How to set up Ubuntu Pro for WSL and register WSL hosts to Landscape

See also: Ubuntu Pro for WSL documentation

This guide describes how to set up Ubuntu Pro for WSL and register new WSL hosts (Windows machines) to Landscape.

Contents:

• Check prerequisites
• Install and configure Ubuntu Pro for WSL
• Finalize the Windows machine registration
• (If necessary) Troubleshoot

Check prerequisites

To use the WSL-Landscape integration, you must have the following applications downloaded from the Microsoft Store:

• Windows Subsystem for Linux
• An Ubuntu application, such as Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

If you don’t want to download your Ubuntu image from the Microsoft Store, you can manually specify a different image source instead. See how to use a specific Ubuntu image source for WSL machines.

Also, you must have WSL 2 installed instead of WSL 1. If you’ve just now installed WSL from the Microsoft store, then you’ve installed WSL 2 and can proceed to the next steps. If you’ve previously installed WSL and aren’t sure if it’s WSL 1 or WSL 2, run wsl -l -v in Powershell or Command Prompt to get the version. If you have WSL 1, you need to upgrade to WSL 2. For more information, see Microsoft’s guide on upgrading from WSL 1 to WSL 2.

Install and configure Ubuntu Pro for WSL

There are two ways to configure Ubuntu Pro for WSL for Ubuntu Pro and Landscape: via the Ubuntu Pro for WSL GUI or the Windows Registry.

Using the GUI

From your Windows machine:

1. Install Ubuntu Pro for WSL from the Microsoft Store
2. Click Start when the installation is complete.
3. Click the arrow beside “Already have a token?”
4. Paste your Ubuntu Pro token in during the setup process and click Confirm. You can get your token from your Ubuntu Pro account dashboard.
   • If you don’t have an Ubuntu Pro subscription yet, register for a new Ubuntu Pro subscription to get a token. You can register up to 5 machines for free with the personal subscription option.

You’ll then have to complete your Landscape configuration. This can be done with either of the following options:

• For quick setups:
  • Select Quick Setup
  • Enter the FQDN of your server in the Landscape FQDN field
  • Click Continue
• For custom setups:
  • Select Custom Configuration
  • Enter the path for your client configuration file. For more information on the client configuration file, see Ubuntu Pro for WSL’s documentation on the client config or the following section in this guide.

Once Landscape is successfully configured, you’ll receive confirmation on the next page that your Ubuntu Pro subscription is active and you can close the Ubuntu Pro for WSL window.

Using the Windows Registry

From your Windows machine:

1. Install Ubuntu Pro for WSL from the Microsoft Store

2. Download Landscape Server’s public certificate and save it to your Windows machine. If you used the Landscape Quickstart installation, the auto-generated self-signed certificate can be found at /etc/ssl/certs/landscape_server.pem.

3. Open the Registry Editor in your Windows machine

   • To open the Registry Editor, either press the Windows key + R and type regedit or search “Registry Editor” in the taskbar and select it from the results.

4. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Canonical\UbuntuPro.

   • This key won’t exist until you’ve run Ubuntu Pro for WSL at least once. If you don’t run Ubuntu Pro for WSL, you’ll need to create the key and values yourself. For more information, see Microsoft’s documentation on Windows registry information for advanced users.

5. Open the UbuntuProToken key and add your Ubuntu Pro token with Right Click > Modify, then write your token in the Value data field. You can get your token from your Ubuntu Pro dashboard.

6. Open the LandscapeConfig key and add the following lines in the Value data field:

   [host]
   url = {HOST_URL:PORT}
   
   [client]
   account_name = {ACCOUNT_NAME}
   registration_key = {REGISTRATION_KEY}
   url = {CLIENT_URL}
   log_level = debug
   ping_url = {PING_URL}
   ssl_public_key = {SSL_CERT}
   

   Replace these values:

   • {HOST_URL:PORT}: The URL of your Landscape account (without https://) followed by a colon (:) and the port number. Port 6554 is the default for Landscape Quickstart installations. For example, landscape-server.domain.com:6554.
   • {ACCOUNT_NAME}: The Landscape account name this computer belongs to. This is located on your organisation’s home page in the Landscape web portal. For self-hosted Landscape accounts, the account name defaults to “standalone”.
   • {REGISTRATION_KEY}: An optional account-wide key used to register new clients. There is no key defined by default, but one can be set in your Landscape account settings. If you have a registration key, it’s located on your organisation’s home page in your Landscape web portal. If you don’t have a registration key, leave this field blank.
   • {CLIENT_URL}: The main URL for the Landscape Server to connect this client to. This defaults to the URL of your Landscape account suffixed with /message-system, although you may be using a different URL. For example, https://landscape-server.domain.com/message-system.
   • {PING_URL}: The ping URL you want this client to report to. This defaults to the URL of your Landscape account suffixed with /ping, although you may be using a different URL. For example, http://landscape-server.domain.com/ping. Your ping URL use HTTP (not HTTPS).
   • {SSL_CERT}: The location of Landscape Server’s public certificate on your Windows machine. If you saved the certificate to the user Downloads directory, this value would similar to C:\Users\user\Downloads\landscape_server.pem.

