WSL "WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80370102": turn on virtualization

1. See what’s missing

systeminfo | Select-String "Virtualization|Hyper-V|hypervisor"

Two kinds of answers:

Hyper-V Requirements:  Virtualization Enabled In Firmware: No

That points at section 2. Or:

Hyper-V Requirements:  A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed.

That means the hardware side is fine, and a hypervisor is running. The Performance tab in Task Manager shows the same thing: CPU → Virtualization: Enabled.

2. Enable virtualization in the firmware

If it’s off, no Windows setting will help. Restart, enter the BIOS/UEFI setup (usually F2, F10, F12 or Del during boot), and look for:

• Intel VT-x or Intel Virtualization Technology, on Intel machines;
• SVM Mode or AMD-V, on AMD machines.

It’s often under Advanced, CPU Configuration or Security. Enable it, save, and restart.

3. Enable the Windows features

WSL 2 needs Virtual Machine Platform, which is separate from WSL itself:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart

Restart, then bring WSL up to date and try again:

wsl --update
wsl --set-default-version 2
wsl --install -d Ubuntu

4. The hypervisor is turned off

Some guides, and some older emulators and virtualization tools, turn off the Windows hypervisor at boot. Features can then be on, and WSL still fails. Check:

bcdedit /enum | Select-String hypervisorlaunchtype

If it says Off, turn it back on and restart:

bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto

5. Windows itself runs in a virtual machine

Then the machine has to pass virtualization through to Windows. This is nested virtualization, and it’s set on the host, with the VM powered off.

On a Hyper-V host:

Set-VMProcessor -VMName "MyWindowsVM" -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true

In VMware, enable Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI in the VM’s processor settings. In VirtualBox, it’s Enable Nested VT-x/AMD-V.

In the cloud, it depends on the machine type: on Azure, choose a size that supports nested virtualization. If a provider doesn’t offer it, use WSL 1 (next section).

6. When you can’t enable it: WSL 1

WSL 1 doesn’t use a virtual machine, so none of this applies:

wsl --set-default-version 1
wsl --install -d Ubuntu
wsl --list --verbose

It’s a real option for scripts and command-line tools. It has no real Linux kernel, though, so Docker and other programs that rely on kernel features won’t run in it.