Windows Terminal as external fails to open wsl terminal as default

[umagon]

Type: Bug

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes

• VS Code Version: 1.70.2
• OS Version: Windows 11

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install windows terminal extension
2. Install Windows Terminal app.
3. Set in your settings.json:

    "terminal.explorerKind": "external",
    "terminal.external.windowsExec": "wt"

4. Configure in Windows Terminal to open default terminal "Ubuntu" (WSL).
5. Go to VS Code and press Ctrl+Shift+C to open external terminal. Output:
   

What I would expect to happen is to open like this, in the current ${workspaceDirectory}:

Extension version: 0.7.0
VS Code version: Code 1.70.2 (e4503b3, 2022-08-16T05:35:13.448Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.22000
Modes:
Remote OS version: Linux x64 5.10.102.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz (8 x 2419)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: disabled_off direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_renderer: enabled_on video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	11.79GB (1.70GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id bebcbdab-92ab-48c1-81d1-99b63faaf89c
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Item	Value
Remote	WSL: Ubuntu
OS	Linux x64 5.10.102.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
CPUs	11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz (8 x 2419)
Memory (System)	5.69GB (4.63GB free)
VM	0%

A/B Experiments

vsliv368:30146709
vsreu685:30147344
python383cf:30185419
vspor879:30202332
vspor708:30202333
vspor363:30204092
vslsvsres303:30308271
pythonvspyl392:30443607
vserr242cf:30382550
pythontb:30283811
vsjup518:30340749
pythonvspyt551:30345470
pythonptprofiler:30281270
vshan820:30294714
vstes263cf:30335440
vscoreces:30445986
pythondataviewer:30285071
vscod805cf:30301675
binariesv615:30325510
bridge0708:30335490
bridge0723:30353136
vsaa593:30376534
pythonvs932:30410667
wslgetstarted:30449410
cppdebug:30492333
pylanb8912:30545647
vsclangdf:30486550
c4g48928:30535728
hb751961:30553087
dsvsc012cf:30540253
azure-dev_surveyone:30548225
i497e931:30552240

[Tyriar]

I can reproduce this, we run wsl -d . where the cwd is set to the current workspace directory.

@zadjii-msft this seems like an issue on the Windows Terminal side of not correctly passing over the cwd in the right format to wsl, should we move this into microsoft/terminal?

[vscodenpa]

This issue has been closed automatically because it needs more information and has not had recent activity. See also our issue reporting guidelines.

Happy Coding!

[zadjii-msft]

Sorry for the late reply.

I'm pretty sure wsl -d . would never work. The -d option to wsl.exe specified the Distro that you want to run, not the CWD to use.

Usage: wsl.exe [Argument] [Options...] [CommandLine]

Arguments for running Linux binaries:

    If no command line is provided, wsl.exe launches the default shell.

    --exec, -e <CommandLine>
        Execute the specified command without using the default Linux shell.

    --
        Pass the remaining command line as is.

Options:
    --cd <Directory>
        Sets the specified directory as the current working directory.
        If ~ is used the Linux user's home path will be used. If the path begins
        with a / character, it will be interpreted as an absolute Linux path.
        Otherwise, the value must be an absolute Windows path.

    --distribution, -d <Distro>
        Run the specified distribution.

(FWIW I think the --cd option was only added later in Windows 10, and it wasn't publicly documented till VERY recently. I think with the Store-delivered WSL, that option will always be there, regardless of OS version... but all this kinda feels off topic.)

wt -d . -- wsl.exe, on the other hand, now that'll run into the same thing that's tracked in #147585 & microsoft/terminal#5506

[Tyriar]

@zadjii-msft oh I actually made a typo, we do wt -d . and if the default profile is wsl it gives that error. #147585 just opened the wrong directory not errored out like this, do you still think it's the same as that issue?

[umagon]

The bot closed this issue, but it should be open, right?

[Tyriar]

Ping @zadjii-msft

[vscodenpa]

This issue has been closed automatically because it needs more information and has not had recent activity. See also our issue reporting guidelines.

Happy Coding!

[umagon]

The bot keeps closing it. :( @Tyriar is it because of the info-needed tag? Is this tag for me or for @zadjii-msft ?

[zadjii-msft]

Sorry bout that - I was out for the holidays. Curious to dig into this. Something's clearly messed up with this.

Since this repros outside of VsCode, I'll file a follow-up on the Terminal repo to dig into this. I can't find anything immediately on the backlog that matches this. (microsoft/terminal#14625)