Executing a symlink to a windows executable does nothing

[bbulkow]

Hello, the pathology I am seeing is identical to that reported in the following:
#3424
Except it's a year later and clearly a different underlying issue. I have added a report to that issue, but it's closed, so I thought I would open a new issue. I don't know if you'd prefer to proceed in one or the other. This was working for me as recently as a few weeks ago ( say, 3/31/19 ).

I am running 10.0.18362.53

Please fill out the below information:

• Your Windows build number: (Type ver at a Windows Command Prompt)
  10.0.18362.53

• What you're doing and what's happening: (Copy&paste the full set of specific command-line steps necessary to reproduce the behavior, and their output. Include screen shots if that helps demonstrate the problem.)
  I have a windows executable installed in program files
  cd /usr/local/bin
  bin$ sudo ln -s "/mnt/c/Program Files/Sublime Text 3/sublime_text.exe" subl
  bin$ ls -l
  total 0
  lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 52 Apr 25 12:28 subl -> '/mnt/c/Program Files/Sublime Text 3/sublime_text.exe'
  bin$ ./subl

---> this should pop up a windows window, it doesn't

• What's wrong / what should be happening instead:
  Executing the soft link should execute the windows program.
  If I execute the command directly, it works fine

• Strace of the failing command,
  ---> there's an EBADF near the bottom that shows there's a problem instead of a reasonable launch
  ---> sorry about the bad formatting. Not sure what I'm falling afoul of. Carriage returns and line feeds, I expect.

bbulk$ cat subl3.strace                                                                                                                                  2329  execve("/usr/local/bin/subl3", ["subl3"], 0x7fffeb0744e8 /* 26 vars */) = 0                                                                        2329  arch_prctl(ARCH_SET_FS, 0x293820) = 0                                                                                                              2329  set_tid_address(0x293858)         = 2329                                                                                                           2329  brk(NULL)                         = 0xd11000                                                                                                       2329  brk(0xd12000)                     = 0xd12000                                                                                                       2329  sched_getaffinity(0, 128, [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]) = 64                                                                                           2329  uname({sysname="Linux", nodename="ASPARTAME", ...}) = 0                                                                                            2329  getpid()                          = 2329                                                                                                           2329  getcwd("/mnt/c/Users/bbulk", 4096) = 19                                                                                                            2329  open("/dev/lxss", O_RDWR)         = 3                                                                                                              2329  ioctl(3, _IOC(0, 0, 0x2f, 0x22), 0x7fffe43e54c8) = 0                                                                                               2329  getcwd("/mnt/c/Users/bbulk", 4096) = 19                                                                                                            2329  open("/proc/self/mountinfo", O_RDONLY) = 5                                                                                                         2329  readv(5, [{iov_base="", iov_len=0}, {iov_base="2 2 0:2 / / rw,noatime - lxfs ro"..., iov_len=1024}], 2) = 932                                      2329  readv(5, [{iov_base="", iov_len=0}, {iov_base="", iov_len=1024}], 2) = 0                                                                           2329  close(5)                          = 0                                                                                                              2329  getcwd("/mnt/c/Users/bbulk", 4096) = 19                                                                                                            2329  open("/proc/self/mountinfo", O_RDONLY) = 5                                                                                                         2329  readv(5, [{iov_base="", iov_len=0}, {iov_base="2 2 0:2 / / rw,noatime - lxfs ro"..., iov_len=1024}], 2) = 932                                      2329  readv(5, [{iov_base="", iov_len=0}, {iov_base="", iov_len=1024}], 2) = 0                                                                           2329  close(5)                          = 0                                                                                                              2329  ioctl(0, TCGETS, {B38400 opost isig icanon echo ...}) = 0                                                                                          2329  ioctl(1, TCGETS, {B38400 opost isig icanon echo ...}) = 0                                                                                          2329  ioctl(2, TCGETS, {B38400 opost isig icanon echo ...}) = 0                                                                                          2329  ioctl(0, TIOCGPGRP, [2327])       = 0                                                                                                              2329  getpgid(0)                        = 2327                                                                                                           2329  fstat(0, {st_mode=S_IFCHR|0660, st_rdev=makedev(4, 1), ...}) = 0                                                                                   2329  fstat(1, {st_mode=S_IFCHR|0660, st_rdev=makedev(4, 1), ...}) = 0                                                                                   2329  fstat(2, {st_mode=S_IFCHR|0660, st_rdev=makedev(4, 1), ...}) = 0                                                                                   2329  ioctl(0, TIOCGWINSZ, {ws_row=30, ws_col=120, ws_xpixel=0, ws_ypixel=0}) = 0                                                                        2329  ioctl(0, SNDCTL_TMR_START or TCSETS, {B38400 -opost -isig -icanon -echo ...}) = 0                                                                  2329  dup(0)                            = 5                                                                                                              2329  ioctl(4, _IOC(0, 0, 0xb7, 0x22), 0x7fffe43e5478) = 0                                                                                               2329  ioctl(4, _IOC(0, 0, 0xb7, 0x22), 0x7fffe43e5478) = 0                                                                                               2329  ioctl(4, _IOC(0, 0, 0xb7, 0x22), 0x7fffe43e5478) = 0                                                                                               2329  write(4, "\0\0\0\0\301\0\0\0\16\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\17\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\20\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 193) = 193                                                    2329  close(0)                          = 0                                                                                                              2329  close(1)                          = 0                                                                                                              2329  close(2)                          = 0                                                                                                              2329  rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, [INT WINCH], NULL, 8) = 0                                                                                                2329  signalfd4(-1, [INT WINCH], 8, 0)  = 0                                                                                                              2329  poll([{fd=4, events=POLLIN}, {fd=0, events=POLLIN}], 2, -1) = 1 ([{fd=4, revents=POLLIN}])                                                         2329  read(4, "\10\0\0\0 \0\0\0\26\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 32) = 32                                                              2329  writev(2, [{iov_base="/usr/local/bin/subl3: Invalid ar"..., iov_len=39}, {iov_base=NULL, iov_len=0}], 2) = -1 EBADF (Bad file descriptor)          2329  close(3)                          = 0                                                                                                              2329  close(4)                          = 0                                                                                                              2329  ioctl(5, SNDCTL_TMR_START or TCSETS, {B38400 opost isig icanon echo ...}) = 0                                                                      2329  close(5)                          = 0                                                                                                              2329  exit_group(1)                     = ?                                                                                                              2329  +++ exited with 1 +++                                                                                                                              bbulk$                                   `                                                                                                                                     

