Ubuntu 24.04 on WSL2 makes Windows 11 super slow

[Eng-Fouad]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22631.3527]

WSL Version

2.1.5.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.15.146.1-2

Distro Version

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

Just install Ubuntu 24.04 from Microsoft Store.

Expected Behavior

It should work as with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Actual Behavior

Both Windows and Ubuntu become slow and you have to wait few seconds/minutes for actions to be completed.

Diagnostic Logs

No response

[github-actions]

Logs are required for review from WSL team

If this a feature request, please reply with '/feature'. If this is a question, reply with '/question'.
Otherwise please attach logs by following the instructions below, your issue will not be reviewed unless they are added. These logs will help us understand what is going on in your machine.

How to collect WSL logs

Download and execute collect-wsl-logs.ps1 in an administrative powershell prompt:

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WSL/master/diagnostics/collect-wsl-logs.ps1" -OutFile collect-wsl-logs.ps1
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
.\collect-wsl-logs.ps1

The scipt will output the path of the log file once done.

Once completed please upload the output files to this Github issue.

Click here for more info on logging
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View similar issues

Please view the issues below to see if they solve your problem, and if the issue describes your problem please consider closing this one and thumbs upping the other issue to help us prioritize it!

Open similar issues:

• WSL2 FS access to Windows on W11 is much slower than on Win10 (#9430), similarity score: 0.72

Closed similar issues:

• WSL 2 read access significantly slower since update to WIndows 11 (#7650), similarity score: 0.76
• Extremely slow start ~50s (#10456), similarity score: 0.75
• WSL2 Slow On New Win10 Update (#7999), similarity score: 0.75
• wsl 1.1.3 is very slow (#9725), similarity score: 0.73

Note: You can give me feedback by thumbs upping or thumbs downing this comment.

[Eng-Fouad]

Debugging logs:

Ubuntu 22.04 (The PC runs normally): WslLogs-2024-04-26_22-34-57.zip

Ubuntu 24.04 (The PC runs super slow): WslLogs-2024-04-26_22-36-30.zip

For both tests, I did the following:

• Install Ubuntu from Microsoft Store.
• Launch Ubuntu terminal.
• Enter Username/password for the new user.
• Ubuntu setup completes and it is up and running.
• Close the Ubuntu terminal/
• Uninstall Ubuntu from Windows settings.

The PC becomes really slow after launching Ubuntu 24.04 terminal. Even setting username/password of the new user took few minutes to complete.

[github-actions]

Diagnostic information

Multiple log files found

[rmanzman]

I have absolutely the same problem. And I want to note that this problem appears both after updating from 22.04>23.10>24.04 and after clean installation of 24.04 from Microsoft Store.

I had to go back to 22.04 for now, it is more stable.

[elsaco]

This must be an issue with the store version of Ubuntu 24.04. If an image from https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/wsl/releases/24.04/ is being used there are no system slowdowns.

rootfs used for testing: ubuntu-noble-wsl-amd64-24.04lts.rootfs.tar.gz

ubuntu@texas:~$ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 24.04 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="24.04"
VERSION="24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)"
VERSION_CODENAME=noble
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
UBUNTU_CODENAME=noble
LOGO=ubuntu-logo

[rmanzman]

If an image from https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/wsl/releases/24.04/ is being used there are no system slowdowns.

That doesn't help, unfortunately.
I tried to use: https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/wsl/releases/24.04/current/ubuntu-noble-wsl-amd64-24.04lts.rootfs.tar.gz

• Unpacked tar from gz
• Typed in PowerShell:
  wsl --import Ubuntu-24.04 \path to folder where i want the distro to be installed\ \path to tar-file\
• And launched distro with:
  wsl -d Ubuntu-24.04

Ubuntu starts, but still slows down the system.

BTW,
wsl --install Ubuntu-24.04 --web-download
have the same effect

[blademoon]

I have same problem. When I run WSL 2 Ubuntu 24.04 my Windows 11 Pro freezing!

[datnguyent93]

sysinfo.txt
I did the same set up today and had to wait for 5 min for the PC to get back to normal operational speed

[felikcat]

wsl --unregister Ubuntu-24.04 can unfreeze Windows, but will remove all data inside of that distro. For me, the slowdown was permanent.

Here are the logs for me running across the same lockup/extreme slowdown problem:
WslLogs-2024-05-10_17-08-45.zip

[CarlosNihelton]

Is the slow down only noticeable at installation/registration or at any time?
Have you tried disabling systemd or checking if there is a particular unit that's taking a lot of time and CPU?

[datnguyent93]

Is the slow down only noticeable at installation/registration or at any time?
Have you tried disabling systemd or checking if there is a particular unit that's taking a lot of time and CPU?

It happens during both installation and start up wsl.
Nothing significant showed in the task manager, hardware utilization is low and whole OS just feels unresponsive.