Linux Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2.9.8 Pre-release now available

What's Changed​

• Run the distro validation script daily by Blue (@OneBlue) in #40920
• Added WSLc API docs by Craig Loewen (@craigloewen-msft) in #40922
• Add a script to validate & fix mismatches CRLF in the repo by Blue (@OneBlue) in #40933
• Remove '.' from HCS suffix by Blue (@OneBlue) in #40946
• fix socket channel set exit events by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #40924
• Use strict detection of http line ending for docker response by yao-msft in #40932
• CLI: Fix hang with exec/run -i with self-exiting command and open stdin by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #40921
• Don't append the build prefix when a line is being continued from a previous log entry by Blue (@OneBlue) in #40947
• Implement --stop-timeout in wslc create|run and support -1 (infinite) timeouts by Blue (@OneBlue) in #40919
• fix: use lowercased key when validating windowsterminal.profileTemplate by Syed Osama Ali Shah (@Osamaali313) in #40911
• Use throwing overloads in SetupTestDirectory by beena352 in #40964
• Publish the WSLC nuget package on github releases by Blue (@OneBlue) in #40962
• Support arbitrary network driver options in wslc network create by beena352 in #40859
• Fix various issues in the virtionet tests by Blue (@OneBlue) in #40963
• Don't use an overlay for the gpu libraries if the inbox folder isn't present by Blue (@OneBlue) in #40969
• Fix Lost sub directory structure when mapping to a VHD volume by Kevin Vega (@kvega005) in #40857
• Add support for callback when loading images and display loaded images in wslc image load by Blue (@OneBlue) in #40960
• Bump Kali to 2026.2 by g0tmi1k (@g0tmi1k) in #40982
• Fix https proxy not set when pac is used by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #40950
• Fix E_ACCESSDENIED during download if temp is hidden by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #40708
• Add configurable storage path for the default wslc session by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #40956
• Added samples to the API by Craig Loewen (@craigloewen-msft) in #40930
• Document what the session creation parameters do, and which of them ae visible to all users on the machine by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41020
• fix(l10n): add localization guidance comments for commonly mistranslated terms by Gordon Lam (@yeelam-gordon) in #14440
• Cap storage hw queue count to 4 by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #40975
• test(drvfs): add O_APPEND ftruncate coverage, skip on virtiofs by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41032
• Update validate-line-endings.py to not depend on pip packages by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41022
• Fix potential use-after-free on the container deletion path by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41018
• Remove comment in packages.config causing powershell parsing error by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41036
• Collect WSLg logs and crash dumps in collect-wsl-logs.ps1 by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #40913
• Log an error when connect() fails in the NAT mode relay by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41033
• Mark routes via a link-local gateway as onlink to fix VPN /32 networking failures by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41003
• Add wslc network connect and disconnect commands by beena352 in #41011
• Fix flaky E2E network list test assertion by beena352 in #41009
• Add support for container healthchecks by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41012
• Bump DeviceHost to 1.2.48-0 and enable virtiofs O_APPEND ftruncate test by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41044
• Read /etc/locale.conf when configuring the distro locale by i4M1k0SU (@i4M1k0SU) in #40940
• Retry to delete WSL distribution shortcut for up to 10 seconds by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41046
• Make the release pipeline logic to push to the store optional (and disabled by default) by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41045
• Add wslc container cp command for tar archive upload by Pooja Trivedi (@ptrivedi) in #40835
• Pre-download socat to avoid test failing due to connectivity issues by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41035
• Enable rollback on install failures during update by Gordon Lam (@yeelam-gordon) in #40524
• CLI: Help improvements - Table output with color and routing support by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #40848
• Fix: handle partial write in stdio forwarding by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41065
• Protect critical WSL processes under heavy load with cgroup & isolate distro cgroups by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #40519
• Localization change from build: 152044029 by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41066
• Add --format option to wslc version command by ggarzia-MSFT in #41078
• Add missing error code mappings found in user visible errors by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41074
• Refine CODEOWNERS for WSLC by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41079
