"DockerDesktop/Wsl/ExecError: c:\windows\system32\wsl.exe -d ubuntu..." after Windows update

[jamesdanielspassle]

Description

EDIT: This actually fixed itself after closing all Docker items in Task Manager and then restarting Docker Desktop.

running wsl distro proxy in Ubuntu distro: running proxy: running wslexec: An error occurred while running the command. DockerDesktop/Wsl/ExecError: c:\windows\system32\wsl.exe -d ubuntu -u root -e /mnt/wsl/docker-desktop/docker-desktop-user-distro proxy --distro-name ubuntu --docker-desktop-root /mnt/wsl/docker-desktop c:\program files\docker\docker\resources: exit status 1

This seems to happen occasionally when Windows installs updates. I turn on the computer as normal and Docker fails to start.

Each other occasion I've written the bug here but not found any success. I had to remove and reinstall Docker to get things working again. It's frustrating because I then have to dig out an old database back-up and have lost a few days/weeks of database updates.

Reproduce

Turn on computer and Docker starts automatically

Expected behavior

Docker should start up as normal with my Mongo database running

docker version

Client:
 Version:           28.3.3
 API version:       1.51
 Go version:        go1.24.5
 Git commit:        980b856
 Built:             Fri Jul 25 11:36:03 2025
 OS/Arch:           windows/amd64
 Context:           desktop-linux
request returned 500 Internal Server Error for API route and version http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2FdockerDesktopLinuxEngine/v1.51/version, check if the server supports the requested API version

docker info

Version:    28.3.3
 Context:    desktop-linux
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.9.11
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-ai.exe
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.27.0-desktop.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-buildx.exe
  cloud: Docker Cloud (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.4.21
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-cloud.exe
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v2.39.2-desktop.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-compose.exe
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.42
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-debug.exe
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-desktop.exe
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.31
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-extension.exe
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-init.exe
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.15.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-mcp.exe
  model: Docker Model Runner (EXPERIMENTAL) (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.1.39
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-model.exe
  offload: Docker Offload (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.4.18
    Path:     C:\Users\JamesDaniels\.docker\cli-plugins\docker-offload.exe
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sbom.exe
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.18.3
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-scout.exe

Server:
ERROR: request returned 500 Internal Server Error for API route and version http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2FdockerDesktopLinuxEngine/v1.51/info, check if the server supports the requested API version
errors pretty printing info

Diagnostics ID

A730E471-73BA-48D5-8A1D-30E2C4E51178/20250905061724

Additional Info

No response

[lingfeng126]

Same issue, make it work after removing /var/run/docker* and restarting docker desktop

[kwakuduahc1]

I have experienced that same problem after updating Docker Client with the error:

running wsl distro proxy in Ubuntu distro: running proxy: docker-desktop-user-distro proxy has not started after 4 minutes, killing it

My Docker version prints the following

 Version:           28.4.0
 API version:       1.51
 Go version:        go1.24.7
 Git commit:        d8eb465
 Built:             Wed Sep  3 20:59:40 2025
 OS/Arch:           windows/amd64
 Context:           desktop-linux
request returned 500 Internal Server Error for API route and version http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2FdockerDesktopLinuxEngine/v1.51/version, check if the server supports the requested API version