Could not access starting directory \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home error 0x8007010b

Windows Build Number

Version 10.0.19041.985

WSL Version

WSL 2
WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.4.72

Distro Version

20.04

Other Software

Visual Studio Code 1.51.1 connected to Ubuntu

Repro Steps

opening ubuntu on windows terminal preview

Expected Behavior

access to wsl

Actual Behavior

[error 0x8007010b when launching `wsl.exe -d Ubuntu']
Could not access starting directory "//wsl$/Ubuntu/home/SAGRI"

Diagnostic Logs

No response

similar problem on 18.04:

I was able to solve this by going into the windows terminal settings, going to the ubuntu profile, and ticking the "Use parent process directory" box. No idea why that worked. It's also worth noting that this occurred to me right after a reboot.

Just to reiterate, I was having the same issue. This is specific to terminal right now. Running just wsl.exe on powershell works fine and ticking the "Use parent process directory" box in terminal settings seems to have fixed it for me too.

I was able to solve this by going into the windows terminal settings, going to the ubuntu profile, and ticking the "Use parent process directory" box. No idea why that worked. It's also worth noting that this occurred to me right after a reboot.

Perfect, just had the same issue and the above worked for me - either run in cmd prompt or tick the above setting. Lifesaver!!

I have several WSL distributions, need to tick this for all of them if using Windows Terminal. Must have been some sneaky stealth update last night?

Edit again: This seems to happen if you have a custom startup directory - I did since I don't want to start my Linux in the windows %USERPROFILE% every time. However, If I tick the box, then untick and set the "\\wsl$\Ubuntu\blahblah\home" path to my home directory manually again it all works as before, and I start up in the correct (Linux) home dir.

Edit again: This seems to happen if you have a custom startup directory - I did since I don't want to start my Linux in the windows %USERPROFILE% every time. However, If I tick the box, then untick and set the "\wsl$\Ubuntu\blahblah\home" path to my home directory manually again it all works as before, and I start up in the correct (Linux) home dir.

Thanks. This worked for me.

I added a few lines to my .zshrc/.bashrc that references my %USERPROFILE% variable. If we end up there, navigate to where we want the default to be instead. Replace ~ with your desired start directory.

if [[ $(pwd) == /mnt/c/Users/mostlikely-your-pc-name ]]
then
    cd ~
fi

I had the same problem.
It seems that the directory path notation has changed from slash to backslash.
Before: //wsl$/linux-distro/home/user
After: \\wsl$\linux-distro\home\user

I had the same issue, ticking "Use parent process directory" indeed fixes the described error but starts my shell in /mnt/c/WINDOWS/system32 which I don't like. Manually setting it to:

//wsl$/Ubuntu-20.04/home/linuxUsername

Sets the start dir to my Linux user's home dir ~/ as it should be.

I was able to solve this by going into the windows terminal settings, going to the ubuntu profile, and ticking the "Use parent process directory" box. No idea why that worked. It's also worth noting that this occurred to me right after a reboot.

Thanks a lot, it did work for me.

I was able to solve this by going into the windows terminal settings, going to the ubuntu profile, and ticking the "Use parent process directory" box. No idea why that worked. It's also worth noting that this occurred to me right after a reboot.

Worked for me, but it started me on System32. Went back into settings and unchecked "User parent process directory". Loaded another tab and it is back to working normally as it did previously with the correct profile loaded.

Just go to Windows Terminal>Settings>Ubuntu and replace the starting directory field with Z:\home\username (replace Z: with whatever drive your WSL is mapped on and username with the relevant username/folder name).

Edit again: This seems to happen if you have a custom startup directory - I did since I don't want to start my Linux in the windows %USERPROFILE% every time. However, If I tick the box, then untick and set the "\wsl$\Ubuntu\blahblah\home" path to my home directory manually again it all works as before, and I start up in the correct (Linux) home dir.

Thanks. This worked for me.

I added a few lines to my .zshrc/.bashrc that references my %USERPROFILE% variable. If we end up there, navigate to where we want the default to be instead. Replace ~ with your desired start directory.
if [[ $(pwd) == /mnt/c/Users/mostlikely-your-pc-name ]]
then
    cd ~
fi

This one works for me, better to start at home directory.

I ticked "Use parent process directory" but left command line as wsl.exe ~ -d Debian and no further changes were required.

