WSL will not start after recent update due to network error

[brettw1234]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22621.2792]

WSL Version

WSL version: 2.0.9.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.15.133.1-1

Distro Version

Ubuntu (unsure of version, cannot start WSL to verify)

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

This error happens when trying to start WSL. No additional steps are required. I have none of the Hyper-V Windows features enabled, but did confirm that Virtual Machine Platform is enabled.

Expected Behavior

I expect WSL start up without an error.

Actual Behavior

Failed to configure network (networkingMode Nat). To disable networking, set wsl2.networkingMode=None in C:\Users\brett.wslconfig
Error code: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/CreateVm/ConfigureNetworking/HNS/ERROR_UNHANDLED_EXCEPTION

Diagnostic Logs

I have a zip of the networking logs that I collected using the steps here but the file is too large (cap is 25MB and my zip is 27MB). Is there another place I can upload? Or can you share which of the files would be OK to remove? Looks like the largest file in there is logs.etl and the next largest is pktmon.etl.

[github-actions]

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[OneBlue]

@brettw1234: If the .zip file is too big, you can try to upload it OneDrive / Gdrive

[brettw1234]

@brettw1234: If the .zip file is too big, you can try to upload it OneDrive / Gdrive

Ok thanks - didn't know if you guys had issues using an external hosting platform. Here is a link to the logs for my issue.

[novice2194]

Hello, have you resolved this issue? I have also encountered the same problem.

[brettw1234]

Hello, have you resolved this issue? I have also encountered the same problem.

Nope. I've just disabled networking in order to continue using my WSL2 instances, but I would love to have the issue resolved!

[ACGNnsj]

Just disable all related features other than "Virtual Machine Platform".

[brettw1234]

I'm not sure if it this is related, but just a few weeks after reporting this issue the networking on my entire Windows install broke. The Windows DnsClient service refused to start due to an "Access Denied" error, and no amount of debugging got that working. I now have a new Windows install and everything seems to be working again.

[ACGNnsj]

I'm not sure if it this is related, but just a few weeks after reporting this issue the networking on my entire Windows install broke. The Windows DnsClient service refused to start due to an "Access Denied" error, and no amount of debugging got that working. I now have a new Windows install and everything seems to be working again.

I don't think so, the original problem was that the virtual switch cannot be created, which would not affect the host's network status. And reinstallation will always work for such problems.

[keith-horton]

Sorry - I missed this report. This is failng deep in virtual switch. As of the information we have I don't know what is causing the failure :(

I would recommend 2 things:

1. check to see if you have 'ghost' adapters and remove them
   ---> from Device Manager, click "View" --> "Show hidden device" --> refresh and expand "Network adapters" --> if there are any 'ghosted'/'hidden' adapters, uninstall them.
2. I would just remove vswitch completely and try reinstalling. this would mean removing all "HyperV" optional components, "Virtual Machine Platform" optional component, "Windows Sandbox" optional component, and "MDAG" or "Microsoft Device Application Guard" (all of these require vswitch)
   ---> if you do this, you'll of course need to backup any virtual machines that you have.

Hope this helps.

[MHamzaRajput]

I delete the file .wslconfig in C:\Users{USER_NAME} and WSL back into working state.