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WSL Troubleshooting Guide When You Can Not Access to WSL2 From Terminal

WSL Windows
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Here is a troubleshooting guide for when you suddenly become unable to access WSL. This issue often occurs when using Docker Desktop in combination with WSL.

Problem: WSL Fails to Start

When attempting to run WSL, the following error appears:

[process exited with code 4294967295 (0xffffffff)]
You can now close this terminal with Ctrl+D, or press Enter to restart.
The Windows Subsystem for Linux instance has terminated.
Error code: Wsl/Service/0x80072745

[process exited with code 4294967295 (0xffffffff)]
You can now close this terminal with Ctrl+D, or press Enter to restart.

Diagnosis Steps

  1. Check WSL status:

    wsl --status

  2. Shut down all WSL instances:

    wsl --shutdown

  3. List installed WSL distributions and their states:

    wsl -l -v

  4. Terminate specific distributions if needed:

    wsl --terminate Ubuntu-24.04

  5. Check the WSL service status:

    Get-Service LxssManager | Select-Object Name, Status, StartType

    ℹ️ If this service is not found, it indicates WSL components aren’t correctly installed.

  6. Verify WSL feature installation:

    dism.exe /online /get-featureinfo /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

    ⚠️ This requires administrator privileges.

Solution

If you encounter error code 0x80072745 or if the LxssManager service is missing, follow these steps:

  1. Open PowerShell or Command Prompt as Administrator (right-click and select “Run as Administrator”)

  2. Enable required Windows features:

    dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

  3. Restart your computer

  4. After restart, update WSL (as Administrator):

    wsl --update

  5. Try launching WSL again

Additional Troubleshooting

If issues persist:

  • Reset WSL:

    wsl --unregister <distro-name>

    Then reinstall the distribution from the Microsoft Store.

  • Update Windows: Ensure your Windows is up to date as WSL updates are often delivered through Windows Update.

  • Check for conflicting software: Some antivirus or firewall software might block WSL operations.