wsl update needs admin privileges ?

Question

I was updating wsl today using wsl --update command. I was running this as a non-admin user from command terminal. When I was prompted to enter admin password, I closed the pop up without entering the password. But wsl update command continued and successfully updated wsl version. So I am wondering whether admin privilege is really needed ?

Answer 1

Hi there Manju

Thats a good question and thanks for posting on QandA platform

In general, updating Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) using the wsl --update command should not require admin privileges. The wsl --update command is typically used to check for updates to the WSL components and install them if updates are available.

It's possible that the prompt for admin credentials you encountered was related to a different operation or system process running concurrently with the WSL update. Without entering the admin password, the WSL update command should still proceed and attempt to update the WSL components within the user's context.

If this helps kindly accept the answer thank smuch,