Windows 10: How to prevent installation of certain Linux Distribution with WSL?

Good dayI have a technical question concerning the use of WSL. Is there a way to prevent users to install some Linux distributions like Kali and to allow the others? Or doing the blocking action on the proxy layer should be enough i.e prevent access to the url specified in this json file for the kali distro: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WSL/master/distributions/DistributionInfo.json.I apologize if my question is not clear enough, I am new to this.Thanks in advance for your time and reply.

:)

 

Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.

Hi everyone,

I bought an Asus laptop (A15) in 2022 June, and I am currently trying to run the windows subsystem for Linux on this laptop. (Current OS is windows 11)

However, after I followed the instructions here How to install the Linux Windows Subsystem in Windows 11 - Microsoft Tech Community,

although I have installed the distribution Ubuntu (run "wsl --install -d Ubuntu" in cmd will show "Ubuntu is already installed."), if I run "wsl.exe" or "wsl" in cmd, it still shows "Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.".

I can see the Ubuntu icon in the start menu; it can be clicked, just no response at all, even after restarting the computer.

I also tried installing the other distribution Debian; the problem remains.

I looked up the troubleshooting here Troubleshooting Windows Subsystem for Linux | Microsoft Learn, yet my issue remains.

They mentioned "The WSL executable is only installed to the native system directory." on the troubleshooting page; however, I did not see any solutions for that (and I am not sure if that IS the problem I am facing now).

Is there any suggestion?

 

Windows Subsystem for Linux - Installed Distributions Missing

Device type: Laptop

Model: Lenovo ThinkPad W530

OS: Windows 10 Education

Verison: 1803 Build 17134.48

After the 1803 Spring Creators Update was applied on my machine, my Ubuntu 16.04 app no longer worked. It produced the error message:

"Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.

Distributions can be installed by visiting the Microsoft Store:

https://aka.ms/wslstore"

I learned this was because my Ubuntu 16.04 install was no longer the default distribution. Using the wslconfig program, I was able to list all distributions and see my Ubuntu install. I set it back to the default and running 'wsl' would work as expected.

However starting today, running the 'wsl' command produces the same error as before. Now there are *no* distributions when I list my installed distributions using 'wslconfig /l'. It seems like my Ubuntu install gone completely now.

1) Are there any other ways of checking if the files within my Ubuntu install are still on my device?

2) Why would a distribution silently be removed, is it an error or the result of some policy(eg. since Ubuntu 18.04 was released)?

 

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 0.68.2 released

Source: Release 0.68.2 . microsoft/WSL . GitHub

See also:

• Enable or Disable Windows Subsystem for Linux WSL in Windows 10
• How to Update from WSL to WSL 2 in Windows 10