microsoft / microsoft/WSL

Wsl/Service/RegisterDistro/CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND after latest windows update

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Description

### Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26200.8655]

### WSL Version

2.7.10.0

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

- [x] WSL 2
- [ ] WSL 1

### Kernel Version

6.18.33.2-2

### Distro Version

Ubuntu-24.04

### Other Software

Docker Desktop (Windows) Version 4.80.0 (232116)

### Repro Steps

Upon rebooting my machine this morning I get the following error on Docker Desktop which was further verified by checking if wsl was running via terminal arriving at the following error

```@ MINGW64 ~/AppData/Local/Docker/wsl/main
$ wsl -d Ubuntu-24.04
The system cannot find the file specified.
Error code: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND
```

Troubleshooting steps:
- Checked Docker Settings as valid
- Checked that WSL was running successfully <- pointer to problem. It wasn't
- Attempted to run ubuntu via `wsl -d Ubuntu-24.04`
- Checked Virtual Machine Remained Enabled
- Checked Services related to WSL were online (vmcompute, hns, hvhost)
- Checked Hypervisor was launching automatically
- Repaired WSL
- Uninstalled and re-installed from the releases on Github (no change when using 2.7.10.0)
- Checked for rogue .wslconfigs
- Uninstalled completely and installed preview version -> Worked.
- Created a Windows Pro VM and installed WSL, got 2.7.10.0 -> Failed
- Rebuilt Windows Pro VM and installed Preview version 2.9.3.0 -> Worked
- Rebuilt Windows Pro VM and installed Preview version 2.7.8.0 -> Worked
- Compared broken vs valid builds. Besides changes I noticed that 2.7.10.0 is missing the following after install
`C:\Program Files\WSL\system.vhd` & `C:\Program Files\WSL\tools\modules.vhd`
- I installed 2.7.10.0 and copied those files manually, 2.7.10.0 now works again.

In conclusion: Something is likely wrong with the package for 2.7.10.0. Surprised that others aren't hitting that.

### Expected Behavior

Install of WSL 2.7.10.0 should be valid, atomic and stable.

### Actual Behavior

2.7.10.0 is missing the following after install
`C:\Program Files\WSL\system.vhd` & `C:\Program Files\WSL\tools\modules.vhd` which then triggers the errors.

### Diagnostic Logs

_No response_

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reproducing the install of WSL 2.7.10.0 and running `wsl -d Ubuntu-24.04`. Compare the installed package contents with working versions, focusing on `C:\Program Files\WSL\system.vhd` and `C:\Program Files\WSL\tools\modules.vhd`. Done means a clean 2.7.10.0 installation contains both files and the distro starts without `ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND`.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
68/100

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