WSLv2 Support with updated Windows github-hosted runners

[alisonlhart]

Tool name

WSL

Tool license

Windows proprietary feature

Add or update?

• [X] Add
• [ ] Update

Desired version

2

Approximate size

No response

Brief description of tool

WSL is a built-in Windows feature allowing linux usage on Windows, and WSLv2 has significant upgrades and functionality from v1. WSLv2 requires nested virtualization, which github-hosted Windows runner images now have since the move to Dadsv5 in Jan 2024 (see here). This appears to be for all runners, standard included. This request is to enable WSLv2 as default on Windows Server 2022 runners, or add capability to use WSLv2 (as mentioned in #5920).

URL for tool's homepage

No response

Provide a basic test case to validate the tool's functionality.

No response

Platforms where you need the tool

• [ ] Azure DevOps
• [X] GitHub Actions

Runner images where you need the tool

• [ ] Ubuntu 20.04
• [ ] Ubuntu 22.04
• [ ] Ubuntu 24.04
• [ ] macOS 12
• [ ] macOS 13
• [ ] macOS 13 Arm64
• [ ] macOS 14
• [ ] macOS 14 Arm64
• [ ] Windows Server 2019
• [X] Windows Server 2022

Can this tool be installed during the build?

WSLv2 cannot be enabled during the build if WSLv1 is the default, since enabling a different version of WSL requires a reboot.

Tool installation time in runtime

No response

Are you willing to submit a PR?

No response

[RaviAkshintala]

Hi @alisonlhart Thank you for bringing this issue to us. We are looking into this issue and will update you on this issue after investigating.