WSL2 DNS Fix/Config

Windows Subsystem For Linux (WSL) is a tool provided by Microsoft to run Linux natively on Windows. It’s designed to be a seamless experience, essentially providing a full Linux shell that can interact with your Windows filesystem.

Basically, WSL allows you to install a full Linux distribution as an app from the app store. You can simply download Ubuntu (or the distro of your choice), install it, and have it available as a app you can launch, or a profile in your terminal to run alongside CMD or Powershell.

I was facing an issue with my WSL that when I start it I can't make a DNS request.

Ping an IP address directly and it works fine. And here's the resolution.

Tested on:

• WSL - Ubuntu 20.04 (LTS);

• Windows 11 (21H2).

✖ The problem:

root@DRM:/etc/DRM# apt update
Err:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
  Temporary failure resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com'
Err:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease
  Temporary failure resolving 'security.ubuntu.com'
Err:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease
  Temporary failure resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com'
Err:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease
  Temporary failure resolving 'archive.ubuntu.com'

✔ Ping OK:

root@DRM:/etc/DRM# ping 8.8.8.8
PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=118 time=9.98 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=118 time=8.21 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=118 time=8.78 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=4 ttl=118 time=8.82 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=5 ttl=118 time=10.1 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=6 ttl=118 time=9.79 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=7 ttl=118 time=9.46 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=8 ttl=118 time=10.1 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=9 ttl=118 time=10.3 ms

┊┋ How to solve this issue? ┋┊

#1) Download the .gz file using this URL:

curl --resolve 'codeload.github.com:443:20.201.28.149' \
  'https://codeload.github.com/epomatti/wsl2-dns-fix-config/tar.gz/refs/tags/v1.0.0' \
  -o wsl2-dnsfix.tar.gz

#2) Type the command below:

root@DRM:/etc/DRM# tar -xf wsl2-dnsfix.tar.gz

#3) Run the shell and restart WSL:

root@DRM:/etc/DRM/wsl2-dns-fix-config-1.0.0# sudo sh ./run.sh
root@DRM:/etc/DRM/wsl2-dns-fix-config-1.0.0# wsl --shutdown

#4) Check if the files below are the same as in the example:

root@DRM:/etc# more wsl.conf
[network]
generateResolvConf = false

root@DRM:/etc# more resolv.conf
nameserver 8.8.8.8

#5) Now check if everything is OK:

root@DRM:/home/stenge# apt update
Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease [114 kB]
Get:3 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease [114 kB]
Get:4 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease [108 kB]
Reading package lists... Done