The preview version of WSL in the Microsoft Store does not work with wsl2-ssh-pageant

[DavidZidar]

Version

10.0.22000.194

WSL Version

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.10.60.1

Distro Version

Debian 11

Other Software

wsl2-ssh-pageant v1.3.0

Repro Steps

1. Install WSL preview from Microsoft Store
2. Try to use wsl2-ssh-pageant with a Yubikey

Expected Behavior

It should still be working, just like before.

Actual Behavior

I am not authorized by the SSH key in my Yubikey, SSH is asking me for my password.

If I uninstall the Microsoft Store WSL it all starts working again.

Diagnostic Logs

No response

[DavidZidar]

I would have reported this issue to wsl2-ssh-pageant, but WSL is the only thing that has changed.

[benhillis]

@DavidZidar - I would suggest also posting the issue there, might be more actionable from that side.

[DavidZidar]

@benhillis Alright, I posted an issue there too.

[benhillis]

Thanks @DavidZidar! I'll keep on eye on that issue, in theory things shouldn't be any different but we'll see!

[tobiaskohlbau]

@benhillis I've found the underlying issue. The WSL installed through the Microsoft Store does not allow to run windows executables from within the linux filesystem anymore.

See:

tobias@DESKTOP-FSD244A ~ [255]> ~/.ssh/wsl2-ssh-pageant.exe
/home/tobias/.ssh/wsl2-ssh-pageant.exe: Invalid argument

Moving it into the windows filesystem and trying the same again works without a hassle.

Edit:

Just to double check that it's not related to any internals of go or the program itself. I've copied the notepad.exe from windows to wsl and tried to execute it. The results are the same:

cp /mnt/c/Windows/System32/notepad.exe .
tobias@DESKTOP-FSD244A ~/.ssh> ./notepad.exe
./notepad.exe: Invalid argument
                               ⏎

Note the disturbed newline and spaces, that's in the output not a wrong copy from my side.

[tobiaskohlbau]

Another thing I noticed is that in the context of wsl2-ssh-pageant it launches a new windows terminal showing the launch of it and closing after it's done (The executable is a short lived tasked one). It did not do that on the non store version.

Totally makes sense to show this window as the executable was not compiled with -ldflags -H=windowsgui. Recompiling it with that flag removes the short flash of the terminal window. IMHO this is expected but did not happen on the non store version.

[DavidZidar]

Just to confirm, the issue on my system was the same, that the Windows-binary was in the Linux filesystem.

[benhillis]

Thanks guys, that's very helpful. I'm debugging this now.

[benhillis]

I've sorted out the issue and have a fix in testing.

[DavidZidar]

Awesome, that's quick work! Thanks @benhillis and @tobiaskohlbau!

[benhillis]

Fixed with https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/releases/tag/0.48.1.