lima-vm/lima · error

error running wslCommand that executes boot.sh (%v): %w, che

Error message

error running wslCommand that executes boot.sh (%v): %w, check /var/log/lima-init.log for more details (out=%#q)

What it means

Lima's WSL2 driver runs the instance's boot.sh provisioning script inside the WSL distro via wslCommand and captures its combined output. If the command exits non-zero, Lima wraps the original error together with the command arguments and captured output, because boot.sh failure means guest provisioning did not complete.

Source

Thrown at pkg/driver/wsl2/vm_windows.go:130

		// because main.handleExitCoder() traps it, so wrap the error
		return fmt.Errorf("failed to run wslpath command: %w", err)
	}
	limaBootFileLinuxPath := strings.TrimSpace(string(limaBootFilePathOnLinuxB))
	go func() {
		cmd := exec.CommandContext(
			ctx,
			"wsl.exe",
			"-d",
			distroName,
			"bash",
			"-c",
			limaBootFileLinuxPath,
		)
		out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
		os.RemoveAll(limaBootFileWinPath)
		logrus.Debugf("%v: %#q", cmd.Args, string(out))
		if err != nil {
			errCh <- fmt.Errorf(
				"error running wslCommand that executes boot.sh (%v): %w, "+
					"check /var/log/lima-init.log for more details (out=%#q)", cmd.Args, err, string(out))
		}

		<-ctx.Done()
		logrus.Info("Context closed, stopping vm")
		if status, err := getWslStatus(ctx, instanceName); err == nil &&
			status == limatype.StatusRunning {
			_ = stopVM(ctx, distroName)
		}
	}()

	return err
}

// keepAlive runs a background process which in order to keep the WSL2 VM running in the background after launch.
func keepAlive(ctx context.Context, distroName string, errCh chan<- error) {
	keepAliveCmd := exec.CommandContext(

View on GitHub (pinned to dd909d0973)

Solutions

1. Read /var/log/lima-init.log inside the distro (wsl -d <distroName> cat /var/log/lima-init.log) to find the failing provisioning step
2. Inspect the out= portion of this error for stderr from boot.sh
3. Fix or remove the failing provisioning steps in the instance's Lima YAML (provision section) and recreate the instance
4. Ensure the guest has network/DNS access and the distro finished first-boot setup before provisioning
5. Rerun limactl start after fixing; delete the broken instance with limactl delete if provisioning is half-applied

Example fix

// before
provision:
  - mode: system
    script: apt-get install -y mypkg   # fails if apt index is stale
// after
provision:
  - mode: system
    script: apt-get update && apt-get install -y mypkg

// Verify provisioning script is syntactically valid before start
const { execFileSync } = require('child_process');
execFileSync('bash', ['-n', 'boot.sh'], { stdio: 'inherit' }); // syntax check

function hasBootOutput(r) { return r && typeof r.out === 'string'; }

try {
  await limactlStart(inst);
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e).includes('error running wslCommand that executes boot.sh')) {
    const log = execFileSync('wsl', ['-d', distro, 'cat', '/var/log/lima-init.log']).toString();
    console.error('Provisioning failed; lima-init.log tail:', log.slice(-2000));
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: The wsl.exe invocation executing lima-boot-file (boot.sh) returns a non-zero exit status during instance start; cmd.CombinedOutput() populates err. Provisioning commands inside boot.sh (package installs, systemctl, user setup) fail inside the guest.

Common situations: A provisioning script step fails due to no network in the guest, a bad apt/yum mirror, invalid provisioning YAML converted into boot.sh, or the distro not being fully initialized when boot.sh runs. The real cause is visible in /var/log/lima-init.log inside the distro.

Related errors

• failed to construct wsl boot.sh script: %w
• failed to run wslpath command: %w
• cannot use `--sync` with a wsl2 instance, the host directory
• unimplemented
• failed to run `wsl.exe --distribution %s`: %w (out=%#q)

AI-assisted analysis of lima-vm/lima@dd909d0973 (2026-09-01). Data as JSON: /api/errors/894e209dad9ef12b. Report an issue: GitHub.