microsoft / microsoft/WSL

Support LockFileEx syscall in \\wsl$ directory

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feature
Dominant language
C++
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Description

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Package management tools such as Go Modules and Rust Cargo use Write/Read Lock of File System. This is an important mechanism for removing conflicts.

The WSL2 shared directory \\wsl$ does not seem to support LockFileEx syscall. I confirmed that smb supports it. It returns an Incorrect function. error with the LOCKFILE_EXCLUSIVE_LOCK flag both set/unset.

To solve this problem, Rust Cargo has added code that ignores lock errors. https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/pull/7602
Go Modules does not work with WSL and officially replied to Issue that WSL is not supported. https://github.com/golang/go/issues/37461

Describe the solution you'd like
Add locking functionality to the shared file system for a better development experience.

Describe alternatives you've considered

  • Added logic to ignore lock errors in package management tools.
  • Launch samba server on WSL2.

Additional context

Below is an example of an error with go modules in latest version.

> go mod download # go version 1.14
go: RLock Z:\example\go.mod: Incorrect function.

simple test code to call LockFileEx

package main

import (
	"os"
	"fmt"
	"golang.org/x/sys/windows"
)

const (
	reserved = 0
	allBytes = ^uint32(0)
)

func main () {
	f, err := os.Open("tmp.txt")
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	
	lockType := uint32(2) // 0: readlock 2: writelock
	ol := new(windows.Overlapped)
	err = windows.LockFileEx(windows.Handle(f.Fd()), lockType, reserved, allBytes, allBytes, ol)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	fmt.Printf("success lock")
}

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 by reproducing the failure with the provided Go sample and LockFileEx against a \wsl$ path. Then trace the WSL shared filesystem handling for this syscall; done means read and write locks work there without the Incorrect function error reported by Go Modules and Rust Cargo.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp, go, rust
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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