Getting `sshfs` working on WSL or finding an alternative

So I have a workaround that you might like. I installed SFTP Net Drive 2017 and then remotely connected to the file system I wanted. I mapped it (via the GUI) as R:\. From WSL, you can then map R:\ to a local folder as explained here.

So in WSL, I have a folder in my home directory called cluster. To mount it to be my local home from my cluster, I run:

sudo mount -t drvfs R: ~/cluster

and to unmount it, I run

umount ~/cluster

for convenience, I made an alias called mc, sourced it from my .bashrc

alias mc="sudo umount ~/cluster; sudo mount -t drvfs R: ~/cluster"

I hope this helps!

Since I asked this question, Microsoft has released WSL 2 in its Insiders Preview ring. Since this provides a full Linux kernel to WSL, no more workarounds are necessary to get SSHFS to work.

Update: WSL 2 is now publicly available as of Windows version 2004. Have fun!