WSLC Rookery

A desktop GUI tool for managing WSL containers (wslc.exe) on a local machine — a big piece missing for wslc compared to other desktop container runtimes. A rookery is a penguin colony; this one lets you watch over your whole flock of WSL containers at a glance.

It's a single PowerShell 7 + WPF window that polls wslc.exe and shows your images, containers (with live stats), and volumes, with buttons for the common management actions.

Screenshots

Containers — live grid with per-container stats:

Images and Volumes:

Requirements

• Windows with the WSL container feature installed (wslc.exe on PATH, or at %ProgramFiles%\WSL\wslc.exe). WSL containers are currently available only as a public preview in the WSL pre-release build. Install/update it with:

  wsl.exe --update --pre-release

  See the WSL pre-release builds and the Get started with WSL containers tutorial.

• PowerShell 7 (pwsh).

Run it

Double-click Start-WslcRookery.cmd, or from a terminal:

pwsh -File .\WslcRookery.ps1

WPF needs an STA thread and pwsh 7 has no -STA switch, so the script hosts its window on a dedicated STA runspace automatically. No extra flags needed.

Add -Demo to fill the grids with synthetic placeholder data (no real wslc calls) — handy for screenshots and docs:

pwsh -File .\WslcRookery.ps1 -Demo

Features

• Containers tab — live grid (auto-refresh every 3s) joining wslc container list --all

  • With wslc stats: Name · Status · Image · CPU% · Mem% · Mem usage · Net I/O · Block I/O · PIDs · Container ID · Created
  • Actions: Start · Stop · Kill · Remove · Logs · Inspect · Prune stopped

• Images tab — Repository · Tag · Image ID · Size · Created

  • Actions: Remove (rmi) · Inspect · Prune unused

• Volumes tab — Name · Driver.

  • Actions: Remove · Inspect · Prune unused

• Toolbar:

  • Refresh now button and an Auto-refresh (3s) toggle.

• Status bar shows object counts, last refresh time, and any wslc error.

• Destructive actions (kill/remove/prune) ask for confirmation.

• Logs and Inspect open a scrollable text popup.

How it works

• All data comes from wslc <cmd> --format json, parsed with ConvertFrom-Json.
• A background runspace does the polling so the UI never blocks; a DispatcherTimer copies the latest snapshot into the grids.
• Container status is derived from the JSON State field (1=created, 2=running, 3=exited); use Inspect for authoritative detail.

Files

File	Purpose
WslcRookery.ps1	The whole app (data layer + WPF UI + STA bootstrap).
Start-WslcRookery.cmd	Double-click launcher; runs pwsh through headless conhost so only the WPF window is visible.
WslcRookery.ico	Window / taskbar icon (used by the app at runtime).
docs/WSLC Rookery Logo.png	Logo shown in the README and the About dialog.

Limitations

• Read + basic lifecycle management only. No build/run/create/exec/pull/push, networks, or registries (use the wslc CLI for those).
• wslc is an evolving tool; flags/output may change. If a column shows blank or an action fails, check the status bar / the popup error text.

Contributing

This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit https://cla.opensource.microsoft.com.

When you submit a pull request, a CLA bot will automatically determine whether you need to provide a CLA and decorate the PR appropriately (e.g., status check, comment). Simply follow the instructions provided by the bot. You will only need to do this once across all repos using our CLA.

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or contact opencode@microsoft.com with any additional questions or comments.

Trademarks

This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines. Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos is subject to those third-parties' policies.

Disclaimer

This is an informal, community tool. It is not an official Microsoft product and is not covered by Microsoft support. See SUPPORT.md.

License

Licensed under the MIT License.