LiMount

LiMount is a Windows desktop application that mounts Linux disk partitions into WSL2 and exposes them in Windows Explorer.
Windows access is now mode-based:

• NetworkLocation (default): creates an Explorer Network Location under NetHood.
• DriveLetterLegacy: maps UNC to a Windows drive letter.
• None: mount-only, with no Windows integration.

Built with C# WinUI 3 (.NET 10) and PowerShell.

Features

• Disk Enumeration: Detects physical disks and partitions using WMI
• Smart Filtering: Prioritizes likely Linux partitions (ext4, xfs, btrfs, etc.)
• Safety Checks: Blocks system/boot disks from mount workflows
• WSL2 Integration: Uses wsl --mount for Linux filesystem mounting
• Windows Access Modes:
  • NetworkLocation (default)
  • DriveLetterLegacy (explicit legacy mode)
  • None (no Windows-side access surface)
• Explorer Integration: Opens mounted paths directly in Explorer (mode-aware)
• Deterministic UI Tests: FlaUI automation with optional screenshot artifact capture

Requirements

System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows 10 (Build 19041+) or Windows 11 (Build 22000+ recommended)
• WSL: WSL2 installed and configured
  • Requires wsl --mount support (Windows 11 Build 22000+ or Microsoft Store WSL)
• PowerShell: Windows PowerShell 5.1 or later
• Privileges: Administrator access (for mount/unmount scripts)

Development Requirements

• .NET SDK 10.0.101+ (global.json pins 10.0.101 with rollForward: latestPatch)
• Visual Studio 2022 or Visual Studio Code (optional)

Project Structure

limount/
├── LiMount.sln
├── LiMount.Core/
│   ├── Interfaces/
│   │   ├── IMountOrchestrator.cs
│   │   ├── IUnmountOrchestrator.cs
│   │   ├── IWindowsAccessService.cs
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── ActiveMount.cs
│   │   ├── MountAndMapResult.cs
│   │   ├── UnmountAndUnmapResult.cs
│   │   ├── MountHistoryEntry.cs
│   │   ├── WindowsAccessRequest.cs
│   │   ├── WindowsAccessInfo.cs
│   │   └── ...
│   └── Services/
│       ├── MountOrchestrator.cs
│       ├── UnmountOrchestrator.cs
│       ├── MountStateService.cs
│       ├── Access/WindowsAccessService.cs
│       └── ...
├── LiMount.WinUI/
│   ├── ViewModels/
│   ├── Views/
│   ├── TestMode/
│   └── App.xaml.cs
├── LiMount.Tests/
├── LiMount.UITests/
└── scripts/
    ├── Mount-LinuxDiskCore.ps1
    ├── Unmount-LinuxDisk.ps1
    ├── Map-WSLShareToDrive.ps1
    ├── Unmap-DriveLetter.ps1
    └── network/
        ├── Create-NetworkLocation.ps1
        └── Remove-NetworkLocation.ps1

Build and Run

dotnet restore
dotnet build --configuration Release
dotnet run --project LiMount.WinUI

Automated Testing

Unit and service tests

dotnet test LiMount.Tests

Deterministic UI automation (FlaUI + test mode)

$env:LIMOUNT_RUN_UI_TESTS='1'
dotnet test LiMount.UITests
Remove-Item Env:\LIMOUNT_RUN_UI_TESTS

Optional screenshot capture:

$env:LIMOUNT_RUN_UI_TESTS='1'
$env:LIMOUNT_CAPTURE_SCREENSHOT='1'
dotnet test LiMount.UITests
Remove-Item Env:\LIMOUNT_RUN_UI_TESTS
Remove-Item Env:\LIMOUNT_CAPTURE_SCREENSHOT

Full deterministic screenshot batch:

$env:LIMOUNT_RUN_UI_TESTS='1'
$env:LIMOUNT_CAPTURE_SCREENSHOT_BATCH='1'
dotnet test LiMount.UITests --filter "FullyQualifiedName~ScreenshotBatchUiTests"
Remove-Item Env:\LIMOUNT_RUN_UI_TESTS
Remove-Item Env:\LIMOUNT_CAPTURE_SCREENSHOT_BATCH

