Usage from WSL

On WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), elevation and root are different concepts. root allows full administration of WSL but not the Windows system. Use WSL's native su or sudo to gain root access. To get admin privilege on the Windows box you need to elevate the WSL.EXE process. gsudo allows that (a UAC popup will appear).

On WSL bash, prepend gsudo to elevate WSL commands or gsudo -d for CMD commands.

# elevate default shell
PC:~$ gsudo 

# run elevated WSL command
PC:~$ gsudo mkdir /mnt/c/Windows/MyFolder

# run elevated Windows command
PC:~$ gsudo -d notepad C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc/hosts
PC:~$ gsudo -d "notepad C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts"
PC:~$ gsudo -d "echo 127.0.0.1 www.MyWeb.com >> %windir%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts"

# test for gsudo and command success
retval=$?;
if [ $retval -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Success";
elif [ $retval -eq $((999 % 256)) ]; then # gsudo failure exit code (999) is read as 231 on wsl (999 mod 256)
    echo "gsudo failed to elevate!";
else
    echo "Command failed with exit code $retval";
fi;