Error: 0xc03a001a while installing wsl2 distribution

[bbhopesh]

I get following error when I try to install a wsl2 distribution.

WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0xc03a001a
Error: 0xc03a001a The requested operation could not be completed due to a virtual disk system limitation.  Virtual hard disk files must be uncompressed and unencrypted and must not be sparse.

My windows version is: Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18936.1000]

I am attaching log files with the issue.

logs.zip

[Biswa96]

Duplicate #4103.

[bbhopesh]

Thanks for pointing this out.

[impleotv]

This is what helped me - https://utf9k.net/blog/wsl2-vhd-issue/

[marcus-crane]

@impleotv Glad to see you were able to solve your issue 🙂

[runner-ed]

This also solved my issue as well. Essentially... find the package under C:\Users<your user name>\AppData\Local\Packages
and right click the folder, check advanced options and disable compression. Run the launch again.

• Of course ubuntu is listed under "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu" so if you sort alphabetically it will appear under "C"
• Debian is under "TheDebianProject" so that will appear under "T"

[zachChilders]

This also solved my issue as well. Essentially... find the package under C:\Users\AppData\Local\Packages
and right click the folder, check advanced options and disable compression. Run the launch again.

• Of course ubuntu is listed under "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu" so if you sort alphabetically it will appear under "C"
• Debian is under "TheDebianProject" so that will appear under "T"

Confirmed, this worked for me. It would be nice if the installer could do think for me!

[alicenstar]

This also solved my issue as well. Essentially... find the package under C:\Users\AppData\Local\Packages
and right click the folder, check advanced options and disable compression. Run the launch again.

* Of course ubuntu is listed under "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu" so if you sort alphabetically it will appear under "C"

* Debian is under "TheDebianProject" so that will appear under "T"

Thank you @runner-ed! This worked for me as well.

[SiddharthSingi]

This also solved my issue as well. Essentially... find the package under C:\Users\AppData\Local\Packages
and right click the folder, check advanced options and disable compression. Run the launch again.

• Of course ubuntu is listed under "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu" so if you sort alphabetically it will appear under "C"
• Debian is under "TheDebianProject" so that will appear under "T"

Thank you @runner-ed . Have been looking for a way out for this for a long time. This solution worked for me as well!

[kl3sk]

Thanks this fix my problem Too !!

[namedgraph]

And nobody felt it's important to mention this in the installation guide?..

[RnebDG]

This is what helped me - https://utf9k.net/blog/wsl2-vhd-issue/

Thanks, Solved my issue as well!

[tonyspunei]

This approach also helped me.

1. Find the Locatio - in my case it was the "KaliLinux.54290C8133FEE_ey8k8hqnwqnmg" folder.
2. Right click on it -> go to advanced Settings and disable comprime data.
3. DONE!

[jacob-kymustang]

This is what helped me - https://utf9k.net/blog/wsl2-vhd-issue/

This worked for me as well, thank you.

Mine was under the folder: "CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc"

[aleleonian]

This also solved my issue as well. Essentially... find the package under C:\Users\AppData\Local\Packages
and right click the folder, check advanced options and disable compression. Run the launch again.

• Of course ubuntu is listed under "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu" so if you sort alphabetically it will appear under "C"
• Debian is under "TheDebianProject" so that will appear under "T"

This also solved my issue as well. Essentially... find the package under C:\Users\AppData\Local\Packages
and right click the folder, check advanced options and disable compression. Run the launch again.

• Of course ubuntu is listed under "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu" so if you sort alphabetically it will appear under "C"
• Debian is under "TheDebianProject" so that will appear under "T"

IT WORKED!

Thanks so much.

[thevictorian]

The solution is referred to in this Microsoft tutorial
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10#step-4---download-the-linux-kernel-update-package

The requested operation could not be completed due to a virtual disk system limitation. Virtual hard disk files must be uncompressed and unencrypted and must not be sparse.

Deselect “Compress contents” (as well as “Encrypt contents” if that’s checked) by opening the profile folder for your Linux distribution. It should be located in a folder on your Windows file system, something like: USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited...
In this Linux distro profile, there should be a LocalState folder. Right-click this folder to display a menu of options. Select Properties > Advanced and then ensure that the “Compress contents to save disk space” and “Encrypt contents to secure data” checkboxes are unselected (not checked). If you are asked whether to apply this to just to the current folder or to all subfolders and files, select “just this folder” because you are only clearing the compress flag. After this, the wsl --set-version command should work.

[simomill]

So, I have the same problem. But the "compress contents" option is already unticked.

[UNIVAC-Colonel-Panic]

Duplicate #4103.

@Biswa96 can you (or someone) set the LABEL on this issue (4299) to be "duplicate"? This will cause search results to show the label and save time having to read 4299 and then seeing it's already marked as a duplicate of 4103. Thanks in advance.

[UNIVAC-Colonel-Panic]

@Biswa96 sorry, forgot to attach screen capture

[noor-ridha]

This also solved my issue as well. Essentially... find the package under C:\Users\AppData\Local\Packages and right click the folder, check advanced options and disable compression. Run the launch again.

• Of course ubuntu is listed under "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu" so if you sort alphabetically it will appear under "C"
• Debian is under "TheDebianProject" so that will appear under "T"

thank youuuuu, problem solved