Updating WSL broke the installation

[hhalaby]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22631.3007]

WSL Version

2.0.14.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.15.133.1-1

Distro Version

Ubuntu 22.04

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

I am not sure that these steps will reproduce the error as I can't test it anymore

• Ran wsl.exe --update from PowerShell. I had temporary admin rights when I ran this command
• Run WSL after update, some errors reported on terminal but things were running correctly and errors no longer produced in subsequent terminals. (did not bother to log these errors unfortunately)
• Restart computer with admin rights disabled.
• WSL does not start

Expected Behavior

WSL starts correctly after update

Actual Behavior

Failed to attach disk 'C:\Program Files\WSL\system.vhd' to WSL2: The system cannot find the file specified.
Error code: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/CreateVm/MountVhd/HCS/ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND

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

Diagnostic Logs

I checked the registry for this key:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss and the versions there are older than the ones I get in the terminal using wsl.exe --version .
Registry vs Terminal Versions:

(Default)               REG_SZ      (value not set)
GraphicsVersion         REG_SZ      1.0.27          ==> 1.0.59 (terminal)
KernelVersion           REG_SZ      5.10.102.1      ==> 5.15.133.1-1 (terminal)
NatGatewaylpAddress     REG_SZ      192.168.48.1
NatNetwork              REG_SZ      192.168.48.0/20
RollbackKernelVersion   REG_SZ      5.10.16
SystemDistro            REG_SZ      C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\WSL\system.vhd
VirtioFsClassld         REG_SZ      {DF380B4F-9282-46B6-AAAB-E94BDD7EC5BB}

Copying the file system.vhd from C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\WSL\system.vhd to C:\Program Files\WSL\system.vhd allows WSL to start again normally but I feel like this is a really dirty solution and I don't know what will happen when I update again.

[github-actions]

Hi I'm an AI powered bot that finds similar issues based off the issue title.

Please view the issues below to see if they solve your problem, and if the issue describes your problem please consider closing this one and thumbs upping the other issue to help us prioritize it. Thank you!

Open similar issues:

• Can't Install WSL - Tried All Fixes Posted Here (#3504), similarity score: 0.87

Closed similar issues:

• WSL broke after Windows update (#10831), similarity score: 0.87
• wsl install fail (#4747), similarity score: 0.86
• WSL stopped working now reinstall failing (#10760), similarity score: 0.86
• Cannot install WSL (#8054), similarity score: 0.86

Note: You can give me feedback by thumbs upping or thumbs downing this comment.

[hhalaby]

• Can't Install WSL - Tried All Fixes Posted Here (#3504), similarity score: 0.87

It seems like this issue is similar to mine but I have provided more information than the other, I feel like the other could be closed.

All the rest are not the same

• WSL broke after Windows update (#10831), similarity score: 0.87
• wsl install fail (#4747), similarity score: 0.86
• WSL stopped working now reinstall failing (#10760), similarity score: 0.86
• Cannot install WSL (#8054), similarity score: 0.86

[hhalaby]

• I followed the steps here to solve the issue. Once I completely uninstalled WSL,
• I installed Ubuntu 22.04 again from the store, upgraded through the terminal from 2.0.9.0 to 2.0.14.0 and a similar error occurred, WSL was not able to find the system.vhd file.
• I uninstalled completely again, installed through the terminal using wsl --install, updated again and the error didn't appear

[OneBlue]

Closing since the issue is resolved.

[hhalaby]

@OneBlue I don't think reinstalling the kernel from scratch without understanding why it happens can be considered a solution to close the issue

[erSitzt]

@OneBlue same issue here after updating to 2.0.14

please reopen this is not solved, that is a hacky workaround

[bestis]

Hit the same. So there's something that corrupts/removes system.vhd and does not replace it.

What I did to fix mine, was downloaded the .msi from latest release and second mouse click on the MSI selected "Repair".

That #12585 sounds the issue, but found this first, so also commenting here for others finding this first.