How to downgrade Wsl2 to wsl1?

Question

I'm using wsl 2 currently but it seems I can't run Ubuntu with it anymore. So I want to downgrade my wsl from 2 to 1

Solution 1

The method is described on Microsoft Site: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10

How to set your wsl instance version

1. First list your distribution

   C:\WINDOWS\system32>wsl --list
   Windows Subsystem for Linux Distributions:
   Ubuntu-18.04 (Default)
   

2. And then set it to version 1

   C:\Users\priv>wsl --set-version Ubuntu-18.04 1
   

But if your problem is your rootfs, you might need to reset your instance like matigo's answer suggested.

Solution 2

I do not believe you can downgrade, but you can completely reset WSL2 with a couple of commands:

0. Open Command Prompt
1. "Uninstall" WSL2:

   lxrun.exe /uninstall /full
   

2. Delete everything in AppData\Local\lxss*
3. Re-install WSL2:

   lxrun.exe /install
   

Alternatively, depending on which version of Windows you're using:

0. Open "Add/Remove Programs"
1. Find "Ubuntu" and access the advanced options
2. Choose from:
   • repair ⇢ attempts to fix any broken configuration files
   • reset ⇢ returns the installation to default (same as the process above)
   • terminate ⇢ kill the VM, darn the consequences
   • uninstall ⇢ remove WSL2 from the system

Comments

[Rinzwind]

The way you address this makes it a windows question: maintaining WSL is done from Windows tools. if you want to answer the reason for why you can not run Ubuntu find error(s) notice(s) and we can have a look at them In theory your problem could be hardware related and installing wsl1 might not be a fix.

[Hasti fallah]

Thanks a lot. I already reset my wsl but it didn't work for me.

[Hasti fallah]

Do you think it's because of my storage?my storage is full