Batch output:

• screenshots\ui-batch\<yyyyMMdd-HHmmss>\
• Deterministic files 01-main-initial.png through 12-main-after-wizard.png

Hardware-in-loop mount regression (real WSL + disk)

Expected-failure validation (unsupported XFS feature cases):

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\run-hil-mount-test.ps1 -DiskIndex 1 -Partition 2 -ExpectXfsUnsupported

Drive-level end-to-end validation (failure partition + success partition):

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\run-hil-mount-test.ps1 -DiskIndex 1 -VerifyDriveEndToEnd -FailurePartition 2

Usage

Basic Workflow

1. Launch LiMount and refresh disks.
2. Select a non-system disk and Linux partition.
3. Select filesystem type.
4. Choose Windows access mode:
   • NetworkLocation (default, no drive letter required)
   • DriveLetterLegacy (requires drive letter)
   • None (mount-only)
5. Click Mount and approve elevation.
6. Use Open in Explorer:
   • NetworkLocation: opens UNC/network location target
   • DriveLetterLegacy: opens <DriveLetter>:\
   • None: Explorer action is disabled
7. Click Unmount to clean up WSL and Windows access artifacts.

PowerShell Script Contracts

Mount-LinuxDiskCore.ps1 (Elevated)

Mounts a physical disk partition into WSL2 (wsl --mount) and returns key-value output including:

• STATUS
• DistroName
• MountPathLinux
• MountPathUNC
• AlreadyMounted
• UncVerified
• Optional diagnostics (ErrorCode, ErrorHint, DmesgSummary)

Create-NetworkLocation.ps1 (Non-Elevated)

Creates an Explorer Network Location under:

• %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts\<Name>\

Output keys:

• STATUS
• NetworkLocationName
• NetworkLocationPath
• TargetUNC

Remove-NetworkLocation.ps1 (Non-Elevated)

Removes the Network Location folder created under NetHood.

Output keys:

• STATUS
• NetworkLocationName

Map-WSLShareToDrive.ps1 / Unmap-DriveLetter.ps1 (Non-Elevated, legacy mode)

Used only when DriveLetterLegacy is selected.

Architecture Notes

• Orchestrator contracts are access-mode-first (IMountOrchestrator, IUnmountOrchestrator).
• IWindowsAccessService routes Windows integration by mode:
  • NetworkLocation -> NetHood scripts
  • DriveLetterLegacy -> drive mapping scripts
  • None -> no-op
• State and history are mode-aware:
  • ActiveMount tracks AccessMode, optional DriveLetter, optional NetworkLocationName
  • History/result models persist access metadata for restore and diagnostics
• Mount state reconciliation is mode-specific:
  • Drive-letter pruning applies to DriveLetterLegacy only
  • NetworkLocation/None entries are not pruned for missing drive letters

Known Limitations

• Single active mount UX: state can track multiple records, but main UI still presents a single active mount workflow.
• Windows 11 preferred: wsl --mount reliability/features are best on modern builds.
• Kernel compatibility limits: some XFS/ext feature sets may still be unsupported by the installed WSL kernel.
• No VM fallback yet: unsupported filesystem fallback to a Linux VM remains planned work.

Troubleshooting

"wsl --mount is not supported"

• Use Windows 11 Build 22000+ or Microsoft Store WSL.
• Run wsl --update.

XFS mount fails with Invalid argument

Check WSL kernel logs:

wsl -e sh -lc "dmesg | tail -n 200"

If you see unknown incompatible filesystem features, this is a kernel/filesystem compatibility issue.

Network Location not visible immediately

• Refresh Explorer (F5).
• Confirm NetHood path exists:
  • %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
• Verify UNC is reachable:
  • Test-Path \\wsl.localhost\<Distro>\mnt\wsl\PHYSICALDRIVEXpY

Legacy drive letter issues

• Legacy mode only: verify subst mappings:
  • subst
• Choose another free drive letter if conflict exists.

None mode cannot open Explorer

Expected behavior: None intentionally performs no Windows integration surface creation.

References

• WSL2 Disk Mounting Documentation
• WinUI 3 Documentation
• Windows Network Shortcuts (NetHood) behavior

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Built for the WSL community.