• Start the plan9 server on WSL2 even when automount and mountFsTab are… by Shuo Li (@Lsseeker) in #41057
• Remove hard-coded password from C# API docs by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41098
• Simplify e2e build-test image cleanup with per-test RAII ownership by ggarzia-MSFT in #41094
• Use bespoke interfaces to communicate with wsldevicehost by Brian Perkins (@Brian-Perkins) in #41099
• CLI: Update all non-help output to use Reporter by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41010
• CLI: Route wslc warnings through Reporter by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41111
• Fix cgmanifest.json hash format and add type:git entries for NOTICE generation by beena352 in #41025
• Update .NET runtime packages to 10.0.10 by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41127
• Use single virtiofs device for all shares by Daman Mulye (@damanm24) in #41129
• Bump Linux SDK to 1.23.0 and guard char->wide formatters to Windows by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41071
• Fix MoveDistribution VHD ownership restore to reuse the resolved file handle by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41131
• Add --ip, --link, --link-local-ip, --driver-opt, --network-alias flag… by beena352 in #41070
• CLI: Add quiet support to pull and align with Docker by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41121
• WSLC: Add UDP and IPv6 support for exposed image ports by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41124
• CLI: Make container id required for stop command by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41108
• Fix various issues in the distro validation script by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41141
• Handle offlink default gateways in GNS by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41130
• Fix spurious ERROR log for unsupported optional cgroup controllers by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41122
• Retry to delete distribution VHD for up to 10 seconds by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41153
• Bump gitpython from 3.1.50 to 3.1.52 in /tools/devops by Dependabot (@dependabot)[bot] in #41159
• Track implicit autobind ports from listen() in Consomme networking by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41125
• Fix a teardown race in HttpProxyStateTracker by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41097
• Update GitHub Actions workflow for issue comments by piercosta in #41142
• virtiofs: Use aggregate share feature in WSLC by Daman Mulye (@damanm24) in #41151
• Fix recurring TSA onboarding failure in release builds by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41167
• WSLC: Refactor ParseImage and ParseRepository (PR Feedback followup) by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41154
• Update Tumbleweed v20260724.0 by Scott Bradnick (@sbradnick) in #41168
• Use an azure key vault to store Github tokens for automated pull requests & release creation by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41158
• Improve WSL2 guest memory reclaim by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41096
• CLI: Align WSLC argument parser with Docker flag and value semantics by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41160
• fixed title error visibility by Shawn Yuan (@shuaiyuanxx) in #41118
• Follow up to the cgroup PR #40519 by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41073
• Use 4 request queues for aggregate virtiofs devices by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41169
• Address memory reclaim follow-ups from #41096 by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41171
• Add --ip-range option to network create by beena352 in #41138
• wslc: switch image build from docker build to docker buildx build by beena352 in #41133
• Serialize move/resize/set-sparse against in-progress conversions by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41170
• Pin .resw files to CRLF via .gitattributes by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41186
• Use RetryWithTimeout for ManageRejectedWhileLocked lock wait by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41188
• WSLC SDK install API update by JohnMcPMS in #40949
• Use canonical path when copying files from containers by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41190
• Add a 'Error information from the engine:' prefix to error messages returned from docker when the current display language is not english by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41187
• Add --secret flag to image build command by ggarzia-MSFT in #41106
• Auth API update by JohnMcPMS in #41197
• Validate error message in NetworkCreateInvalidIpRangeTest by beena352 in #41198
• Cap guest usage of host ephemeral range to half of the ports in mirrored mode by FetoiuCatalin in #41085
• Add CSV parsing helpers to shared string library by ggarzia-MSFT in #41207
• WSLc Container Open SDK support by JohnMcPMS in #41199
• Add comment about support floor by JohnMcPMS in #41219
• Add missing image build options in nuget by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41037
• Fix: add systemd unit to make /mnt/wsl recursive slave before umount by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41086
