WSL failed to update itself on Build 26100.560 with error code: Wsl/CallMsi/Install/E_UNEXPECTED

[Aster-the-Med-Stu]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26100.560]

WSL Version

Not applicable

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

No response

Distro Version

No response

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

1. Type wsl in PowerShell prompt.
2. The error code appears.

Expected Behavior

Instead of bringing up error code, wsl shall upgrade itself without problems.

Actual Behavior

> wsl
WSL is finishing an upgrade...
Catastrophic failure
Error code: Wsl/CallMsi/Install/E_UNEXPECTED

Tried manually upgrade with https://wslstorestorage.blob.core.windows.net/wslblob/wsl_update_x64.msi, failed immediately with error "This update only applies to machines with the Windows Subsystem for Linux". Tried disabling-and-reenabling Virtual Machine Platform and Windows Subsystem for Linux but the problem persists.

Diagnostic Logs

WslLogs-2024-06-09_20-48-36.zip

[github-actions]

View similar issues

Please view the issues below to see if they solve your problem, and if the issue describes your problem please consider closing this one and thumbs upping the other issue to help us prioritize it!

Open similar issues:

• Windows Insider Preview update causes WSL to fail to run and prevents reinstallation [Version 10.0.26100.1] (#11495), similarity score: 0.81
• WSL --update fails with unknown error code (0x80240066) (#9039), similarity score: 0.79

Closed similar issues:

• Can't update WSL2 (#10527), similarity score: 0.81
• install wsl catastrophic failure (#11311), similarity score: 0.79
• Error code: Wsl/InstallDistro/E_UNEXPECTED (#9545), similarity score: 0.79

Note: You can give me feedback by thumbs upping or thumbs downing this comment.

Diagnostic information

.wslconfig found
Detected appx version: 2.1.5.0
Detected user visible error: Wsl/CallMsi/Install/E_UNEXPECTED

[github-actions]

View similar issues

Please view the issues below to see if they solve your problem, and if the issue describes your problem please consider closing this one and thumbs upping the other issue to help us prioritize it!

Open similar issues:

• Windows Insider Preview update causes WSL to fail to run and prevents reinstallation [Version 10.0.26100.1] (#11495), similarity score: 0.81
• WSL --update fails with unknown error code (0x80240066) (#9039), similarity score: 0.79

Closed similar issues:

• Can't update WSL2 (#10527), similarity score: 0.81
• install wsl catastrophic failure (#11311), similarity score: 0.79
• Error code: Wsl/InstallDistro/E_UNEXPECTED (#9545), similarity score: 0.79

Note: You can give me feedback by thumbs upping or thumbs downing this comment.

Diagnostic information

.wslconfig found
Detected appx version: 2.1.5.0
Detected user visible error: Wsl/CallMsi/Install/E_UNEXPECTED

[OATEF4313]

نسخة ويندوز

مايكروسوفت ويندوز [الإصدار 10.0.26100.560]

نسخة وسل

غير قابل للتطبيق

هل تستخدم WSL 1 أو WSL 2؟

• دبليو إس إل 2
• دبليو إس إل 1

إصدار النواة

لا يوجد رد

نسخة التوزيعة

لا يوجد رد

برامج أخرى

لا يوجد رد

خطوات إعادة الإنتاج

1. اكتب wsl في موجه PowerShell.
2. يظهر رمز الخطأ.

سلوك متوقع

بدلاً من إظهار رمز الخطأ، يجب على wsl ترقية نفسه دون مشاكل.

السلوك الفعلي

> wsl
WSL is finishing an upgrade...
Catastrophic failure
Error code: Wsl/CallMsi/Install/E_UNEXPECTED

تمت محاولة الترقية يدويًا باستخدام https://wslstorestorage.blob.core.windows.net/wslblob/wsl_update_x64.msi ، وفشلت على الفور مع ظهور الخطأ "ينطبق هذا التحديث فقط على الأجهزة التي تعمل بنظام Windows الفرعي لنظام التشغيل Linux". حاولت تعطيل وإعادة تمكين Virtual Machine Platform ونظام Windows الفرعي لنظام التشغيل Linux ولكن المشكلة لا تزال قائمة.

سجلات التشخيص

WslLogs-2024-06-09_20-48-36.zip

نعم

[Aster-the-Med-Stu]

I apologize for bringing up this old GitHub issue, but it appears there haven’t been updates for some time. Any insights or progress on this specific problem?

[WJelvin]

Hi, I had this exact error message and problem after upgrading Windows 10 to 11, but I think I fixed it today. After two days of trying to uninstall/install/update in every possible manner, including a manual update of the kernel, I decided to try removing as much of WSL as possible to see if it worked before formatting. I'm not sure if a specific action led to it working or if it was a combination of actions.

This is what I did:

1. Ran: dism.exe /online /disable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /norestart
2. Killed all WSL processes that were running.
3. Deleted the folder and the contents of %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\MicrosoftCorporationII.WindowsSubsystemForLinux_8wekyb3d8bbwe
   and
   C:\Program Files\WSL
4. Uninstalled all distributions I had installed from the Windows Store.
5. Rebooted
6. Ran wsl --install without a Catastrophic failure, but the installation of Ubuntu failed (Sorry, I didn't note the error message or code but it wasn't Catastrophic failure Error code: Wsl/CallMsi/Install/E_UNEXPECTED).
7. Installed Ubuntu 24.04 from the Store, which runs fine, and wsl --version now reports correctly.

WSL version: 2.2.4.0
Kernel version: 5.15.153.1-2
WSLg version: 1.0.61
MSRDC version: 1.2.5326
Direct3D version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore version: 10.0.26091.1-240325-1447.ge-release
Windows version: 10.0.22631.3737

Please note that this was a hail mary on my part, and I suppose it could have messed something up just as easily..

[Aster-the-Med-Stu]

WJelvin Confirmed your method works but I tweaked a bit on my own.

1. Win+X A to open an admin terminal
2. Copy-paste the following:

DISM.EXE /online /disable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /norestart
Stop-Service WSLService
Get-ChildItem -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\MicrosoftCorporationII.WindowsSubsystemForLinux_8wekyb3d8bbwe" -Recurse | Remove-Item -Force
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Program Files\WSL" -Recurse | Remove-Item -Force
wsl --update
# Or if you are located in China and hard to access GitHub
# Grab latest release at https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/releases
# With your favorite mirror

For your installed distro you need to backup your original install by temporarily copy/rename data folder located at %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Packages. For example, Ubuntu2204 looks like CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu22.04LTS_79rhkp1fndgsc. I renamed it with a _BK suffix, reinitiate the install by relaunch Ubuntu 22.04 LTS from start menu, then wsl --shutdown and move everything back.