Can I run Ubuntu, WSL2, or a Linux VM on my Windows VPS?

What this is#

The short answer: no, and it's a physics-of-virtualization no, not a policy one. Your Windows VPS is itself a virtual machine (running on Hyper-V), and nested virtualization, a VM inside a VM, isn't supported on our platform. Everything on this list needs exactly that, so none of it will run on a Windows VPS:

• the Hyper-V role itself,
• VirtualBox and VMware Workstation,
• WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux version 2, which is a lightweight VM under the hood, wsl --install will end in a virtualization error),
• Docker Desktop (it requires WSL2 or Hyper-V).

The installers mostly fail with messages about virtualization support or hypervisor errors, that's this page.

What you're actually after, and what works#

"I want a Linux machine." Then have one, a Linux VPS is a real separate machine, starting at $5/month, which is almost certainly less than the RAM you'd have sacrificed carving a VM out of your Windows plan. Run both side by side, each OS on hardware-level footing, managed from the same account, and connected to each other over the network like any two servers.

"I just want Linux command-line tools on the Windows box." Two honest options: WSL1, the older translation-layer version of WSL, is not a VM and doesn't need nested virtualization, wsl --install with the distro, then wsl --set-version <distro> 1 (or set version 1 as default first), gives you bash, ssh, grep, and friends for light use, with WSL1's known limits (no systemd, slower file I/O across worlds, some software incompatible). Or skip WSL entirely: Git for Windows bundles bash and the common Unix tools, and PowerShell covers more ground than people expect.

"I want to run containers." Docker's Linux containers belong on a Linux host: a Linux VPS runs Docker natively, no Desktop app, no VM layer, full performance. (Windows containers, the niche Windows-image kind, also rely on virtualization features unavailable here.)

"I want to test another OS." A second small VPS is the honest lab bench, deploy, experiment, reinstall or cancel when done.

Why this limitation exists#

Hardware virtualization extensions don't pass through to guests by default, and enabling nested virtualization trades away stability and performance isolation on shared hosts, so we don't. The same answer applies on Linux VPS and Premium VPS: no nested hypervisors anywhere on the platform. The practical pattern is always the same, one VPS per operating system, which is also how they perform best.

Still need help?#

You can open a support ticket. So we can help on the first reply, it's worth mentioning:

• the VPS hostname or IP,
• what you tried to run (WSL2, a VM, Docker Desktop),
• what you're ultimately after, so we can point you at the setup that works.

Related questions#

• "Why does WSL2 fail to install on my Windows VPS?"
• "Can I run VirtualBox or Hyper-V on my VPS?"
• "Why doesn't Docker Desktop work on my Windows VPS?"
• "How do I get Linux tools on Windows Server without WSL2?"
• "Can I run Windows and Linux on the same VPS?"