• Warn before opening downloaded WSL distributions by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41214
• archlinux: Release 2026.08.01.174141 by Arch Linux Technical User (@archlinux-github) in #41225
• CLI: Unify interactive input and output in Reporter by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41215
• Add --output flag to wslc build by ggarzia-MSFT in #41157
• CLI: Fix UTF-8 encoding in non-tty relay use by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41235
• Add a UserConfig setting to use local wsldevicehost binaries instead of the nuget package by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41241
• Added outcome telemetry for cold start by Shawn Yuan (@shuaiyuanxx) in #41200
• Use explicit tokens for user registry access by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41245
• Fix minor issues found during code review by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41104
• Fix: Un-escape the value before setting LANG by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41103
• fix: port 0 tracking not working for threads by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41051
• wslc: idle-terminate inactive per-user session VMs by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41077
• Implement skipped wslc E2E test by AmirMS (@AmelBawa-msft) in #41243
• wslc: Run saved state cleanup as user by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41259
• Add timeout to create process accepts by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41252
• Add version resource to wslc.exe by AmirMS (@AmelBawa-msft) in #41266
• Bind KdRelay to loopback by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41260
• virtionet: send runtime updates to network device by Brian Perkins (@Brian-Perkins) in #41263
• Update SLE 16.0 for QU3 by Scott Bradnick (@sbradnick) in #41262
• wslc: emit --format json output on a single line by AmirMS (@AmelBawa-msft) in #41268
• Inherit image labels on containers by beena352 in #41246
• Update GitPython to 3.1.58 by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41275
• Retry distro file deletion under ACCESS_DENIED during distro unregistration by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41274
• Added keep alive setting by Craig Loewen (@craigloewen-msft) in #41109
• Enable unity builds for wsltests by ggarzia-MSFT in #41247
• Normalize NULL char* to in Linux logging by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41271
• Fix: Update plan9 registration with the new default uid after OOBE by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #40977
• Add --volumes option to wslc container rm command by AmirMS (@AmelBawa-msft) in #41265
• Add --iidfile to wslc image build by ggarzia-MSFT in #41212
• Add support for host loopback by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41264
• Add pipeline stage to produce DCAT submission files by Flor Chacón (@florelis) in #41236
• Add registry allowlist support to image builds by beena352 in #41211
• Extend line ending validator to cover cmake files by ggarzia-MSFT in #41289
• CLI: Rename Reporter class to Terminal by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41276
• CLI: Cache converted CLI arguments with on-demand revalidation, and unify typed value accessors by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41189
• Fix default route classification logic by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41278
• Fix force shutdown deadlock race by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41269
• Notice change from build: 154365024 by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41298
• wslc: emit list command --format json output as one object per line by AmirMS (@AmelBawa-msft) in #41280
• CLI: Add --pull option to container create and run by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41304
• CLI: Make argument validation idempotent and adjust global argument freezing by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41305
• Update Microsoft.WSL.DeviceHost to 1.2.60 by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41292
• Address review follow-up on WSLContainerRegistryAllowlist policy by beena352 in #41306
• Restore pipeline logic to push updates to the store by default by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41308
• Fix unqualified WEX::Logging::Log breaking release builds by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41315
• Fix excessive /proc//mountinfo query in p9 server by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41312
• mountutil: skip empty tokens in mount option parser by Eamon (@Eamon2009) in #41311
• Add wsldevicehostproxystub.dll to the list of target to build during release builds by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41317
• Make paths absolute before weakly_canonical and add regression tests by ggarzia-MSFT in #41290
• add --progress to wslc build by ggarzia-MSFT in #41307
• Enable Unity build for wslclib and enable CI unity builds by ggarzia-MSFT in #41302
• Retry deleting distribution shortcuts for 10 seconds by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41329
• Draft: add manual VHDX compaction command for stopped WSL distros by Rafa Pradillo (@Guayamose) in #40481