   Your final LandscapeConfig key should be similar to the following example:

   [host]
   url = landscape-server.domain.com:6554
   
   [client]
   account_name = standalone
   url = https://landscape-server.domain.com/message-system
   log_level = debug
   ping_url = http://landscape-server.domain.com/ping
   ssl_public_key = C:\Users\user\Downloads\landscape_server.pem
   

Finalize the Windows machine registration

To finish registering your WSL host to Landscape:

1. Log in to your Landscape web portal
2. Wait for your Windows machine to appear in your Landscape account. This can take a few minutes, and you may need to refresh the page.
3. Accept the pending computer
   • To accept it, tick the checkbox near its name, assign it to an access group, and click Accept

That’s it! Your Windows host machine is now registered in Landscape. To register WSL-Ubuntu instances, see how to register WSL instances.

(If necessary) Troubleshoot

See also: Ubuntu Pro for WSL’s logs

If your Windows host machine doesn’t appear as a pending computer in your Landscape account:

• Ensure you’re logged in to the same Landscape account that your WSL host is registering with

  You must be logged into the Landscape account associated your WSL host registration.

• Wait a few minutes and refresh your Landscape account

  The registration process won’t be immediate; it may take a few minutes. If you haven’t already, wait a few minutes and try refreshing the page to see if your Windows machine appears as a pending computer in your Landscape account.

• Check your LandscapeConfig key to ensure it has the correct information for your Landscape account

  You should check closely that the values in your LandscapeConfig registry key match your system’s configuration. In the [client] section, your url and ping_url values may be different than the defaults. Your ssl_public_key may also be stored in a different location.

• Check that the url in the [host] section of your LandscapeConfig key includes the port number (usually Port 6554) and doesn’t include https://

  Your [host] url value must include the port number and must be written without https://. The Landscape Quickstart installation uses Port 6554 by default, although your specific port may be different if you’ve changed the configuration. For example:

  [host]
  url = landscape-server.domain.com:6554
  

• Ensure your firewall settings are configured appropriately

  See also: Ubuntu Pro for WSL documentation on firewall requirements

  You may need to adjust your firewall settings to allow inbound and outbound traffic on Port 6554, or whichever port you’re routing traffic on if you’ve changed the port. Port 6554 is the default for landscape-server-quickstart installations.

• If your Landscape URL isn’t registered with a public or private DNS, you may need to register it or update your Windows Hosts file

  Your domain name won’t resolve if it’s not registered with DNS. If you plan to update your Windows Hosts file instead of registering the domain with DNS, it’s recommended that you proceed with extreme caution and consult Microsoft’s documentation first.

• If you’re using a registration key, ensure that the registration key in the LandscapeConfig key matches the registration key in your Landscape account

  If you’re using a registration key, the registration key you use in your LandscapeConfig key must match exactly with the registration key in your Landscape account. Your registration key can be found in the Account tab on the web portal.

• If you have auto-registration enabled, check if your Windows machine is already listed as a computer in your Landscape account

  Landscape has an auto-registration feature that allows you to register computers without manually approving each one. If you’re using a registration key and you have this feature enabled, your Windows machine won’t appear as a pending computer. Instead, it’ll auto-register and appear in your list of computers. For more information, see how to auto-register new computers.

• Check that your Ubuntu Pro token was applied correctly

  If you successfully completed the previous steps on activating Ubuntu Pro for WSL, your Ubuntu Pro token should be active. However, you can also check if it’s active in the Registry Editor. In HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Canonical\UbuntuPro, there should be a key titled UbuntuProToken with your token inside. If this isn’t there, you can add these values in to the Registry Editor, or you can re-do the previous steps on installing and activating Ubuntu Pro for WSL.

• Access the Ubuntu Pro for WSL logs

  If you’ve completed the previous troubleshooting steps and your Windows machine still doesn’t appear as a pending computer in Landscape, you should review the Ubuntu Pro for WSL logs. To access those logs, see Ubuntu Pro for WSL’s guide on how to access the logs.

  Landscape won’t have awareness of the Windows host machine until it’s a pending computer or auto-registered in your Landscape account. The Landscape logs won’t be helpful when troubleshooting this registration issue.