Updated Windows Terminal and now Ubuntu won't load. process exited with code 4294967295 (0xffffffff)

Initially posted to the Unix \ linux stack exchange and was pointed here instead.

I recently updated Windows Terminal from 1.2.X to 1.12.X and the Ubuntu install refuses to run, giving the error [process exited with code 4294967295 (0xffffffff)]. The older Ubuntu-18.04 runs fine however.

Entry in settings

 { "guid": "{2c4de342-38b7-51cf-b940-2309a097f518}", "hidden": false, "name": "Ubuntu", "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl" }

Any ideas on this one?

Command line options tried

• C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsl.exe -d Ubuntu
• C:\Windows\system32\wsl.exe -d Ubuntu
• wsl.exe -d Ubuntu <- this copied from wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-18.04

3

3 Answers

This problem is detailed in the bug-report
Unable to launch WSL Ubuntu - The system cannot find the file specified. #12474.

The workaround there was to change the commandline to:

<path_to>/wsl.exe ~ -d Ubuntu.<Version>

5

Some things to try:

• First, delete the existing Ubuntu profile (back up settings.json if you want), exit Windows Terminal, and restart. Windows Terminal should detect the Ubuntu installation and recreate the profile automatically. See if the newly autogenerated one works.

If it doesn't:

• Start PowerShell and try from there:

  wsl -l -v # Sanity check the installations themselves
  wsl ~ -d Ubuntu
  wsl ~ -u root -d Ubuntu
  wsl ~ -d Ubuntu -e bash --noprofile --norc

  Does wsl -l -v show the correct profile? If so, do any of the other commands work? If the wsl ~ -d Ubuntu doesn't work but the other two do, then it's likely something in your bash startup config that is causing the issue.

If none of that helps:

• Was there any /etc/wsl.conf file in the Ubuntu instance? Did it have a Command= line by any chance that could be failing?

1

I had the same issue today and found that the drive letter of my disk had changed (to E:). Reverting it back (to D:) and rebooting helped resolve this wsl issue.

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