Troubleshooting WSL

When I run into issues with WSL and solve them, I add the problem & solution to this page. Notes may be sparse, I normally only care about what I need to copy/paste to get things up and running.

Problem: Signature errors while working with Azure libraries

While working with Azure libraries in WSL, you might see errors about signatures. Try the following.

Solution: Set ntpdate

Edit /etc/wsl.conf and modify the [boot] section as follows. If you do not see a [boot] section, simply create it, and if any of the options below are already present, do not repeat them:

## /etc/wsl.conf

...

[boot]
systemd=true
command="ntpdate ntp.ubuntu.com"

...

After modifying this file you will need to restart WSL. You can do this with wsl --shutdown, then re-launching your WSL distribution.

Problem: Ping doesn't work in WSL

When trying to run ping in a WSL distribution, you may see an error like this:

ping: socktype: SOCK_RAW
ping: socket: Operation not permitted
ping: => missing cap_net_raw+p capability or setuid?

The problem here is the line missing cap_net_raw+p capability.

Fix: Add cap_net_raw permission

In the WSL container, run this comand:

Add cap_net_raw capability to WSL distribution

sudo setcap cap_net_raw+p /bin/ping

Fix for all WSL2 distributions

To fix this for all distributions, you can modify the kernelCommandLine flag in the [wsl2] section of %USERPROFILE\.wslconfig.

## %USERPROFILE\.wslconfig

[wsl2]
kernelCommandLine = sysctl.net.ipv4.ping_group_range=\"0 2147483647\"

Problem: WSL is completely frozen

This happens sometimes when I'm using the VSCode remote extension to connect to a WSL distribution and the computer goes to sleep. WSL becomes completely responsive, ignoring all commands including wsl --shutdown.

Fix: Kill the wslservice.exe task

Kill wslservice.exe

taskkill /f /im wslservice.exe

Problem: Git is not working in WSL

When git is installed on both the Windows and WSL side, you will often run into errors, specifically around authentication.

Fix: Use Windows git credential manager in WSL

Run the following 2 commands, the first on the Windows side and the second in a WSL distribution.

Run on Windows host

git config --global credential.helper wincred

Run in WSL distribution

git config --global credential.helper "/mnt/c/Program\ Files/Git/mingw64/bin/git-credential-manager.exe

If your Git remote is Azuree DevOps, you also need to run:

Enable support for Azure DevOps repositories

git config --global credential.https://dev.azure.com.useHttpPath true