How would I move the ext4.vhdx from my C drive to a different drive?

[Alex (xela-nosretap)]

My C drive is getting a bit full, I'd like to move the nearly 40 GB that my Debian distro is taking up on my C drive and move it to a different drive with a bit more space on it.

[Douglas (NotTheDr01ds)]

From PowerShell (normal user, not Administrator):

# Modify variables below as needed/desired
$WSL_ROOT="D:\WSL"
$WSL_IMAGE_PATH="${WSL_ROOT}\images"
$WSL_OLD_DISTRO_NAME="Debian"
$WSL_NEW_DISTRO_NAME="Debian_WSL2"
$WSL_INSTANCE_PATH="${WSL_ROOT}\instances\${WSL_NEW_DISTRO_NAME"

mkdir $WSL_IMAGE_PATH
mkdir $WSL_INSTANCE_PATH

# Create a backup/export of the existing Debian in `D:\WSL\images\Debian.backup.tar`
wsl --shutdown
wsl --export $WSL_OLD_DISTRO_NAME "${WSL_IMAGE_PATH}\${WSL_OLD_DISTRO_NAME}.backup.tar"

# Import that backup into the new location/distribution:
wsl --import $WSL_NEW_DISTRO_NAME $WSL_INSTANCE_PATH "${WSL_IMAGE_PATH}\${WSL_OLD_DISTRO_NAME}.backup.tar" --version 2

# Start the new distro:
wsl ~ -d $WSL_NEW_DISTRO_NAME

From inside the new Debian distro:

sudo -e /etc/wsl.conf
# Yes, you are already root, but `sudo -e` is just a fairly safe way to invoke the default editor regardless of distribution

Add the following:

[user]
default=<your_normal_username>

Save and exit the editor

exit the shell/WSL.

Back in the same PowerShell session (so all the variables are still intact):

wsl --terminate $WSL_NEW_DISTRO_NAME
wsl --set-default $WSL_NEW_DISTRO_NAME
wsl ~

You should now be running as your normal user in the new Debian location.

To confirm, wsl.exe -l -v should show that the new distro is running, and the old one is not. Additionally, from PowerShell:

Get-ChildItem HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss\ | ForEach-Object { (Get-ItemProperty $_.PSPATH) | Select-Object DistributionName,BasePath }

... will show the installed distributions and their locations.

After confirming that everything is working properly:

Warning: This is a destructive and unrecoverable operation

$WSL_OLD_DISTRO_NAME="Debian"
wsl --unregister $WSL_OLD_DISTRO_NAME

You can also uninstall the Debian app from the Store as well, but I personally recommend keeping it around. Having it still installed means that you can quickly spin up a new Debian to "test something out" with:

debian.exe

Set the username/password, sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y, and you have a fresh, clean installation that you can install something in to test, then:

wsl --unregister Debian

to throw it away.

[Lars The (lars18th)]

Exporting and Importing is not a "MOVE" action. 👎

[Lars The (lars18th)]

Hi,

We know how to export the distribution and how to then move it to another drive and registrer it again. However, this method is error prone. Why? Because a lot of circunstances can fail in the exporting procedure. Futhermore, the registering again can produce some troubles.

So, why not provide a simple and direct method to a simple move command? Like wsl --move-to E:\wsl-store\ Debian.
This process will be a simple copy of the "debian.vhdx" file to the destination folder. Plus the changes on the registry (aka HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss\). If this will be native supported by the official tool, then the users could store the files in any location without effort.

So, please consider it.

[xoxo (go-xoxo)]

It's as simple as shutting down the WSL distro, moving the ext4.vhdx file, and changing the BasePath to the new directory. There's no need to export, import, or unregister. However, a --move command that performs these steps would be a nice addition. Fiddling with the registry is always a bit delicate.

[Lars The (lars18th)]

Hi xoxo (@go-xoxo) ,

It's as simple as shutting down the WSL distro, moving the ext4.vhdx file, and changing the BasePath to the new directory. There's no need to export, import, or unregister. However, a --move command that performs these steps would be a nice addition. Fiddling with the registry is always a bit delicate.

The "BasePath" is stored in the Registry. So the only method to move the ext4.vhdx file is editing the info inside the registry. Therefore, I hope the developers will add the method wsl --move-to BasePath distribution. This is a must-have! 🤔