microsoft / microsoft/WSL

Cannot create symbolic links on drvfs network share

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Description

Environment

Windows build number: Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19041.329] 
Your Distribution version: Ubuntu Release:        20.04
Issue in WSL2

Steps to reproduce

I have 2 PCs with same WSL2+ubuntu set up, and sharing my respective WSL home directories (set to C:\Users\MyUserName\WSL_home) as \\PC{1,2}\WSL_home
Mounting the remote home dir in WSL works fine (permissions, ownership, file & directory CRUD, symlink following), except for symbolic link creation.

$ sudo mount -t drvfs '\\PC2\WSL_home\'  /mnt/rhome -o metadata,uid=1001,gid=1001
$ cd /mnt/rhome
$ ln -s /mnt/c/Users/MyUserName nthome
ln: failed to create symbolic link 'nthome': Operation not permitted
$ touch dummyfile
$ ln -s dummyfile dummylink
ln: failed to create symbolic link 'dummylink': Operation not permitted

I have tried to mount local pc share (\\localhost\WSL_home) and do same steps as above, same outcome.

I have also tried combinations of running WSL as administrator or not, granting (or not) Symbolic Link Creation by policy, enabling (or not) symbolic link evaluations for remote to local & remote to remote symbolic link ; this on local and/or remote hosts. Same outcome.

Strace gist for the dummyfile -> dummylink example, with \\localhost\WSL_home\ mounted as /mnt/rhome

Expected behavior

(WSL) symbolic link to be created.

Actual behavior

Cannot create symbolic link on mounted network share.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

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

Reproduce the reported mount and ln commands against a drvfs network share, then review the linked strace gist for the failing operation. Investigate the WSL and drvfs handling involved; done means symbolic links can be created on the mounted share under the reported configurations, with coverage for the demonstrated cases.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
networking, operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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