RF Swift on Windows

RF Swift runs on Windows 10 and 11 (x64 and arm64) with one installer that sets up everything it needs under a single administrator prompt. You then use rfswift.exe in any terminal, the RF Swift Console, or the Workbench.

How it works, in short:

• Linux tools run inside WSL 2, the Linux virtual machine built into Windows.
• Containers run there through Docker Desktop or Podman Desktop; the Nix engine runs natively in a WSL 2 Linux distribution.
• USB radios are forwarded into WSL 2 with usbipd-win.
• Windows and sound come from WSLg, so GQRX, SDR++ and friends open on your desktop and play through your speakers.

Pick your engine

The installer asks which engine you want. All of them use the same commands and the same Workbench:

More on the trade-offs: Choose your engine.

Installing

Two installers ship with each release, for x64 and arm64:

The setup bundle’s options

• Repair tool: re-running the bundle on a machine that already has a piece skips it.
• Silent install: pass the engine as ContainerEngine=docker|podman|none|nix.

# MSI only, unattended
msiexec /i RFSwift-4.0.2-x64.msi /qn /norestart
msiexec /i RFSwift-4.0.2-x64.msi /qn ADDLOCAL=CliFeature       # CLI only
msiexec /i RFSwift-4.0.2-x64.msi /qn /l*v rfswift-install.log  # with a log

Manual route: install Docker Desktop in WSL 2 mode (or Podman Desktop), usbipd-win (winget install usbipd), and unzip rfswift_Windows_x86_64.zip from the releases somewhere on PATH.

USB passthrough (usbipd-win)

Docker Desktop and Podman run their containers inside the WSL 2 VM, which cannot see the host USB bus. RF Swift forwards your devices into it with usbipd-win.

• Administrator rights are needed only once per device: the first time a device is shared, RF Swift asks through a normal UAC prompt for usbipd.exe.
• Attaching and detaching never need elevation.

rfswift usb status                     # usbipd-win, WSL 2 distribution, shared devices
rfswift usb list                       # host devices with their usbipd state
rfswift usb attach                     # picker: shares (UAC, once) then attaches to WSL 2
rfswift usb attach --busid 2-3 --yes   # by bus ID; --yes allows the UAC prompt in scripts
rfswift container create -i sdr_light -n sdr_work    # sees /dev/bus/usb
rfswift usb detach --busid 2-3         # give the device back to Windows

• The picker comes to you: container create, container shell and env shell offer it when they detect shared or known RF hardware, and the Workbench exposes it as USB passthrough… on Docker, Podman and Nix missions.
• Safety: the picker warns before forwarding keyboard- or mouse-like devices, and names common RF hardware.
• One attach serves everything: a forwarded device is visible to every WSL 2 distribution, including Docker Desktop’s and the one hosting the Nix engine, because they share one kernel.
• Inside the container, /dev/bus/usb must be mapped and major 189 allowed (c 189:* rwm), both part of the defaults; privileged mode is not required. rfswift container create and the mission form check this before creating anything.

Sound and display (WSLg)

There is nothing to set up: no PulseAudio for Windows and no rfswift host audio enable.

• WSLg already runs an X11 server and a PulseAudio server for the WSL 2 VM.
• RF Swift mounts its /mnt/wslg tree into every container (also --no-x11 ones) with DISPLAY=:0 and PULSE_SERVER=unix:/mnt/wslg/PulseServer.
• GQRX, SDR++ and friends play through your Windows audio device.

If rfswift doctor cannot find the WSLg sockets, run wsl --update followed by wsl --shutdown.

The Nix engine on Windows

Nix has no Windows port, so RF Swift runs it inside a WSL 2 Linux distribution and drives it from Windows. You type the same commands in PowerShell or the RF Swift Console:

rfswift env wsl setup                                   # systemd, Nix (flakes), the Linux rfswift
rfswift env wsl status
rfswift container create --engine nix -i sdr_light -n lab   # served by the Linux rfswift inside WSL 2
rfswift env install gnuradioPackages.gr-foo --env lab
rfswift env udev lab                                    # device rules, no password prompt (WSL grants root)

Everything about it, including display resets, disk space and version alignment, is in the Nix engine guide.

Remote agent on Windows

Both roles work:

• Agent: rfswift agent certs init and rfswift agent serve TLS 1.3 + mTLS from rfswift.exe, with Credential Manager as the vault. Run the agent in a session of the same Windows user.
• Client: the Workbench connects to Linux, macOS or Windows agents.

See Remote agent.

Doctor

rfswift doctor on Windows reports:

• the container engine;
• the usbipd-win version, with connected, shared and attached device counts;
• the default WSL 2 distribution;
• the WSLg X11 and audio sockets (asked from WSL, not looked up on the Windows filesystem);
• the Nix engine’s WSL backend.

Related

• Choose your engine
• usb, winusb
• Workbench
• Known limits