Different parameter interpretation between shell and --exec (shell none)

[arixmkii]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26100.3194]

WSL Version

2.4.11.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.15.167.4-microsoft-standard-WSL2

Distro Version

Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

Try to use ssh-keygen w/o passphrase.

Run:

wsl --exec ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -q -N "" -C user -f /tmp/user

Error:

The parameter is incorrect.
Error code: Wsl/Service/E_INVALIDARG

Originally this was discovered running the command programmatically spawning child process passing empty string as one of the args.

Expected Behavior

Using shell works as expected

wsl ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -q -N "" -C user -f /tmp/user

Output:

/tmp/user already exists.
Overwrite (y/n)? n

Actual Behavior

Error:

The parameter is incorrect.
Error code: Wsl/Service/E_INVALIDARG

Diagnostic Logs

No response

[arixmkii]

It might be expected behavior, but I could not find any documentation about this discrepancy.

[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 script will output the path of the log file once done.

If this is a networking issue, please use collect-networking-logs.ps1, following the instructions here

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

Click here for more info on logging
If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching to the bug, please send them to [email protected] with the number of the github issue in the subject, and in the message a link to your comment in the github issue and reply with '/emailed-logs'.

[arixmkii]

/question

[github-actions]

Diagnostic information

Found '/question', adding tag 'question'

[arixmkii]

Also reproduced with --shell-type

wsl --shell-type standard ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -q -N "" -C user -f /tmp/user
/tmp/user already exists.
Overwrite (y/n)? n

wsl --shell-type login ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -q -N "" -C user -f /tmp/user
/tmp/user already exists.
Overwrite (y/n)?  n

wsl --shell-type none ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -q -N "" -C user -f /tmp/user
The parameter is incorrect.
Error code: Wsl/Service/E_INVALIDARG

[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 script will output the path of the log file once done.

If this is a networking issue, please use collect-networking-logs.ps1, following the instructions here

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

Click here for more info on logging
If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching to the bug, please send them to [email protected] with the number of the github issue in the subject, and in the message a link to your comment in the github issue and reply with '/emailed-logs'.

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!

Closed similar issues:

• Passing empty parameter to wsl --exec fails with "The parameter is incorrect" (#6072), similarity score: 0.76

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

[arixmkii]

This was marked as a bug before #6072 (comment) But has not been addressed and issue was closed based on inactivity.

Does this mean that it is not considered as a bug going further?

There is no point collecting logs for this rn as this is a repeat of the old issue, where logs were provided. Marking as question for now.

/question

[github-actions]

Diagnostic information

Found '/question', adding tag 'question'

[justus-camp-microsoft]

/logs

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

Hello! Could you please provide more logs to help us better diagnose your issue?

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

If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching to the bug, please send them to [email protected] with the number of the github issue in the subject, and in the message a link to your comment in the github issue.

Thank you!