Latitude app on Windows
Windows compatibility
Latitude is not natively supported on Windows, but you can still create and run Latitude apps on Windows using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
Install WSL
To install WSL, follow the instructions on the official Microsoft documentation, compatible with with Windows 10 version 2004 and higher.
If you’re having problems with WSL installation or want a straightforward step-by-step guide, you can follow the steps below:
Enable WSL
If you have not already enabled WSL, it may be necessary to enable it in the Windows Features settings. To do this, open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command:
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
Alternatively, you can enable WSL using the Windows Features settings. To do this, search for “Windows Features” in the Windows search bar, open the Windows Features settings, and check the box next to “Windows Subsystem for Linux”. Click “OK” and restart your computer.
Enable Virtual Machine
If you have not already enabled the Virtual Machine Platform, it may be necessary to enable it in the Windows Features settings. To do this, open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command:
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart
Alternatively, you can enable the Virtual Machine Platform using the Windows Features settings. To do this, search for “Windows Features” in the Windows search bar, open the Windows Features settings, and check the box next to “Virtual Machine Platform”. Click “OK” and restart your computer.
Download and install the Linux kernel update package
Download the latest package from the Microsoft WSL2 Linux kernel update package and install it.
Set WSL 2 as the default version
Open PowerShell as an administrator and run the following command to set WSL 2 as the default version:
wsl --set-default-version 2
Install a Linux distribution
Now that WSL is installed, you can install any Linux distribution from the Microsoft Store. We recommend using Ubuntu. Open the Microsoft Store and search for “Ubuntu”. Click on the “Install” button to install it.
Set up Ubuntu
Once Ubuntu is installed, it will appear as a regular app. Open it and follow the instructions to finish the installation and to set up your username and password. Do not forget that password, as you will need it to run commands with sudo.
Install Node
Latitude requires Node.js >18.x to run, so after installing WSL, you will need to install Node.js on your Ubuntu distribution. To do so, we recommend Node Version Manager (nvm).
Update Ubuntu packages and install curl
Open the Ubuntu terminal and run the following command to update the package list and install curl:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl
Install nvm
Now, you can install nvm by running the following command:
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.38.0/install.sh | bash
Install Node.js v18.x
After installing nvm, you can install the required version of Node.js by running the following command:
nvm install 18
Set Node.js v18.x as the default version
To set Node.js v18.x as the default version, run the following command:
nvm use 18
Install the VS Code WSL extension
If you are using VS Code as your editor, we highly recommend installing the Remote - WSL extension to work with your WSL environment directly from VS Code.
(Optional) Install build tools
Some Node.js packages may require build tools to be installed on your Ubuntu distribution. To install them, you can run the following command:
sudo apt install build-essential
Install Latitude
Now that you have WSL and Node.js installed, you can follow the installation guide to install Latitude on your Ubuntu distribution.
Start your first project
With Latitude installed, you can now create your first project by following the getting started guide.
Keep in mind that you will need to run the Latitude CLI commands from the Ubuntu terminal, not the Windows terminal. If you want to work with your project files in Windows, you can mount your projects directory to WSL by following the official Microsoft documentation.