Thanks for the info

I was able to solve this by going into the windows terminal settings, going to the ubuntu profile, and ticking the "Use parent process directory" box. No idea why that worked. It's also worth noting that this occurred to me right after a reboot.

Just adding another voice here. Had the same problem and this worked for me.

Happy to help! Let me make sure that we don't have the version in our documentation that is busted. 😁

Something else I've noticed when using OSC9 codes is if I was on a WSL shell and ssh somewhere where I've configured my PS to use OSC9 also, is that when I kill Windows Terminal and it comes back, it remembers and it tries to cd into the path that only existed remotely, and so it errors.

I guess I need to disable OSC9 on remote shells on my setup. 🤔

Igor Nikiforov (@Kolobamanacas)

Igor Nikiforov (@Kolobamanacas) thanks again for pointing this one out; I fixed our documentation up in MicrosoftDocs/terminal#623 😄

Alan Fregtman (@darkvertex) Alas, that's one of the worst parts of this whole "working directory" thing. I wish we could restore remote working directories!

Yeha, startup directory works till you actually want to access the non-wsl filesystem,

\\\\wsl$\\Ubuntu-22.04\\mnt works but \\\\wsl$\\Ubuntu-22.04\\mnt\\c causes it to crash with [process exited with code 4294967295 (0xffffffff)]

No suggestions actually seem to work here, or anywhere.

There are so many threads, and no one in any of them has a solid answer to how to change the startup directory. Just piles of "try this" changes that don't actually work.

The docs should really be covering this.

I had the same problem. It seems that the directory path notation has changed from slash to backslash. Before: //wsl$/linux-distro/home/user After: \\wsl$\linux-distro\home\user

I also encountered the same problem. How did you finally solve it?

I installed Ubuntu as the host OS instead of windows, means I don't have to worry about the problem any more.

…

On Mon, 3 Apr 2023, 10:32 ligang, ***@***.***> wrote: I had the same problem. It seems that the directory path notation has changed from slash to backslash. Before: //wsl$/linux-distro/home/user After: \\wsl$\linux-distro\home\user I also encountered the same problem. How did you finally solve it? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#6995 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAA4SWMQZBLI3BUVV6ISQVLW7KKLDANCNFSM45SJMOSQ> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

Remove startingDirectory from Ubuntu WSL profile

The easiest way is to specify the starting directory using ~/.bashrc.

Just open Terminal and define your path:

echo cd /your/start/directory > ~/.bashrc

Then restart it and ejoy.

The easiest way is to specify the starting directory using ~/.bashrc.

Just open Terminal and define your path:
echo cd /your/start/directory > ~/.bashrc
Then restart it and ejoy.

Again, that will completely break the ability to open your terminal in any other starting directory than your homedir.
So that's not a good solution. And it'll potentially also break other tools/scripts that source bashrc.

i found one way to change starting directory for Ubuntu. first open Json file in settings, and then add this line:

"commandline": "wsl.exe --cd C:/Users/yourProfile -d Ubuntu-22.04"

Doesn't that again break the ability to "Open Terminal here" from the context menu of directories?

I had a similar problem.
I went to the settings.json file et it appears that the good and available Ubuntu had the parameter "hidden: true,".
I just turned it to false and everything went fine.

Hi, I'm trying to split pane in windows terminal from my WSL Ubuntu, and I'm getting:

[error 2147942667 (0x8007010b) when launching `ubuntu.exe']
Could not access starting directory "/home/rollschris"

Only happens when trying to split pane.

Anybody have any ideas?

Thans

Christopher Rollings (@RollsChris)

Christopher Rollings (@RollsChris) , here is what worked for me:

in .zshrc:

precmd() {
  print -Pn "\e]9;9;$PWD\e\\"
}

In Windows Terminal settings, configured these attributes as:

{
    "commandline": "wsl.exe -d Debian",
    "startingDirectory": "~",
}

Vectle (@VectleAgent)

(I have reported Vectle (@VectleAgent) and would encourage anybody else who they have spammed to do the same thing.)

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Could not access starting directory \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home error 0x8007010b #6995

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Could not access starting directory \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home error 0x8007010b #6995

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Windows Build Number

WSL Version

Kernel Version

Distro Version

Other Software

Repro Steps

Expected Behavior

Actual Behavior

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