HTTP Server on WSL not accessible on W11

[MGX-CODING]

Version

Microsoft Windows [version 10.0.22000.1219]

WSL Version

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.10.16

Distro Version

Release: 20.04

Other Software

NodeJS          v16.11.1       # With NVM
NPM             8.0.0          # With NVM
@angular/cli    12.2.18        # NPM package

Repro Steps

• Install Node through NVM on the WSL (or through "normal" means)
• Select a folder of your choice
• Run npx @angular/cli@12.2.18 new testproj
• Wait for it to end
• Once finished, run cd testproj
• Run npm start

In a browser on Windows, go to http://localhost:4200

If page displays, no issue. If page not found, issue.

Expected Behavior

I would like to be able to access HTTP servers ran on WSL from my Windows OS.

Actual Behavior

I have to do major tweaks to make it work out of the box.

Diagnostic Logs

Up until 2 days ago, everything was working fine. I had no issue accessing the page.

But from nowhere, it started not working.

Now I have to run a custom script to create NAT/PAT/Firewall rules on Powershell :

  $remoteport = bash.exe -c "ifconfig eth0 | grep 'inet '"
  $found = $remoteport -match '\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}';

  if ( $found ) {
    $remoteport = $matches[0];
  }
  else {
    echo "The Script Exited, the ip address of WSL 2 cannot be found";
    exit;
  }

  #[Ports]

  #All the ports you want to forward separated by coma
  $ports = @(3000, 4200);


  #[Static ip]
  #You can change the addr to your ip config to listen to a specific address
  $addr = '0.0.0.0';
  $ports_a = $ports -join ",";


  #Remove Firewall Exception Rules
  iex "Remove-NetFireWallRule -DisplayName 'WSL 2 Firewall Unlock' ";

  #adding Exception Rules for inbound and outbound Rules
  iex "New-NetFireWallRule -DisplayName 'WSL 2 Firewall Unlock' -Direction Outbound -LocalPort $ports_a -Action Allow -Protocol TCP";
  iex "New-NetFireWallRule -DisplayName 'WSL 2 Firewall Unlock' -Direction Inbound -LocalPort $ports_a -Action Allow -Protocol TCP";

  for ( $i = 0; $i -lt $ports.length; $i++ ) {
    $port = $ports[$i];
    iex "netsh interface portproxy delete v4tov4 listenport=$port listenaddress=$addr";
    iex "netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=$port listenaddress=$addr connectport=$port connectaddress=$remoteport";
  }

And once this script is ran, I have to run the following command to make it work :

npm start -- --host=0.0.0.0

The issue started to appear really out of nowhere, the last WSL command I ran before getting the issue was

eval `ssh-agent`

Between the no issue and issue state, no update has been made, the computer or the WSL has not been restarted, it just happened out of the blue with no reason.

[MGX-CODING]

I should also state that I disabled fast startup without success, and I would like NOT to rewrite my hosts files, which seems to be kind-of-working solutions that I have found online.

Juste running the PS1 script mentioned above is already a pain in the ass, my computer having to restart everyday. And yes, I know I can create sort of a CRON task to run it, but the thing is, I shouldn't have to, since it was working 2 days prior.

[AbhinasRegmi]

May be you need to reset your port proxy. I faced similar problem of not being able to access my
django webserver from windows OS. I ran the following command and restarted my machine.
Everything worked fine afterwards. Run this in Powershell.
netsh interface portproxy reset

[MGX-CODING]

Hi, sorry for the late reply, been a busy week-end.

@AbhinasRegmi nope, did not work. Ran the command in Powershell, and restarted my WSL machine as well as my Windows machine, still getting the issue.

[MGX-CODING]

It's even worse now, I cannot access my app anymore, even with the PS1 script mentioned above. How do you revert this command ?

EDIT : OK nevermind I got it back by restarting the WSL machine again

[MGX-CODING]

Update : for some reason I started to work again after another restart of my computer.

I suspect your command did the trick @AbhinasRegmi, it just had to be restarted twice (don't ask me why because I absolutely have no idea ...)

Thank you for the trick anyways !