[YihaoPeng]

I have the same issue in my Win10 version 1903 build 18362.53.

I have been running docker.exe via a symbolic link on build 1809, and it doesn't work after upgrading to 1903.

On 1809:

On 1903:

---

A simply repro:

whereis cmd.exe
ln -s /c/Windows/system32/cmd.exe ./cmd
./cmd

This should get you into cmd but nothing happens after running, and the program doesn't have any output.

[YihaoPeng]

Instead, I now need to write a startup shell script.
vim /usr/local/bin/docker

exec '/c/Program Files/Docker/Docker/Resources/bin/docker.exe' $*

---

This is a problem when the argument is a string with spaces. change to this

exec '/c/Program Files/Docker/Docker/Resources/bin/docker.exe' "$@"

Or you may use /mnt/c/Program Files/Docker/Docker/Resources/bin/docker.exe if you have a default mount point.

[cybtachyon]

I am able to reproduce with Windows Version 10.0.17758.4 as well.

WSL + Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Easy repro: Follow https://docksal.io/installation#windows-virtualbox on this setup

[bbulkow]

Given we've got multiple simple repros on the most common Ubuntu WSL installation, how can we get the prioritity raised? This is a big one for me... there's only one symlink I have but I use it a lot :-) NO assignees no tags no nothing is a bit sad-face

[bbulkow]

The workaround worked for me of creating a file with an exec. Although there's a typo there, you need to start with '/mnt/c/Program Files/' the MNT was missing.

[slightlyfaulty]

@bbulkow Not a typo. Most people just change their mount root to / to be more inline with the paths used by Docker, etc.

[zl3one6]

Same issue on win10 1903 18362.116 with ubuntu 18.04.2

[LuoZhongYao]

Instead, I now need to write a startup shell script.
vim /usr/local/bin/docker

exec '/c/Program Files/Docker/Docker/Resources/bin/docker.exe' $*

This is a problem when the argument is a string with spaces. change to this

exec '/c/Program Files/Docker/Docker/Resources/bin/docker.exe' "$@"

[benhillis]

Working on a fix for this. Will also attempt to get the fix backported to 1903.

[gdh1995]

I find that absolute file paths in cmd arguments are also not translated...

As a result, I have to add a prefix of env.exe from Git for Windows to translate them - e.g. env.exe notepad.exe /e/my/file.txt.

[benhillis]

I've identified the issue, it's related to us now supporting the 9P paths (\wsl$\distro) in wslpath and am drafting a fix.

[igieon]

I have same issue after upgrade to 1903. I get error what is interesting when i execute symlink as sudo everything works.

igi@igi-inspiron:~$ ~igi/bin/minikube
igi@igi-inspiron:~$ sudo ~igi/bin/minikube
Minikube is a CLI tool that provisions and manages single-node Kubernetes clusters optimized for development workflows.

[benhillis]

This is fixed in 18917.

[jstangroome]

Will also attempt to get the fix backported to 1903.

@benhillis Do you know yet whether a backport to 1903 is possible/likely? I assume it would be delivered through standard Windows Update patching.

[bbulkow]

Working great on the insider builds.

[taviso]

This is still broken in the 1909 update, it used to work in 1809. Frustrating that it just stopped working, and hasn't been fixed for months. Is there any chance a fix can be cherry picked for stable?

[Clovel]

This is still broken in the 1909 update, it used to work in 1809. Frustrating that it just stopped working, and hasn't been fixed for months. Is there any chance a fix can be cherry picked for stable?

I too am on 1909, and this doesn't work w/ Ubuntu 18.04 WSL. Either the fix has not been published, or it is broken again.

[benhillis]

Unfortunately the Windows servicing team would not take this fix to 1903 / 1909. Fixed in builds 18917 and later.

[oferze]

As of now, the latest OS build released is 18363.628 (and I'm not daring installing Windows Insider builds) so this feature is broken. Heavily.

[alexander-nolan]

This still isn't working for me on 2004...

[therealkenc]

This issue is closed. If people are experiencing difficulties on 2004 aka 19041 or better, please spawn a new issue following the template.