Windows Sandbox Script

I'm planning on putting together a script to configure Windows Sandbox to my needs in this repository.

Attempt 1

script.ps1 & run.bat

For starters, some reading:

• https://www.thomasmaurer.ch/2019/05/how-to-configure-windows-sandbox/
• https://winaero.com/blog/enable-windows-10-sandbox-powershell-dism/
• https://winaero.com/blog/enable-windows-sandbox-in-windows-10-home/

Unfortunately I ran into the

Version v4.0.30319 of the .NET Framework is not installed and it is required to run version 3 of Windows PowerShell. error when trying to run PowerShell in Windows Sandbox.

Someone in the comments of the first link above suggests uninstalling KB4495620 on the host to make PowerShell work in the Sandbox.

I do see it in get-hotfix.

It is a fix for the DOS issues in .NET framework uncovered recently: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4495620/may-14-2019-kb4495620-cumulative-update-for-net-framework

I am not going to uninstall it from the host so I need to find another way to make PowerShell work or to use a C# script (using dotnet-script) instead.

Attempt 2

net.bat

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/thank-you/dotnet-sdk-2.2.300-windows-x64-installer

https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/0d4f13a2-dd2f-4259-852e-58763d9ef303/cacb9821c492242072b0927dcb5808f5/dotnet-sdk-2.2.300-win-x64.exe

bitsadmin.exe /transfer "Download .NET Core" http://….exe C:\….exe

Looks like the installer cannot be run from the command prompt, it is not an MSI so msiexec /i won't work and I have not found a way to install the .NET Core SDK without PowerShell or Chocolatey (which requires PowerShell).

https://gunnarpeipman.com/net/dotnet-core-windows-sandbox/

Exploring WSB Starter File

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-Kernel-Internals/Windows-Sandbox-Config-Files/ba-p/354902

The user account in the Sandbox is WDAGUtilityAccount.

• VGpu
  • Disable means to use WARP - DirectX software renderer
  • Default means to use vGPU - virtualized hardware renderer
• Networking: Disable & Default (virtual switch on the host connected to using virtual NIC on the guest)
• MappedFolders: mapped to C:\Users\WDAGUtilityAccount\Desktop
  • MappedFolder
    • HostFolder: host path
    • ReadOnly: true or false
• LogonCommand:
  • Command: a simple script inline or a path to a script file or an executable

Examples:

• open-host-downloads-in-guest.wsb
• install-vs-code.wsb
  • Close Explorer opened after VS Code installer - installer switch or automation command
  • Pin VS Code to taskbar
  • Close the command prompt after the installer has completed

To-Do

Figure out how to auto-hide taskbar

Figure out how to pin to the taskbar

https://stackoverflow.com/a/46593836/2715716 & https://stackoverflow.com/a/9074483/2715716

Figure out how to show file name extensions

Figure out how to install SQLite