guiApplications=false causes broken systemd environment

[fknittel]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22621.2715]

WSL Version

2.0.9.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.15.133.1-1

Distro Version

Ubuntu-22.04

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

1. Disable wslg in .wslconfig:

   [wsl2]
   guiApplications=false
   

2. Install a distribution using systemd, e.g. Ubuntu-22.04:

   wsl.exe --install Ubuntu-22.04
   

3. Shutdown wsl:

   wsl.exe --shutdown
   

4. Enter distribution again:

   wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-22.04
   

Expected Behavior

The system should have a working XDG runtime directory:

$ ls -lnd $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
drwx------ 4 1000 1000 120 Nov 23 16:30 /run/user/1000/

Additionally, the system should have a proper X11-unix socket dir:

$ ls -la /tmp/.X11-unix
total 8
drwxrwxrwt  2 root root 4096 Nov 23 17:01 .
drwxrwxrwt 11 root root 4096 Nov 23 17:01 ..

Actual Behavior

The system has a broken XDG runtime directory:

$ ls -ldn $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
drwx------ 2 root root 4096 Nov 23 13:42 /run/user/1000/

Additionally, the system has a missing /tmp/X11-unix direcotry:

$ ls -l /tmp/.X11-unix
ls: cannot access '/tmp/.X11-unix': No such file or directory

Diagnostic Logs

The directory /run/user appears to be bind mounted from the distributions root filesystem:

$ grep /run/user /proc/mounts
none /run/user tmpfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,mode=755 0 0
/dev/sdc /run/user ext4 rw,relatime,discard,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered 0 0
$ ls -lid /mnt/wslg/run/user /run/user
29471 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Nov 23 16:30 /mnt/wslg/run/user
29471 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Nov 23 16:30 /run/user

Moving /mnt/wslg out of the way, running wsl --shutdown and then re-entering wsl fixes this once. Without moving /mnt/wslg away, the issue returns on the next cycle.

The missing X11-unix directory is caused by the presence of /run/tmpfiles.d/x11.conf, which might be a good idea for wslg mode, but not when that is disabled.

Generally, it seems that at least some wslg-specific actions/mounts/system overrides are still active despite of the "guiApplications=false" setting.

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• GUI applications no longer display after enabling systemd (#8896), similarity score: 0.85
• GUIs not working when booting with systemd (#9458), similarity score: 0.79

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[benhillis]

You're right, we shouldn't be doing this sytemd fixup logic if gui applications are disabled. I'll work on a fix.

[benhillis]

Should be fixed with https:/microsoft/WSL/releases/tag/2.0.12.

[fknittel]

@benhillis I can confirm that /run/tmpfiles.d/x11.conf is no longer generated.

Unfortunately, the problem with XDG_RUNTIME_DIR persists: /mnt/wslg/run/user still appears to be bind-mounted to /run/user, which breaks the next wsl boot unless I move that directory out of the way. In other words: To successfully boot the distro a second time, I do:

PS> wsl -d Ubuntu-22.04
$ sudo mv /mnt/wslg /mnt/wslg.old
$ exit
PS> wsl --shutdown
PS> wsl -d Ubuntu-22.04

Some more details:

PS> wsl --version
WSL-Version: 2.0.12.0
Kernelversion: 5.15.133.1-1
WSLg-Version: 1.0.59
MSRDC-Version: 1.2.4677
Direct3D-Version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore-Version: 10.0.25131.1002-220531-1700.rs-onecore-base2-hyp
Windows-Version: 10.0.22621.2715
PS> wsl -d Ubuntu-22.04
$ id -u
1000
$ sudo lsof /mnt/wslg/run/user/1000/
$ sudo rm -rf /mnt/wslg/run/user/1000/
rm: cannot remove '/mnt/wslg/run/user/1000/': Device or resource busy
$ grep /run/user /proc/mounts
none /run/user tmpfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,mode=755 0 0
/dev/sdc /run/user ext4 rw,relatime,discard,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered 0 0
ls -lid /mnt/wslg/run/user /run/user
125882 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 30. Nov 15:59 /mnt/wslg/run/user
125882 drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 30. Nov 15:59 /run/user
$ sudo mv /mnt/wslg /mnt/wslg.old
$ exit
PS> wsl --shutdown
PS> wsl -d Ubuntu-22.04
$ grep /run/user /proc/mounts
none /run/user tmpfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,mode=755 0 0
/dev/sdc /run/user ext4 rw,relatime,discard,errors=remount-ro,data=ordered 0 0
tmpfs /run/user/1000 tmpfs rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,size=1638104k,nr_inodes=409526,mode=700,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0

Logs during a failing log-in / boot:

[...]
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Reached target multi-user.target - Multi-User System.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Reached target graphical.target - Graphical Interface.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Starting systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service - Record Runlevel Change in UTMP...
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service: Deactivated successfully.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Finished systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service - Record Runlevel Change in UTMP.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Startup finished in 760ms.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname unknown: WSL (2): Creating login session for my-wsl-user
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname unknown: WSL (2) ERROR: ConfigHandleInteropMessage:595: getenv(XDG_RUNTIME_DIR) failed
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname unknown: 0
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname login[286]: pam_unix(login:session): session opened for user my-wsl-user(uid=1000) by (uid=0)
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Created slice user-1000.slice - User Slice of UID 1000.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Starting [email protected] - User Runtime Directory /run/user/1000...
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd-logind[105]: New session 1 of user my-wsl-user.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Finished [email protected] - User Runtime Directory /run/user/1000.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Starting [email protected] - User Manager for UID 1000...
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname (systemd)[299]: pam_unix(systemd-user:session): session opened for user my-wsl-user(uid=1000) by (uid=0)
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname (systemd)[299]: pam_systemd(systemd-user:session): Runtime directory '/run/user/1000' is not owned by UID 1000, as it should.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname (systemd)[299]: pam_systemd(systemd-user:session): Not setting $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, as the directory is not in order.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[299]: Trying to run as user instance, but $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not set.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: [email protected]: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: [email protected]: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Failed to start [email protected] - User Manager for UID 1000.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname systemd[1]: Started session-1.scope - Session 1 of User my-wsl-user.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname login[286]: pam_systemd(login:session): Runtime directory '/run/user/1000' is not owned by UID 1000, as it should.
Nov 30 16:43:25 my-hostname login[286]: pam_systemd(login:session): Not setting $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, as the directory is not in order.

Based on the WSL (2) ERROR: ConfigHandleInteropMessage:595: getenv(XDG_RUNTIME_DIR) failed error message I found #10846, which looks to be the same issue.

[fknittel]

@benhillis Can you please re-open? Or should I create a new issue?

[jeffrson]

Even with WSL 2.0.14 (current stable) or 2.1.3.0 (current pre-release) /run/user/ is not created with

[wsl2]
guiApplications=false

guiApplications=true is no option, unfortunately, since Windows Terminal still/again loses focus after start.

So will this issue be reopened or should we report another one?