Docker Desktop distro installation failed still happening in 4.33.1

Docker Desktop
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1

This has been talked about on numerous occasions. This topic is just a heads up that it is still happening in 4.33.1 on Windows and it is very irritating.

The fix/hack is still to run “wsl --unregister docker-desktop”, but I’m pretty sure this wipes out every persistent volume you have, meaning they will get wiped out every time you have to restart Docker Desktop.

2

Exactly the same problem here. I agree with you, very irritating. :frowning:

3

I agree there is no fun having to work around issues. Docker Desktop for Windows depends on a perfectly working WSL installation. I recommend using the latest WSL application either from the app store or the github repository. The WSL in-box version that gets installed when the WSL feature is enabled, is restricted compared to the application version.

I am not sure if unregistering (as in deleting) the docker-desktop distribution really deletes your persistent state, as it’s store in the docker-desktop-data distribution.

Update: for the sake of testing, i executed wsl --unregister docker-desktop, then started Docker Desktop for Windows again: everything is still there.

4

Found the fix for this : windows subsystem for linux - Docker: WSL 2 integration with distro Ubuntu 20.04 unexpectedly stopped with exit code 1 - Stack Overflow
check your PATH settings. Add C:\windows\system32, Docker desktop apparently doesn’t work with %SystemRoot%\System32.

5

I installed the latest wsl version from Release 2.3.24 · microsoft/WSL · GitHub, and the problem is still occurring. I haven’t rebooted or anything, but I’ll let you know if that changes any behavior.

6

I added C:\windows\system32 to my system PATH (in the same spot) and removed %SystemRoot%\System32, and the problem is still occurring.

7

I am afraid there are many ways a WSL setup can malfunction, as you can see on the https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/troubleshooting page.

As long as wsl --install results in fetching, registering and running the default distribution (or really any), Docker Desktop should be able to work as well.