WSL Tips and Tricks

Reset Root User's Password

1. Open PowerShell, then use the wsl -u root command to change the password.
2. At the prompt, enter passwd <username> where <username> is the account to change the password of, (e.g. passwd james).
3. Enter your password twice as prompted. It will not show in the terminal.

The password is now changed! Here's an example session using the username current_user:

PS C:\> wsl -u root
[email protected]:/mnt/c/Users/current_user/# passwd current_user
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: updated successfully
[email protected]:/mnt/c/Users/current_user/# exit
logout
PS C:\>

Fix connection issues while on VPN

Based on this comment, the following instructions worked for me on Ubuntu Linux:

In your WSL Linux instance, create or edit /etc/wsl.conf to look like this:

[network]
generateResolvConf = false

Back in Windows, restart WSL using PowerShell:

wsl --shutdown
wsl

In your WSL Linux, create or edit /etc/resolv.conf to have the following entry (you may or may not have to delete other entries to get it working):

nameserver 8.8.8.8

Restart WSL again:

wsl --shutdown
wsl

Finally, once connected to the VPN, run the following command in Windows PowerShell:

Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object {$_.InterfaceDescription -Match "Cisco AnyConnect"} | Set-NetIPInterface -InterfaceMetric 6000