Offline install Ubuntu failing

[cryptonightly]

Windows Build Number

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro [Version 10,0,19043]

WSL Version

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

No response

Distro Version

Ubuntu 20.04

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

1. activate WSL
2. update kernel offline wsl_update_x64.msi
3. Install OS using pre downloaded package in admin Powershell Add-AppxPackage .\Ubuntu2004.2-2-.424.0_x64.appx

Expected Behavior

A working Ubuntu install

Actual Behavior

Trying to install Ubuntu 20.04 in WSL offline. So the system has no internet connectivity. First activated WSL, then installed the kernel update (wsl_update_x64.msi)
Downloaded the Ubuntu appx and copied it to the system. Install using Powershell as admin Add-AppxPackage .\Ubuntu2004.2-2-.424.0_x64.appx
Progress bar takes about 4 seconds. Ubuntu appears in startmenu but when I click nothing happens. When I right click to open as admin I get an popup Network Error message: Windows cannot access: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu2...\ubuntu2004.exe

Also tried renaming .appx to .zip and unpacking. When I try to run .\ubuntu2004.exe in Powershell I immediately get this message:
Installing, this may take a few minutes... WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x8000000d Error: 0x8000000d An illegal state change was requested Press any key to continue....

wsl -l gives me: no installed distributions. However wsl -l -v shows the follwoing:
Ubuntu-20.04 installing 2

Tried enabling and disabling wsl several times. Rebooting, updating Windows. Result is always the same. Also tried installing the Kali appx package but same result.

Diagnostic Logs

No response

[benhillis]

From the error messages it looks like we are attempting to unpack the distro. Did you wait a while to see if the install completes?

[cryptonightly]

From the error messages it looks like we are attempting to unpack the distro. Did you wait a while to see if the install completes?

Yes, even tried several hours later. Same result.

[shaysw]

From the error messages it looks like we are attempting to unpack the distro. Did you wait a while to see if the install completes?

Yes, even tried several hours later. Same result.
@cryptonightly
any news? having the exact same issue

[thesilas]

Any update on this? I'm experiencing the exact same issue. I also tried it with other distros and have the same result. The ubuntu2004.exe appears to be empty:

[briantist]

I am investigating a similar issue in a GitHub Action that installs WSL in a GitHub CI runner (Vampire/setup-wsl#17), and it looks like at some point, the executable name was changed from ubuntu2004.exe to ubuntu.exe, which I suspect is the root cause of this issue as well.

[EniacMlezi]

I'm running into this exact issue as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Biswa96]

As an alternative, rootfs tarball can be used from here https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/. For example, this is the direct link of 22.04 https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/22.04/release/ubuntu-22.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-wsl.rootfs.tar.gz

[xtendtech]

any luck.. i am also using win 11 build Version 10.0.22621 Build 22621.Same cant install any wsl linux images

I used this and downloaded and it worked But the other wsl still has issues..
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-install-ubuntu-2110-wsl-windows-10-and-11

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

This issue has been automatically closed since it has not had any activity for the past year. If you're still experiencing this issue please re-file this as a new issue or feature request.

Thank you!