microsoft
WSL2 Mirrored Mode - No Interfaces except LOCALHOST
Windows Version
Windows 11 GAC 23H2 (cmd.exe /c ver reports Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22631.5335]?)
WSL Version
0.0.0.0
Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?
- [x] WSL 2
- [ ] WSL 1
Kernel Version
5.15.167.4-1
Distro Version
Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS; Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 9.5 (Plow)
Other Software
WSL version: 2.4.13.0 Kernel version: 5.15.167.4-1 WSLg version: 1.0.65 MSRDC version: 1.2.5716 Direct3D version: 1.611.1-81528511 DXCore version: 10.0.26100.1-240331-1435.ge-release Windows version: 10.0.22631.5335
When I start WSL.exe with "networkMode=mirrored", only the loopback interface is created. (Running wsl-vpnkit, the wsltap interface is also created, but fails since it cannot reach the network.)
Per #10650, I have tried it with "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters" set to 0xFF (default on our laptops), and set to 0x20. After terminating the distros and shutting down and restarting WSL.exe, the problem recurs on both distros (Ubuntu, RHEL).
I have verified that "Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security" is off (corporate policy).
Per #12399, I ran a webserver on Windows. It is accessible from Windows at http://127.0.0.1:8100. It is not accessible from either distro at any of the addresses configured on loopback: 0.0.0.0, 127.0.0.1, or 10.255.255.254.
Per #12632, Does not seem to be relevant, but does mention wsl-vpnkit. I believe the wsl-vpnkit issue is a symptom, not a cause.
Repro Steps
From windows: wsl.exe --terminate -D RHEL91 wsl.exe --shutdown (make config changes) wsl.exe -d RHEL91 date Inside RHEL91:
$ ip addr show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet 10.255.255.254/32 brd 10.255.255.254 scope global lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
973: wsltap: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000
$ ip route show
$
In addition, the linux NetworkManager tools (nmtui, nmcli) do not see any links, so you cannot "Activate A Connection".
Additionally, running with networkMode=nat is not fully working. That mode worked fine last week. Corporate installed updates in the last week, but I do not know which ones. (I tried mirrored mode since nat mode only shows eth0, does not set a default route, and has connectivity problems to some networks. That's an issue for another day!)
Expected Behavior
I expect ip link show to have 3 interfaces: loopback, eth0, and wsltap. I expect a subnet limited route on eth0, and a default route on eth0.
Actual Behavior
$ ip addr show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet 10.255.255.254/32 brd 10.255.255.254 scope global lo
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
973: wsltap: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000
Diagnostic Logs
.wslconfig:
[wsl2]
autoProxy=false
guiApplications=true
[experimental]
autoMemoryReclaim=gradual
networkingMode=mirrored
``
Network logs will be incomplete. WSL distros are not installed for my Admin account, and it does not have internet access. I ran it as my ordinary user account.
[WslNetworkingLogs-2025-05-15_11-34-33.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/20231014/WslNetworkingLogs-2025-05-15_11-34-33.zip)
