catastriric failure while wsl --install -d Ubuntu

Question

windows subsystem for linux -> while running wsl --install -d Ubuntu
I got cataristic failure although i had enabled the virtual machine
instead I try to manually download and run it but i also face this

Answer 1

Hello,

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

Based on your description, this could be caused by a variety of reasons. Here are some steps to fix this problem:

1. Confirm system requirements and updates

Make sure your Windows version supports WSL. WSL2 requires Windows 10 version 1903 and above or Windows 11. You can check your Windows version with the winver command.

Update Windows to the latest version. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update to check and install any available updates.

2. Enable WSL and Virtual Machine Platform

Although you said that the Virtual Machine Platform is already enabled, please confirm again:

Open PowerShell (Run as Administrator), enter the following command and press Enter to execute: dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

Next, enable the "Virtual Machine Platform" feature:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

After completing the above steps, restart your computer. This is a very important step because many system-level changes require a restart to take effect.

3. Install WSL:

After restarting, try to install Ubuntu again: wsl --install -d Ubuntu

If you still encounter problems using the wsl --install command directly, you can try to manually install Ubuntu or other Linux distributions through the Microsoft Store.

4. Check BIOS/UEFI settings:

If the problem persists, your BIOS/UEFI settings may limit virtualization technology (VT-x or AMD-V). Restart your computer, enter the BIOS setup (usually press F2, F10, Del, etc. at startup, depending on your computer model), and then make sure the following options are enabled:

Intel CPU: Intel Virtual Technology (VT-x) or Virtualization Technology (Vt-x)

AMD CPU: SVM Mode (Secure Virtual Machine Mode) or AMD-V

After saving the settings and exiting BIOS, try to install WSL again.

I hope the information above is helpful.

Best Regards,

Yanhong Liu

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