mkdir: cannot create directory ‘a’: Permission denied

[xzn]

Cannot create directory with mkdir even though touch, rm, rmdir, mv all works fine.

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19546.1000]

Arch Linux distro created with
wsl --export Arch D:\arch.tar
wsl --import Arch2 D:\WSL\Arch2 D:\arch.tar --version 2

cd /mnt/d/
mkdir a
gives
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘a’: Permission denied

Works fine at home directory though
cd /mnt/c/Users/user
mkdir a
no problem here...

Where should I start to look for a solution for this?

[sirredbeard]

Can you reproduce this when using C:\ instead?

[xzn]

Same at /mnt/c

[sirredbeard]

Where did you get your Arch image?

I have tried the one at https://github.com/yuk7/ArchWSL/releases and except for some issues with permissions on the package GPG signatures it worked well for me.

[xzn]

I installed it using a guide from here https://github.com/DDoSolitary/LxRunOffline/wiki

WSL works fine, exporting it to WSL2 and I have trouble with mkdir.

Will try your link for now.

[sirredbeard]

Give the other Arch image a try, I know it's a good image.

What are the permissions in the folder what you are trying to create a folder?

Have you tried chown?

[xzn]

chown, chmod all works alongside touch, rm, rmdir, mv, etc. I just noticed mkdir wouldn't work when git clone gives me permission denied.

Thanks for helping btw! Will try a clean image instead of exporting from one I currently have.

[anasalbadi]

I have the same issue, I am trying to create a directory so that I can mount the drive

[wwlwwww]

I delete a git dict in windows explorer, then mkdir failed in WSL terminal.

[kudaba]

I just upgraded to ubuntu version 2 and I'm getting the same issue. I can't mkdir on my drives in /mnt/c and /mnt/d, but it works fine in my home folder and other areas. All other operations work fine. Even running with sudo doesn't help. My app that I'm working on also can't create folders.

[kudaba]

In my case it was a mount issue, or at least changing the mount options fixed it. Running the following command from https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/chmod-chown-wsl-improvements/ worked for me:

sudo umount /mnt/c && sudo mount -t drvfs C: /mnt/c -o metadata

It's unclear but the command seems to be permanent. I'm not sure what happened during the upgrade from WSL 1 to 2 that affected this.

[stu85010]

Hello there,

In my case, this issue was solved by: giving the Full control permission to your Windows account for this directory with Security tab

Said, I'd created a directory at /c/src and trying to develop there, but the "User" group doesn't have Full control permission at that path, so the folder creation is failed in WSL in my case.

Then I was added the Full control permission to my Windows account at that folder, and the mkdir worked perfectly in that directory.

[kudaba]

Turns out my mount solution didn't last through a reboot, but the Full Control to users fixed it, thanks @stu85010.

[EmilyGraceSeville7cf]

I have the same issue on Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS. Besides other commands like touch and I/O redirection fail with the same error. Why it happens?

Maybe this issue help.

[kingmathers92]

You have to launch Git Bash as an administrator. Simple as that, it helped me.

[shatanikmahanty]

try command sudo chown -R "yourusername" .
replace "yourusername" with the name of the user

[georgearmando]

try command sudo chown -R "yourusername" . replace "yourusername" with the name of the user

Thanks, this worked for me

[hariadiarief]

try command sudo chown -R "yourusername" . replace "yourusername" with the name of the user

you saved my life bro 😊😊😊

[QuyetVV2]

try command sudo chown -R "yourusername" . replace "yourusername" with the name of the user

you saved my day 😊 thanks!

[SunSummoner]

In my case it was a mount issue, or at least changing the mount options fixed it. Running the following command from https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/chmod-chown-wsl-improvements/ worked for me:

sudo umount /mnt/c && sudo mount -t drvfs C: /mnt/c -o metadata

It's unclear but the command seems to be permanent. I'm not sure what happened during the upgrade from WSL 1 to 2 that affected this.

This is the error I am getting while trying to run a few jupyter notebooks. Will this command help with this issue?

[harshalgunjal69]

try command sudo chown -R "yourusername" . replace "yourusername" with the name of the user

Thanks for this brooo

[cookernetes]

try command sudo chown -R "yourusername" . replace "yourusername" with the name of the user

Worked amazingly for me!

[cookernetes]

In my case it was a mount issue, or at least changing the mount options fixed it. Running the following command from https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/chmod-chown-wsl-improvements/ worked for me:
sudo umount /mnt/c && sudo mount -t drvfs C: /mnt/c -o metadata
It's unclear but the command seems to be permanent. I'm not sure what happened during the upgrade from WSL 1 to 2 that affected this.

This is the error I am getting while trying to run a few jupyter notebooks. Will this command help with this issue?

That looks less like a linux/system issue, and more like a Python issue for me...?

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

This issue has been automatically closed since it has not had any activity for the past year. If you're still experiencing this issue please re-file this as a new issue or feature request.

Thank you!