Windows and WSL Setup

Meridian runs from a Unix-like terminal. On Windows, use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and run Meridian inside the Linux environment.

Native PowerShell, Command Prompt, Git Bash, and Cygwin are not the recommended path for Meridian. WSL gives you the same shell, SSH, and filesystem behavior as Linux, which matches the rest of the documentation.

Install WSL

Open PowerShell as Administrator and install WSL:

wsl --install

Restart if prompted, then open the installed Linux distribution from the Start menu.

Ubuntu is the safest default because Meridian targets Debian and Ubuntu servers, and most examples use apt package names. If you already have Debian installed in WSL, that works too.

Check that WSL is using version 2:

wsl --list --verbose

If your distribution shows version 1, convert it:

wsl --set-version Ubuntu 2

Prepare the WSL shell

Inside the WSL terminal, update packages and install basic tools:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y curl openssh-client ca-certificates

Install Meridian:

curl -sSf https://getmeridian.org/install.sh | bash

Restart the WSL terminal or reload your shell profile if meridian is not found immediately:

exec "$SHELL" -l

Verify the install:

meridian --version

Set up SSH keys

Meridian connects from WSL to your VPS over SSH. Generate the key inside WSL:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "meridian-wsl"

Copy the public key:

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Add that public key to your VPS provider or to the server user’s ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.

Test SSH before running Meridian:

ssh root@198.51.100.10

If your VPS uses a non-root user, test that user instead and pass it to deploy:

meridian deploy 198.51.100.10 --user ubuntu

Use an SSH agent

If your key has a passphrase, start an agent inside WSL:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Add those commands to ~/.profile or ~/.bashrc only if you understand the security tradeoff. Starting the agent manually is fine for most first deployments.

Avoid mixing Windows and WSL SSH agents while getting started. Keep the key and agent inside WSL until deployment works.

Run Meridian from WSL

Run the normal deployment flow from the WSL terminal:

meridian deploy

Or provide the server IP directly:

meridian deploy 198.51.100.10

Meridian stores credentials under ~/.config/meridian/ inside WSL. Run follow-up commands from the same WSL distribution so it can find the cached server credentials:

meridian client add alice
meridian client list
meridian test 198.51.100.10

VS Code Remote WSL

If you use VS Code, install the “WSL” extension and open the Meridian workspace from WSL:

code .

Files edited through Remote WSL live in the Linux filesystem, which avoids path and permission issues. Prefer a path under your WSL home directory, such as ~/projects, instead of editing Meridian state or SSH keys through /mnt/c/.

Common gotchas

The wizard appears to skip a prompt

Some interactive terminal prompts can behave differently under WSL. If the deploy wizard does not accept input as expected, provide values explicitly:

meridian deploy 198.51.100.10 --sni www.cloudflare.com

You can also check the server first:

meridian check 198.51.100.10

Permission denied over SSH

Confirm the key exists in WSL, not only in Windows:

ls -la ~/.ssh
ssh -v root@198.51.100.10

The private key should be readable only by your WSL user:

chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Meridian was installed but the command is missing

Reload your shell:

exec "$SHELL" -l

If it still is not found, check common uv and local binary paths:

ls ~/.local/bin

Add ~/.local/bin to your shell profile if needed:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
exec "$SHELL" -l

Windows paths cause permission problems

Keep SSH keys, Meridian credentials, and project files in the WSL filesystem:

cd ~
mkdir -p projects

Avoid storing ~/.ssh or ~/.config/meridian under /mnt/c/. Windows-mounted paths can have different permissions, which SSH rejects.

Next steps

• Getting Started — deploy your first server
• Installation — CLI install options
• Troubleshooting — common deployment and connection issues