Just a quick note, mostly for myself, on how to move a WSL2 VHDX image to an alternate location.
Previously, I already touched on the subject of backing up WLS images. However, now I am looking to move my default Ubuntu WSL2 image to a detachable drive because my laptop’s internal SSD is running on space.
There is a proper way of doing this, and then there’s also the quick way. First, the proper way:
# Use PowerShell for this # Identify the WSL image you wish to relocate # In my case, the image I want to move is called "Ubuntu" wsl --list --verbose # Stop WSL processes wsl --shutdown # Create the target folder and export the image # This may take a while mkdir D:\wsl_ubuntu_001 wsl --export "Ubuntu" D:\wsl_ubuntu_001\ubuntu.tar # Create the target instance folder and import the image # This may also take a while mkdir D:\WSL\instances\Ubuntu001 wsl --import "Ubuntu001" D:\WSL\instances\Ubuntu001 D:\wsl_ubuntu_001\ubuntu.tar # Set the new instance as the default wsl --set-default "Ubuntu001" # Optionally, unregister the previous instance wsl --unregister Ubuntu # Now you can clean things up by removing the *tar file and # removing the original *vhdx file from # C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_<ID>\LocalState
The much faster way is to a) identify the instance name, b) shutdown WSL (see above), c) copy the *.vhdx file from the drive C: location to the new location, d) edit the registry key to point to the new target folder:
Open the registry editor as Admin and navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss.
Identify the correct distro ID. The default distro ID is shown in the DefaultDistribution key. Go one level down into the correct distro ID and update the BasePath key to reflect the new location of the *.vhdx file.
Now you can launch your WSL2 instance via the usual shortcut. You will notice that the *.vhdx file in the new location now has the current timestamp, while the old image file is older. You should be safe to delete the old file and reclaim disk space.
Experienced Unix/Linux System Administrator with 20-year background in Systems Analysis, Problem Resolution and Engineering Application Support in a large distributed Unix and Windows server environment. Strong problem determination skills. Good knowledge of networking, remote diagnostic techniques, firewalls and network security. Extensive experience with engineering application and database servers, high-availability systems, high-performance computing clusters, and process automation.
