The specified service does not exist as an installed service.

[LarnuUK]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22631.3958]

WSL Version

2.3.17.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

No response

Distro Version

Ubuntu

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

Run wsl --install and the error is provided:

Ubuntu is already installed.
Launching Ubuntu...
Installing, this may take a few minutes...
WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80070424
Error: 0x80070424 The specified service does not exist as an installed service.

Alternatively, launch "Ubuntu" in the Windows Terminal gives:

Installing, this may take a few minutes...
WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80070424
Error: 0x80070424 The specified service does not exist as an installed service.

Press any key to continue...

Pressing any key then gives:

[process exited with code 1 (0x00000001)]
You can now close this terminal with Ctrl+D, or press Enter to restart.

Expected Behavior

Ubuntu is launched successfully

Actual Behavior

Ubuntu does not launch

Diagnostic Logs

WslLogs-2024-09-13_13-12-28.zip

I've read multiple existing other issues logged on this (linked at the end), none have worked. A non exhaustive list of things I've tried:

1. Uninstalled WSL and installed
2. Uninstalled WSL, Uninstalled Virtual Machine Platform, reinstalled both
3. Attempt a repair, however, WSL does not appear in Settings/Applications
4. Attempt to enble VMP from command line

   dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

5. Install WSL1.0 (with plans to upgrade to 2.0) but 1.0 failed too.

And a non-exhaustive list of other issues I've read:

1. WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80070424 #11233
2. WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80070424 #10623
3. WSL --install fails with "Error: 0x80070424 The specified service does not exist as an installed service" #10754
4. WSL stopped working now reinstall failing #10760

[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-networking-logs.ps1, following the instructions here

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

Click here for more info on logging
If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching to the bug, please send them to [email protected] with the number of the github issue in the subject, and in the message a link to your comment in the github issue and reply with '/emailed-logs'.

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:

• WSL --install fails with "Error: 0x80070424 The specified service does not exist as an installed service" (#10754), similarity score: 0.80
• WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80370102 (#7638), similarity score: 0.79

Closed similar issues:

• WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80070424 (#8446), similarity score: 0.81
• Persistent Error 0x80070426 with WSL on Windows 11 (#11656), similarity score: 0.80
• Error installing Ubuntu and Debian - WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80070426 Error: 0x80070426 The service has not been started. (#6191), similarity score: 0.80

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

[LarnuUK]

Logs added to initial comment.

[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

Issue was edited and new log file was found: https://github.com/user-attachments/files/16993675/WslLogs-2024-09-13_13-12-28.zip
Detected appx version: 2.3.17.0
Found no WSL traces in the logs

[LarnuUK]

Probably because WSL never actually starts up; those are the logs bot.

[ft-scobra]

Oh hey, I'm having the exact same problem.

[ft-scobra]

Attaching my Logs too just in case its the same issue.

WslLogs-2024-09-13_08-13-28.zip
WslNetworkingLogs-2024-09-14_00-18-19.zip

[Bruno-Jambeiro]

I was having the same issue. Check the windows registry for \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WSLService. For some reason it was not present in my laptop. Exported the register from my main machine which had a working WSL installation and imported the missing registries on the machine with the broken installation. Worked like magic.

Here are the exports of WSLService register and WslInstaller :Reg.zip

[captHarlock69]

I was having the same issue. Check the windows registry for \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WSLService. For some reason it was not present in my laptop. Exported the register from my main machine which had a working WSL installation and imported the missing registries on the machine with the broken installation. Worked like magic.

Here are the exports of WSLService register and WslInstaller :Reg.zip

THANKS SOOO MUCH! I spent all evening trying to fix wsl not running without any luck. this solution worked perfectly. Just a small addon: I had to reboot after adding the WSLService registry.