Connect to WSL fails when trying from SSH REMOTE on MACOS

[junior1q94]

Type: Bug

• Connect to a windows PC using SSH Remote
• Try to connect to WSL using normal entry points

Based on the release notes, it should works on vscode 1.89

The WSL logs look like this:
[2024-05-11 04:40:53.722] Extension version: 0.88.2
[2024-05-11 04:40:53.722] L10N bundle: undefined
[2024-05-11 04:40:53.724] authorityHierarchy: ssh-remote+192.168.1.102
[2024-05-11 04:40:53.724] WSL extension is activating remotely for ssh-remote+192.168.1.102
[2024-05-11 04:40:53.765] Workspace platform is Windows
[2024-05-11 04:40:53.794] Run: C:\WINDOWS\System32\wsl.exe --status
[2024-05-11 04:40:53.841] WSL feature installed: false (wsl --status)
[2024-05-11 04:40:53.841] WSL feature installed: false
[2024-05-11 04:45:30.668] Run: C:\WINDOWS\System32\wsl.exe --list --verbose
[2024-05-11 04:45:30.763] Error: Failed to run wsl.exe --list --verbose: error code 1, error: The file cannot be accessed by the system.
[2024-05-11 04:46:41.267] Run: C:\WINDOWS\System32\wsl.exe --list --online

Extension version: 0.88.2
VS Code version: Code 1.89.1 (dc96b837cf6bb4af9cd736aa3af08cf8279f7685, 2024-05-07T05:14:24.611Z)
OS version: Darwin x64 23.4.0
Modes:
Remote OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8850H CPU @ 2.60GHz (12 x 2600)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: disabled_off direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled
Load (avg)	2, 2, 2
Memory (System)	32.00GB (2.95GB free)
Process Argv
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Item	Value
Remote	SSH: 192.168.1.102
OS	Windows_NT x64 10.0.22631
CPUs	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor (16 x 3600)
Memory (System)	31.91GB (20.58GB free)
VM	0%

[lukas-lang]

I am experiencing a similar issue (i.e. same behavior & error message). Only difference is that I am using a Windows Client to SSH into the remote computer

[junior1q94]

I was able to work around the issue by upgrading the WSL to the pre release version using the next command:
wsl --update --pre-release

Before that, I recommend to backup your installed distributions, for example to backup Ubuntu:
wsl --export Ubuntu "C:\WSL_backups\ubuntubackup.tar"

To see your installed distributions names:
wsl --list

To restore backup:
wsl --import Ubuntu "C:\WSLDistros" "C:\WSL_backups\ubuntubackup.tar"

Note: It seems the WSL from the store is source of the issue.

[bamurtaugh]

Thanks folks for the discussion. It sounds like this was an issue upstream with WSL potentially rather than VS Code Remote, so I'll close this out. If you are still experiencing issues with VS Code though, please let us know, and happy to reopen.