Troubleshooting ‘An Unexpected Error While Executing WSL Command’ in Docker Desktop

1. Overview

When working with Docker Desktop on Windows using the WSL2 backend, Windows Subsystem for Linux, we may sometimes encounter a frustrating message, “An Unexpected Error Was Encountered While Executing a WSL Command”.

This error can occur at almost any point. For example, it might occur when starting Docker Desktop, running docker build, pulling an image, or simply launching a container. Specifically, it stops our workflow abruptly and often leaves us wondering where to start.

Fortunately, this error is often solvable. By understanding how Docker and WSL interact, and by following a methodical troubleshooting process, we can diagnose and fix the issue. In this tutorial, we will tackle this by explaining both the theory behind each step and the practical commands we can use to resolve it.

2. Understanding the Error

There are multiple factors that lead to this issue. Before diving into fixes, let’s explore why WSL on our desktop is important:

• WSL enables us to run Linux distributions natively on Windows without heavy virtual machines
• WSL2 introduced a real Linux kernel running inside a lightweight virtual machine, improving performance and compatibility
• Docker Desktop can use WSL2 as its backend instead of Hyper-V, which makes Linux containers run more efficiently and reduces overhead

However, Docker relies heavily on a stable WSL environment. In essence, if the WSL backend encounters issues, whether from corruption, outdated versions, or resource limits, we get this error.

Next, there are a lot of common situations that trigger such an error:

• Trying to run Docker when the WSL service is stopped
• Running outdated WSL or Docker Desktop versions that no longer work well together
• The docker-desktop or docker-desktop-data WSL distributions are being corrupted
• Insufficient permissions for Docker to execute commands inside WSL
• WSL is running out of allocated memory or CPU

3. Step-by-Step Troubleshooting

In this section, we’ll follow a logical sequence starting from simple checks and moving toward more advanced fixes.

3.1. Check if WSL is Working

First, we’d better ensure that WSL itself is functional. For instance, if WSL is broken, Docker can’t work.

The wsl PowerShell command validates WSL functionality:

$ wsl --list --verbose
  NAME                   STATE           VERSION
* Ubuntu                 Running         2
  docker-desktop         Running         2
  docker-desktop-data    Running         2

Let’s understand what this command does and what benefit it brings:

• lists all installed WSL distributions
• shows their current state (Running/Stopped)
• shows the WSL version (1 or 2)

Looking at the output of this code snippet, we can easily spot that services like docker-desktop and docker-desktop-data are Running. If any of these services were showing a Stopped state, Docker can’t function properly. In particular, if any of the above services was in a Stopped state, we would better restart them:

$ wsl --shutdown

Then we reopen Docker Desktop, which will automatically restart the required WSL services.

3.2. Restart WSL Services

If WSL is indeed running, and we still get the error, we can try restarting WSL services:

$ wsl --shutdown

Essentially, this stops all WSL instances and frees up resources. In addition, when we start Docker Desktop again, it will restart the required WSL distributions automatically.

Alternatively, restart the LxssManager service, which manages WSL:

• Press Win + R, then type services.msc, and press Enter
• Find LxssManager
• Right-click, then choose Restart

This often clears temporary issues without touching configurations.

3.3. Update WSL and Docker Desktop

Consequently, if the above did not help, the suggestion would be to check for updates, as outdated software is one of the most common causes of this error.

To avoid this, we always make sure our WSL version is up to date:

$ wsl --update

This installs the latest Linux kernel and backend improvements. In addition, we update Docker Desktop by following a set of simple steps:

• Open Docker Desktop
• Go to Settings → General → Check for Updates
• Install the latest version

This matters because Docker and WSL updates often contain bug fixes and performance improvements. Particularly, if we’re running mismatched versions, commands can fail unexpectedly.

3.4. Check Docker-Windows Integration

Essentially, Docker Desktop needs to know which WSL distributions it should work with. We can check whether it is configured correctly:

• Open Docker Desktop
• Navigate to Settings → Resources → WSL Integration
• Make sure the Linux distribution we use (for example, Ubuntu) is enabled

If this is disabled, Docker won’t execute commands inside that distribution, leading to errors.

3.5. Check Docker Logs

If the above steps don’t help, checking logs can give us clues:

$ wsl -d docker-desktop cat /var/log/docker.log

This opens the Docker daemon log inside the WSL backend. Then, we look for any repeated error messages or permission issues.

3.6. Adjust WSL Resource Limits

Sometimes, commands fail because WSL runs out of memory or CPU. Alternatively, we can configure resource limits by creating a .wslconfig file in our user profile directory:

[wsl2]
memory=4GB
processors=2

Afterwards, we save the file as user \.wslconfig and we shut down WSL:

$ wsl --shutdown

Finally, we restart Docker Desktop to ensure Docker has enough resources to complete tasks.

3.7. Inspect Docker/WSL Backend

If we suspect corruption, we can reset the Docker WSL distributions. Note that this will delete all our data, so if we want to do this, we first perform a backup:

$ docker save -o backup.tar image1

This command saves a specified Docker image, including all its layers, metadata, and history, into a single tar archive file named backup.tar. Hence, we can use this archive for tasks like transferring images to systems without direct Docker registry access or creating backups of our Docker images. Finally, we can later load these images onto another Docker host using the docker load command.

Next, we can recreate the container:

$ wsl --unregister docker-desktop
$ wsl --unregister docker-desktop-data

When we restart Docker Desktop, it recreates these distributions.

3.8. Reinstall WSL if Necessary

As a last resort, if WSL itself is broken beyond repair, we can reinstall it:

$ wsl --unregister <distro-name>
$ wsl --install

We then reinstall Docker Desktop and reconfigure integration. This is extreme, but it guarantees a fresh environment.

4. Preventive Measures

There are a lot of preventive measures we could take to avoid running into this issue:

• Keep everything updated — run wsl –update monthly, and update Docker Desktop regularly
• Allocate enough resources — ensure .wslconfig values match the workloads we run
• Shut down cleanly — avoid force-closing Docker Desktop or turning off the PC abruptly
• Backup Docker images — periodically use docker save to preserve important images

We could even run an automatic script to do the health check for us:

Write-Host "Checking WSL status..."
wsl --list --verbose

Write-Host "`nRestarting WSL..."
wsl --shutdown

Write-Host "`nUpdating WSL..."
wsl --update

Write-Host "`nChecking Docker Desktop..."
& "$Env:ProgramFiles\Docker\Docker\Docker Desktop.exe"

Next, let’s break down what it does:

• Lists WSL distros and their states
• Restarts WSL
• Updates WSL to the latest version
• Launches Docker Desktop

Running this before starting work can catch issues early.

5. Conclusion

In this article, we identified why Docker Desktop may show the “An unexpected error was encountered while executing a WSL command” message and outlined practical ways to fix it.

With simple checks, updates, and proper configuration, we can quickly restore Docker’s WSL integration and keep our environment stable.