• Mount plugin folders on behalf of the user owning the wsl session by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41331
• Update Microsoft.NETCore.App.Runtime to 10.0.11 by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41332
• Report cached build steps in wslc build output by ggarzia-MSFT in #41334
• Notice change from build: 154708324 by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41340
• Localization change from build: 154739322 by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41341
• Pin GitHub Actions to full-length commit SHAs by Dan Fiedler (@danfiedler-msft) in #41325
• Add Config.Image on container inspect by beena352 in #41336
• Support Docker-style network aliases in wslc by David Negstad (@danegsta) in #40972
• Use alpine instead of debian for registry push/pull test payloads by ggarzia-MSFT in #41338
• CLI: Align network list command to be consistent with Docker behavior by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41350
• CLI: Set defaults for signal arguments in stop/kill commands, update help documentation by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41348
• Bump the github-actions group with 3 updates by Dependabot (@dependabot)[bot] in #41347
• Simplify VHD ownership handling during distribution moves by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41333
• Return non vhd volumes in container inspect by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41335
• Preserve token owner during distribution move rollback by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41355
• Add --filter support to wslc network list by beena352 in #41318
• CLI: Help polish & add short, relevant help for usage/argument errors by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41316
• CLI: Fix shm-size and all text-to-byte size conversion and align them all to Docker by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41360
• Move Docker call outside network lock by beena352 in #41362
• Add --filter support to volume list by beena352 in #41359
• CLI: Add --mount support for create and run by David Bennett (@dkbennett) in #41337
• Fix potential spin in interop message relay by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41319
• Treat EFSBADCRC as disk corruption by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41368
• Warn the user if VMP is not installed when create instance fails by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41357
• Use canonical path in DrvfsMountManyVirtioFsShares by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41371
• Localization change from build: 155144781 by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41372
• wslc: match docker output format for image list by ggarzia-MSFT in #41369
• Unmount the distribution before completing import by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41370
• Add a script to collect WSL logs in a loop by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41240
• Make sure that message structures are correctly zero-initialized by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41373
• Add --ip flag to container create and run by beena352 in #41374
• Accept ERROR_SUCCESS_REBOOT_REQUIRED in the installer tests by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41389
• Split WSLCCreateSession event by Craig Loewen (@craigloewen-msft) in #41327
• Match docker's network list, inspect and prune output in wslc by ggarzia-MSFT in #41377
• Use unified kernel artifacts VHD layout by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41267
• Make DrvFs initialization callback lifetime-safe by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41218
• Cache container images during tests to prevent unnecessary loading by ggarzia-MSFT in #41353
• Add ADMX policy for privileged WSL container support by Ben Hillis (@benhillis) in #41401
• Fix: Reattach stale cached device after backing volume is reattached by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41379
• Propagate LaunchInit error code by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41380
• Add timeout for udp dns requests to avoid resource leak by Feng Wang (@chemwolf6922) in #41395
• Align wslc volume inspect and prune output with docker by ggarzia-MSFT in #41404
• Fix incorrect string -> wstring conversion, causing utf16 corruption by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41406
• Create a script to generate the Microsoft.WSL.TestData nuget package by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41405
• Enable discard for WSLc volumes by JohnMcPMS in #41411
• Poll for the result of operations during MSI installation by Blue (@OneBlue) in #41415

New Contributors​

• Syed Osama Ali Shah (@Osamaali313) made their first contribution in #40911
• i4M1k0SU (@i4M1k0SU) made their first contribution in #40940
• Shuo Li (@Lsseeker) made their first contribution in #41057
• Dependabot (@dependabot)[bot] made their first contribution in #41159
• piercosta made their first contribution in #41142
• Rafa Pradillo (@Guayamose) made their first contribution in #40481
• Dan Fiedler (@danfiedler-msft) made their first contribution in #41325
• David Negstad (@danegsta) made their first contribution in #40972

Release 2.9.8 · microsoft/WSL

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