`--move` fails to update Registry

[tusharsnx]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26220.8544]

WSL Version

2.7.7.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

6.18.26.1-1

Distro Version

Ubuntu 24.04

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

Move the distro to a new location:

wsl --manage ubuntu-wp --move 'C:/wsl/ubuntu-wp'

Expected Behavior

The move operation succeeds and the distro is moved.

Actual Behavior

The move operation fails with the following message:

Access is denied.
Error code: Wsl/Service/MoveDistro/E_ACCESSDENIED

The distro's VHD is moved successfully, but the operation fails and the BasePath in Registry still points to the old location. Manually updating the BasePath makes the distro work from the new location.

Diagnostic Logs

No response

[github-actions]

Logs are required for review from WSL team

If this a feature request, please reply with '/feature'. If this is a question, reply with '/question'.
Otherwise, please attach logs by following the instructions below, your issue will not be reviewed unless they are added. These logs will help us understand what is going on in your machine.

How to collect WSL logs

Download and execute collect-wsl-logs.ps1 in an administrative powershell prompt:

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WSL/master/diagnostics/collect-wsl-logs.ps1" -OutFile collect-wsl-logs.ps1
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
.\collect-wsl-logs.ps1

The script will output the path of the log file once done.

If this is a networking issue, please use .\collect-wsl-logs.ps1 -LogProfile networking instead, following the instructions in Collect WSL logs for networking issues

Once completed please upload the output files to this GitHub issue.

See Collect WSL logs (recommended method).

If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching them to the bug, please send them to wsl-gh-logs@microsoft.com with the GitHub issue number in the subject, and include a link to your GitHub issue comment in the message body, and reply with '/emailed-logs'.

[tusharsnx]

WslLogs-2026-06-05_21-44-01.tar.gz

[github-actions]

The log file doesn't contain any WSL traces. Please make sure that you reproduced the issue while the log collection was running.

Diagnostic information

.wslconfig found
Detected appx version: 2.7.7.0
Found no WSL traces in the logs

[tusharsnx]

WslLogs-2026-06-05_21-53-54.tar.gz

[github-actions]

Diagnostic information

.wslconfig found
Detected appx version: 2.7.7.0
Detected user visible error: Wsl/Service/MoveDistro/E_ACCESSDENIED