Install WSL manually

Download wsl.2.6.1.0.x64 1.msi, install it and run as administrator :

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux -NoRestart 
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -NoRestart

Download Ubuntu release : https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04.3/ubuntu-24.04.3-wsl-amd64.wsl

Install it in a personal (user) folder

wsl --import Ubuntu <InstallFolder> <WSLFile.wsl>

In order to start a root shell just type

wsl

You can now install the needed packages for your activities, create a user …

apt update
apt install comparepdf
apt install xmlstarlet
groupadd sylvain
useradd -s /bin/bash -m -c "sylvain" -g sylvain sylvain

• Windows’s file are accessible from Linux in the /mnt/c folder
• Linux files are accessible from Windows using the \\wsl$ folder