wsl --manage Alpine --set-sparse true # No result for auto disk space clean up (Set sparse VHD)

[kryszek]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22621.2428]

WSL Version

2.0.6.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

Linux version 5.15.133.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 (root@1c602f52c2e4) (gcc (GCC) 11.2.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.37) #1 SMP Thu Oct 5 21:02:42 UTC 2023

Distro Version

Alpine distribution, MINI ROOT FILESYSTEM, x86_64, "alpine-minirootfs-3.18.4-x86_64.tar.gz"

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

WSL - Automatic disk space clean up (Set sparse VHD)

I followed the topic:

Import any Linux distribution to use with WSL
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/use-custom-distro

1. Obtain from "https://alpinelinux.org/downloads/" a tar file for the Alpine distribution, MINI ROOT FILESYSTEM, x86_64, alpine-minirootfs-3.18.4-x86_64.tar.gz.

2. Import the tar file into WSL

wsl --import Alpine D:\wslDistroStorage\Alpine .\alpine-minirootfs-3.18.4-x86_64.tar.gz

3. Then, based on page "Windows Subsystem for Linux September 2023 update"
   https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/windows-subsystem-for-linux-september-2023-update/#automatic-disk-space-clean-up-set-sparse-vhd

Update WSL to pre-release:

wsl --update; wsl --update --pre-release

4. Close running WSL distros:

wsl --shutdown

5. Set sparse vhd:

wsl --manage Alpine --set-sparse true

Where Alpine is an example distribution.

6. Create .wslconfig file in %UserProfile% directory

C:\Users\UserName\.wslconfig

and add its content:

[wsl2]
[experimental]
sparseVhd=true

Now, test:

7. Go into distro

wsl -d Alpine

8. Go into linux home directory

cd ~

9. Copy into it some large file from Windows system

cp /mnt/c/tmp/some-file-about-3GB-size .

10. The distro

D:\wslDistroStorage\Alpine\ext4.vhdx

increased the size from about 100 MB to 3.5GB.

11. Remove that file

rm some-file-about-3GB-size

12. Wait several minutes and see if the distro reduced its size

D:\wslDistroStorage\Alpine\ext4.vhdx

Nothing happened.

Expected Behavior

Automatic disk space clean up

Actual Behavior

No disk space clean up

Diagnostic Logs

No response

[junxiant]

has there been any updates? when running my wsl2 i still get unused storage not cleaned out

[saydemr]

Any updates please?

[PeterTucker]

Bump

[itsklimov]

+1

[bar10dr]

+1

[memetrusidovski]

any fix yet? same issue

[Just-Like]

+1

[deaw0003]

I have the same issue wait for help.

[Shayens]

+1, and set sparse true leads the opend window blurred,

[ChGen]

I used wsl updates from --pre-release channel with sparseVhd turned on. I also called sudo fstrim -av there. And I've got filesystem corruptions in both, the WSL2 vhd ext4 filesystem and host NTFS filesystem. I'll stick to old combination of fstrim inside + compact vdisk on the host.