WSL2 setup without Internet Connection Sharing(SharedAccess) service

user_14936487 0
Viewed 1027

For some reason, I cannot use Internet Connection Sharing (SharedAccess) service.

When I use WSL1, it works without ICS service, but I am unable to install WSL2 without ICS service. Installing WSL2 produces this error:

WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x803b002a
Internet connection sharing service (shared access) is disabled and cannot be started

Is 'ICS service' necessary for WSL2? Or is there any method for using it without ICS?

I used WSL2 without ICS 1~2 months ago. This problem appeared after some updates. And I guess that one of update makes the ICS necessary for WSL2.

https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/6646

wsl-2 windows-subsystem-for-linux windows
2 Answers

My windows version was (1909). I could use WSL2 successfully with (20H2).

user_149364870

WSL2 isn't actually WSL anymore. It's just a Linux virtual machine running on Hyper-V. They hide it well but that's all it is. And to get network access it has its own network interface, which uses Internet Connection Sharing to gain access to the networks the host sees.

If you cannot forward across a network interface with ICS (for example, some VPN clients prohibit it by policy) your best option is to run the Linux of your choice on VirtualBox. VirtualBox is different from all the others because its NAT driver runs in user mode on the host system instead of creating an interface.

user_197466670
Related