Wsl: There is no distribution with the supplied name. "Ubuntu"

Created on 11 Sep 2019 · 9Comments · Source: MicrosoftDocs/WSL

Following documentation it is suggested that "Ubuntu" is a valid name, however I found that I needed the LTS version number as well "Ubuntu-18.04". See these logs:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl --set-version Ubuntu 2
There is no distribution with the supplied name.
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl --list --all
Windows Subsystem for Linux Distributions:
Ubuntu-18.04 (Default)
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> wsl --set-version Ubuntu-18.04 2
Conversion in progress, this may take a few minutes...

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Source

nicobrinkkemper

👍3

Most helpful comment

This is because you've installed Ubuntu-18.04 from the Microsoft Store. If you install regular Ubuntu the distro will be called Ubuntu! :)

craigloewen-msft on 11 Sep 2019

👍9

All 9 comments

This is because you've installed Ubuntu-18.04 from the Microsoft Store. If you install regular Ubuntu the distro will be called Ubuntu! :)

craigloewen-msft on 11 Sep 2019

👍9

Makes too much sense, I forgot I made that choice. They seemed like the same thing. Thanks

nicobrinkkemper on 11 Sep 2019

I uninstalled Ubuntu 18.04 and installed Ubuntu yet I see the same error message.

onacit on 15 Dec 2019

@onacit Please make sure you've run Ubuntu at least once! It should show up in when you run wsl -l

craigloewen-msft on 16 Dec 2019

👍2

@craigloewen-msft , Is there a way to set the version even if it is installed from Microsoft store ?

chriscupas on 14 May 2020

I ran wsl --set-version Ubuntu-18.04 2, and I got a message back: "conversion in progress, this may take a few minutes..." So I think it's possible to update from the MIcrosoft store installed version! (update could take a couple hours, I hear)

fscelliott on 10 Aug 2020

👍5

I ran wsl --set-version Ubuntu-18.04 2, and I got a message back: "conversion in progress, this may take a few minutes..." So I think it's possible to update from the MIcrosoft store installed version! (update could take a couple hours, I hear)

Are you successful? I also get this message.

charlesx163 on 19 Sep 2020

I ran wsl --set-version Ubuntu-18.04 2, and I got a message back: "conversion in progress, this may take a few minutes..." So I think it's possible to update from the MIcrosoft store installed version! (update could take a couple hours, I hear)

confirm for the version Ubuntu 20.04 on Microsoft store use:
wsl --set-version Ubuntu-20.04 2
It took a couple of seconds to complete successfully.

hossamsherif on 16 Oct 2020

For me the issue was that I was using quotes. Without quotes everything works fine:

C:\Users\Admin>wsl --set-version "Ubuntu-18.04" 2
There is no distribution with the supplied name.

C:\Users\Admin>wsl --set-version Ubuntu-18.04 2
Conversion in progress, this may take a few minutes...
For information on key differences with WSL 2 please visit https://aka.ms/wsl2