microsoft / microsoft/WSL

Better error messages and known exit codes for wsl.exe

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feature
Dominant language
C++
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Forks
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Avg merge
3d 17h
Merged PRs (30d)
116

Description

`wsl.exe` prints some error numbers and returns some error return codes which get printed in Terminal

It would be nice to have text explanations printed in Terminal instead of `Wsl/Service/0xd00002fe` and somehow let Terminal recognize exit-codes such as 0xffffffff and have it print some reason corresponding to this exit-code.

Original discussion:
- https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/12410#issuecomment-2394695185

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start at the wsl.exe error-number and exit-code reporting described in this issue, then read the linked original discussion for context. The work is complete when the reported errors have understandable terminal text and the relevant exit codes expose corresponding reasons instead of opaque values.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
cli, operating-systems
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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