microsoft / microsoft/WSL

Enable CONFIG_PSI in the default kernel

Open
#11,147 3 comments 13 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
feature
Dominant language
C++
Stars
33.7k
Forks
1.8k
Avg merge
3d 17h
Merged PRs (30d)
116

Description

**Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.**
The current default WSL kernel is built with CONFIG_PSI unset, which means the [process stall information](https://docs.kernel.org/accounting/psi.html) metrics are not collected or exposed, so things that rely on those (notably systemd-oomd, a userspace early-OOM service) do not work.

**Describe the solution you'd like**
CONFIG_PSI=y is enabled in the kernel.

**Describe alternatives you've considered**
Leave things as they are.

**Additional context**
While systemd-oomd may seem unhelpful, as the VM's memory is already limited, it does help prevent the VM itself from locking up when under heavy memory pressure, forcing the user to kill the entire VM and possibly lose data.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Locate the default WSL kernel configuration and inspect how kernel options are defined. Confirm whether CONFIG_PSI is unset, then enable it as requested and verify that the resulting configuration exposes process stall information for systemd-oomd.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
linux
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
38/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.