chenhg5/cc-connect · error

systemd user session not available in WSL2. Add the follow

Error message

systemd user session not available in WSL2.
  Add the following to /etc/wsl.conf and restart WSL (wsl --shutdown):
    [boot]
    systemd=true
  Or use: nohup cc-connect > cc-connect.log 2>&1 &

What it means

On WSL2, cc-connect's daemon support needs systemd's user session (systemctl --user) to manage the service. This error is thrown when the WSL2 check in checkSystemdRunning determines the user-level systemd session is not available — almost always because systemd is disabled in /etc/wsl.conf. The message contains the exact wsl.conf snippet needed to enable it.

Source

Thrown at daemon/systemd.go:294

			return fmt.Errorf("systemd is not active in this WSL2 instance.\n" +
				"  Add the following to /etc/wsl.conf and restart WSL (wsl --shutdown):\n" +
				"    [boot]\n" +
				"    systemd=true\n" +
				"  Or use: nohup cc-connect > cc-connect.log 2>&1 &")
		}
		if state == "offline" || strings.Contains(state, "not been booted") {
			return fmt.Errorf("systemd is not active (state: %s).\n"+
				"  If running in a container, systemd is typically not available.\n"+
				"  Use nohup, tmux, or screen instead:\n"+
				"    nohup cc-connect > cc-connect.log 2>&1 &", state)
		}
		return fmt.Errorf("systemd check failed (state: %s).\n"+
			"  Use nohup as alternative: nohup cc-connect > cc-connect.log 2>&1 &", state)
	}

	// User-level failures
	if wsl {
		return fmt.Errorf("systemd user session not available in WSL2.\n" +
			"  Add the following to /etc/wsl.conf and restart WSL (wsl --shutdown):\n" +
			"    [boot]\n" +
			"    systemd=true\n" +
			"  Or use: nohup cc-connect > cc-connect.log 2>&1 &")
	}

	user := os.Getenv("USER")
	return fmt.Errorf("systemd user session not available.\n"+
		"  This often happens when connecting via SSH without a systemd login session.\n"+
		"  Try one of:\n"+
		"    1. Run as root: sudo cc-connect daemon install (uses system-level systemd)\n"+
		"    2. loginctl enable-linger %s && export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u)\n"+
		"    3. Use nohup/tmux instead: nohup cc-connect > cc-connect.log 2>&1 &", user)
}

func isWSL2() bool {
	data, err := os.ReadFile("/proc/version")
	if err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to 4000b2338a)

Solutions

1. Add the following to /etc/wsl.conf: [boot] systemd=true then restart WSL with `wsl --shutdown` and reopen your distro
2. Verify afterwards: `systemctl is-system-running` and `systemctl --user status` both respond
3. Require a recent WSL version (`wsl --update`) since systemd support needs WSL 0.67.6+ / Windows 11 or backported support
4. If you cannot enable systemd, use `nohup cc-connect > cc-connect.log 2>&1 &` instead of the daemon subcommand

Example fix

// before: /etc/wsl.conf without systemd
// after:
$ sudo tee -a /etc/wsl.conf >/dev/null <<'EOF'
[boot]
systemd=true
EOF
$ wsl --shutdown   # from PowerShell, then reopen WSL
$ cc-connect daemon install

if grep -qs '^\[boot\]' /etc/wsl.conf && grep -qsA1 '^\[boot\]' /etc/wsl.conf | grep -qs 'systemd=true'; then
  cc-connect daemon install
else
  echo "Enable systemd in /etc/wsl.conf ([boot] systemd=true), run 'wsl --shutdown', then retry"
fi

if err := daemon.Install(cfg); err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "WSL2") {
    fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Enable systemd: add '[boot]\nsystemd=true' to /etc/wsl.conf, then run 'wsl --shutdown'")
    os.Exit(1)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running `cc-connect daemon install` inside WSL2 where /etc/wsl.conf lacks the `[boot] systemd=true` directive, so `systemctl --user` has no user session/manager to talk to.

Common situations: Default WSL2 distributions (systemd is off by default on older WSL releases); freshly installed WSL distros where wsl.conf was never edited; users who enabled system-level systemd but not the user session.

Related errors

• systemd is not active in this WSL2 instance. Add the follo
• systemd is not active (state: %s). If running in a contain
• systemd check failed (state: %s). Use nohup as alternative
• taskkill failed: %w: %s
• taskkill failed: %w: %s; process kill fallback failed: %w

AI-assisted analysis of chenhg5/cc-connect@4000b2338a (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8399e32bf5175dd6. Report an issue: GitHub.