VS Code Remote - Can't run 'code' command in WSL Ubuntu 18 or WSL 2 Ubuntu 20 - wrong path

Question

I'm having an issue when I try to run the code command from Visual Studio Code in WSL Ubuntu. I get the following error:

$ code .

/mnt/c/Users/Name/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl-0.64.2/scripts/wslCode.sh: 63: /mnt/c/Users/Name/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl-0.64.2/scripts/wslCode.sh: /home/barry/.vscode/bin/899d46d82c4c95423fb7e10e68eba52050e30ba3/bin/remote-cli/code: not found

When I run the following, it installs the VS Code Server and the command works as expected:

$ /mnt/c/Users/Name/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft\ VS\ Code/bin/code .

When I run which -a code, I can see I have two paths related to this command and I believe the correct one is /mnt/c/Users/Name/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code, but I don't know how to remove the first one or how it even related two paths to this command in the first place?

barry@RandomName:~$ which -a code
/mnt/c/Program Files/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code
/mnt/c/Users/Name/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code

Can anyone help please?

happend to me as well just recently – Idan Banani Feb 06 '22 at 19:32 — Idan Banani, Feb 06 '22 at 19:32

score 17 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 08 '22 at 03:35

Ran into the same problem 5 min ago and this post from thesteve0 worked for me:

https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-remote-release/issues/6294#issuecomment-1031974516

Quoting from the original post:

Open VS Code on Windows
Open Extensions and then search on WSL
It should say the extension needs to be reloaded - go ahead and reload it
Open WSL and type code
This should force another upgrade of code and this time it should launch.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 05 '22 at 00:44

I've managed to 'solve' it by creating a new Symlink to the correct directory so this one gets run first. I couldn't find a way to remove the incorrect directory so would appreciate it if someone knows a cleaner solution?

To add the Symlink, I ran ln -s /mnt/c/Users/Name/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft\ VS\ Code/bin/code /usr/local/bin/code

So now I have these 3 paths for the code command:

$ which -a code

/usr/local/bin/code
/mnt/c/Program Files/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code
/mnt/c/Users/Name/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code

Whenever I tried to remove rm or unlink /mnt/c/Program Files/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code (with sudo), I get permission denied.

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 08 '22 at 11:09

3

A simple sudo apt update -y and then rerunning code . fixed this for me.

answered Feb 08 '22 at 11:09

Nicolai B. Thomsen

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1

It works for me. Thank – tienthanhakay Feb 10 '22 at 01:50
1

it works for me too. Thanks – yeonsook kwak Feb 18 '22 at 01:54

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 10 '22 at 13:21

3

Just run Vscode normally on windows. This will load wsl extension and solve the issue.

answered Mar 10 '22 at 13:21

Márcio Taranto Nogueira

39
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As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Mar 11 '22 at 12:31

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 13 '23 at 04:46

3

I've had this issue and it was solved doing:

Open Terminal on Windows and Type wsl
You will be on the wsl env
Type rm -rf ~/.vscode-server
Type logout to leave the wsl env
Then type wsl --shutdown
Try to Open VSCode and connect with WSL.

answered Apr 13 '23 at 04:46

João Paulo Dias

31
1

MagicTaco · Answer 6 · 2023-08-03T16:24:26.000

2

I ran into same error but any answer works for me until I saw this issue at github.

Make sure you don't use any software that depends on systemd, like snap, microk8s, etc.

https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/8952

Quoting from the original post:

"Disabling systemd support in /etc/wsl.conf resolves the issue."

/etc/wsl.conf (make sure you don't use any software that depends on systemd, like snap, microk8s, etc)

[boot]
#systemd = true

Just need to comment "systemd" and relaunch wsl

edited Aug 03 '23 at 16:24

answered Aug 02 '23 at 23:14

MagicTaco

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2
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This caused my WSL instance to stop booting with a "The semaphore timeout period has expired" error. (With error code Wsl/0x80070079). – Duff Aug 03 '23 at 14:11
do you use any software that depends on systemd? – MagicTaco Aug 03 '23 at 16:21
Not that I'm aware of, although I'm not certain how to tell, either. I was able to finally get in. I'm not sure whether it was due to me just waiting and relaunching the terminal after the wait or by accessing the `\\wsl$` share through Windows. – Duff Aug 04 '23 at 15:33

score 1 · Answer 7 · edited Feb 09 '22 at 13:53

1

Keep it simple S*upid method:

Download & install vscode again. link for windows

(Ubuntu example) apt update && yes | apt upgrade
Try to launch code from wsl

You should see something like:

Updating VS Code Server to version 5554b12acf27056905806867f251c859323ff7e9
Removing previous installation...
Installing VS Code Server for x64 (5554b12acf27056905806867f251c859323ff7e9)

edited Feb 09 '22 at 13:53

General Grievance

4,555
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answered Feb 07 '22 at 08:15

Idan Banani

131
2
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score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 18 '22 at 18:12

In my case the extension in VS Code was not in a state needing reload like in the most upvoted answer. What helped after multiple attempts:

Terminate the WSL2 distribution (from the Windows CLI): wsl -t Ubuntu (replace Ubuntu with your distribution name)
Check that it is stopped: wsl -l -v
Start your WSL distribution again.

In my case the command code started to be accessible through a Windows directory: /mnt/c/Users/username/AppData/Local/Programs/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Oct 19 '22 at 20:05

1

I fixed my issue by opening wsl and removing the .vscode-server

rm -rf .vscode-server

i followed this link link to fix

answered Oct 19 '22 at 20:05

Adam Muse

151
1
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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Feb 11 '22 at 17:56

0

In C:\Users<user>.vscode rename path ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl- to ms-remote-wsl-old

In WSL run: code .

answered Feb 11 '22 at 17:56

Luiz Carlos Pedroso Gomes

904
8
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score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 17 '22 at 16:30

0

I got two versions of Visual Studio Code installed, one said "(user)". I uninstalled both and installed the newest version via winget.

That fixed it for me.

answered Feb 17 '22 at 16:30

nyndo

1
1

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Feb 17 '22 at 19:28

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Mar 29 '22 at 05:30

0

I have got two different versions of visual studio code installed on my PC. I have uninstalled the older version keeping the latest one. This resolved issue for me.

answered Mar 29 '22 at 05:30

Ganesh Kulkarni

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Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Mar 30 '22 at 03:13

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Apr 06 '23 at 06:54

0

I try to avoid using the Windows PATH in WSL. I added manual aliases to my ~/.bashrc, e.g. for code .:

alias code='"/c/Program Files/Microsoft VS Code/bin/code" .'

answered Apr 06 '23 at 06:54

Alex

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VS Code Remote - Can't run 'code' command in WSL Ubuntu 18 or WSL 2 Ubuntu 20 - wrong path

13 Answers13