microsoft / microsoft/WSL

Add Windows support for WSL symlinks

Open
#12,250 7 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
feature
Dominant language
C++
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Description

### Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.5011]

### WSL Version

2.3.24.0

### Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

- [x] WSL 2
- [ ] WSL 1

### Kernel Version

5.15.153.1-2

### Distro Version

_No response_

### Other Software

Docker Desktop (Windows), version 4.35.1

### Repro Steps

Is there ongoing work to add Windows support for WSL symlinks? https://blog.trailofbits.com/2024/02/12/why-windows-cant-follow-wsl-symlinks/ describes the problem but I could not find an existing GitHub issue related to this.

1. Create a symlink from a Docker linux container.
2. Symlinked files work fine from within WSL.
3. Windows Terminal and file explorer cannot follow these symlinks, returning "The file cannot be accessed by the system."
4. `junction ` returns:
```
Junction v1.07 - Creates and lists directory links
Copyright (C) 2005-2016 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

C:\Users\Gili\Documents\licensed-app\deployment\certbot\config\live\gili.licensed.app\fullchain.pem: UNKNOWN MICROSOFT REPARSE POINT
```

### Expected Behavior

Ability to read the contents of symlinked files from within Windows Terminal

### Actual Behavior

> The file cannot be accessed by the system.

### Diagnostic Logs

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the reported Docker Desktop and WSL 2 reproduction steps, then read the linked Trail of Bits explanation of WSL symlinks. Confirm how the reparse point is created and why Windows Terminal and File Explorer reject it. Done means Windows can read files created as symlinks from a Linux container.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
docker
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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