Installing Aspherix on WSL2

Scope and prerequisites

This guide installs Aspherix 7.1.0 (solver + GUI), the calibration tool, ParaView and OVITO in Ubuntu 24.04 under WSL2, with graphics shown through WSL2.

You need: admin rights on Windows, the Aspherix Linux installer, a valid license file, and an up-to-date GPU driver on Windows (WSLg uses it for OpenGL).

Step 1: Install WSL and Ubuntu 24.04

One command installs WSL and the distro. Run PowerShell as Administrator:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

1. Reboot if Windows asks (only on the first WSL install).
2. Start "Ubuntu 24.04" from the Start menu and create your Linux user and password.
3. Check that it runs as WSL 2: wsl -l -v should show VERSION 2.

Step 2: Install the system packages

Install all runtime libraries in one go, before running the Aspherix installer. In the Ubuntu terminal:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y 
sudo apt install -y   libgl1 libglx0 libegl1 libopengl0 libgl1-mesa-dri libxcb-glx0 \  libxkbcommon0 libxkbcommon-x11-0 \  libxcb-cursor0 libxcb-xinerama0 libxcb-xkb1 libxcb-render-util0 \  libxcb-shape0 libxcb-randr0 libxcb-image0 libxcb-keysyms1 \  libxcb-icccm4 libxcb-util1 \  libsm6 libice6 \  openmpi-bin

What the groups are for:

Step 3: Install Aspherix (solver + GUI)

Copy installer and license file to your home directory on Ubuntu (e.g., by using Windows Explorer or by using the command below):

cp /mnt/c/Users/<windows-user>/Downloads/Installer-Aspherix_Linux_7.1.0 ~/ cp /mnt/c/Users/<windows-user>/Downloads/<license-file> ~/ 
cd ~ 

Then make the installer executable & launch it:

chmod +x Installer-Aspherix_Linux_7.1.0./Installer-Aspherix_Linux_7.1.0

1. Follow the installer and select solver, GUI and calibration. Also make sure not to unselect the third party tools (Paraview & Ovito) which are selected by default.
2. Point the installer to the license file when asked.
3. Close the terminal and open a new one if you added aspherix to the path.
4. Start the GUI with aspherix-gui or directly using its full path.
5. Copy & run a first tutorial, check the results in the GUI, in Paraview & in Ovito.