`windows-2025` does not have WSL installed

[Vampire]

Description

windows-2025 - while docs still stating that WSLv1 is available - does not have WSL installed at all.

If you do wsl --status, you get

The Windows Subsystem for Linux is not installed. You can install by running 'wsl.exe --install'.
For more information please visit https://aka.ms/wslinstall

If you do wsl --version, you get

Windows Subsystem for Linux must be updated to the latest version to proceed. You can update by running 'wsl.exe --update'.
For more information please visit https://aka.ms/wslinstall

Press any key to install Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Press CTRL-C or close this window to cancel.
This prompt will time out in 60 seconds.

If you do wsl --update it installs WSL 2.3.26 and then says there is no update.
With wsl --install --no-dsitribution you could do the same.

I assume the step to install WSL is missing for the new image.

Maybe also #10563 could be done alongside or will automatically be there then too?

Platforms affected

• Azure DevOps
• GitHub Actions - Standard Runners
• GitHub Actions - Larger Runners

Runner images affected

• Ubuntu 20.04
• Ubuntu 22.04
• Ubuntu 24.04
• macOS 12
• macOS 13
• macOS 13 Arm64
• macOS 14
• macOS 14 Arm64
• macOS 15
• macOS 15 Arm64
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2025

Image version and build link

20241215.1.0

Is it regression?

Regression to windows-2022

Expected behavior

WSL is installed

Actual behavior

WSL is not installed

Repro steps

wsl --status

[hemanthmanga]

Hi @Vampire, Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We are looking into this issue and will update you on this issue after investigating.

[kishorekumar-anchala]

Hi @Vampire - Could you check with latest rollout 20250105.1 and confirm on this . Thank you for your support !

[Vampire]

As you can see
at https://github.com/Vampire/setup-wsl/actions/runs/12643525119/job/35229773000 which uses 20241215.1.0
vs. https://github.com/Vampire/setup-wsl/actions/runs/12662422387/job/35289360188 which uses 20250105.1.0,
indeed now WSL is installed.

But now you get Unexpected error attempting to determine if executable file exists 'C:\Users\runneradmin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wsl.EXE': Error: EACCES: permission denied, stat 'C:\Users\runneradmin\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wsl.EXE' on each wsl call.

The reason is described at Vampire/setup-wsl#67 (comment).

For some reason these links are not accessible when they are checked for existence.
My work-around when doing the install or update in the action was to delete that link.
But I hoped when the image already has WSL installed those files would not be inaccessible.

[lakshminarayana02]

Hi
we are checking it.

[lakshminarayana02]

Hi
we observed that this issue has been fixed and requesting you to check it now.

[Vampire]

In which runner image version?
20250120.2.0 still has the problem: https://github.com/Vampire/setup-wsl/actions/runs/12980422502/job/36197531820#step:3:10

[lakshminarayana02]

Hi
We verified that WSL is up to date in our image, and our investigation revealed no issues on the WSL side.
getting updates from https://github.com/microsoft/WSL