How to change default user in WSL Ubuntu bash on Windows 10

Question

I installed the WSL Bash on Windows 10 and set my user to e.g. 'abc' but now I want to change it to something else.

How can I change the user name of the user I'm logged in as?

When I open bash it automatically logs me in with my current user.

As of now, Ubuntu 20.04 is current. After its installed using WSL 2, the ubuntu2004 command becomes available for use: ubuntu2004 config --default-user robert — BSalita, Jun 23 '20 at 11:18
For those who didn't installed via store (e.g via export/import): https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/3974#issuecomment-576782860. Default user can be changed by creating a /etc/wsl.conf file — Sebastian Hoffmann, Nov 03 '20 at 12:27
Thanks so much @SebastianHoffmann, this comment is what made me realise that it was all due to the import. Thought when I exported that everything would be an exact copy, but I guess not. — EmSixTeen, Jan 21 '21 at 13:17

score 91 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 21 '22 at 08:26

91

Now that LxRun.exe is deprecated, if you install Ubuntu from the Windows store the command you will need to run at a windows command prompt is

ubuntu config --default-user <username>

(Note: depending on which version you installed this could be ubuntu1804.exe or ubuntu2004.exe)

If you're using WSL2, you're done.

For WSL1, you'll need to also restart LxssManager service

sc stop LxssManager
sc start LxssManager

edited Jul 21 '22 at 08:26

Zain Rizvi

103

answered Oct 20 '17 at 00:56

KDEx

1,011
7
4

6

ubuntu might NOT be your default, it depends which version you installed so check the answers below, as mine is "ubuntu1804 config ..." – rmcsharry Apr 25 '19 at 11:01
9

ubuntu1804 config --default-user ... for me – masterxilo Jul 11 '19 at 18:13
Restarting the service was a must for me. Googled a few minutes before I found this, no one really mentions it. Thanks! – jValdron Sep 11 '19 at 11:39
1

Is there a way to do this same action but using the 'bash' command? – rmutalik Dec 02 '19 at 19:07
1

instead of setting the default user it opened bash for me. It does not seem to be working for some reason. I am on the latest release of Windows as of today – akxer Dec 04 '19 at 17:09
Does not work in my case, I didn't install the distro from MicrosoftStore but downloading the distro directly from the website (because I use a Server style installe) – Cornelius Roemer Oct 13 '20 at 18:53
For additional instances, you can set it in /etc/wsl.conf. I wrote that up below. – Jacktose Dec 16 '20 at 20:10
2

With WSL 2 in use, it was not required to restart the LxSSManager service for the container to use the change – Laice Aug 23 '21 at 12:01

score 82 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 16 '20 at 20:09

82

The top answer (ubuntu config --default-user root) is currently correct for the default instance. But if you have multiple instances, you need to work slightly harder:

Inside the instance, as root, create/edit /etc/wsl.conf and add these lines:

[user]
default=username

Then close it, run wsl --terminate <distro name> in PowerShell, and restart it.

That's from an issue in the WSL repo. The registry hack answer is also in there, but /etc/wsl.conf is now officially the supported solution.

answered Dec 16 '20 at 20:09

Jacktose

939
6
9

8

For the ones who have moved the distro file from C to other drive like me. This worked in a go. – Asif Ali Dec 17 '20 at 08:41
4

This should be the accepted answer as this also works for custom installed distributions. – papercrane Jan 29 '21 at 19:22
4

This works for my distro that was moved to another drive using wsl --export and wsl --import – Constructor Mar 24 '21 at 15:45
2

I needed to change my default user from root to my own user and this was the answer. – Vahid Amiri Jul 11 '21 at 05:01
1

/etc/wsl.conf solution worked for me – Adil Jul 13 '21 at 12:53
Also works for Debian :-) – Polluks Aug 18 '21 at 07:42
However, I'm still confused by how importing an exported distro would mess up the configuration for the default user, – PIG208 Sep 04 '21 at 22:07
Thanks, after edit the file you can just type wsl.exe --shutdown instead go to PowerShell and terminate – Lan Nguyen Sep 18 '21 at 15:37
Perfect. This worked after moving WSL from an old PC to a new one. Initially it changed the default user to root, which was weird. Anyway, the solution worked after restarting WSL. – frizzant Dec 28 '22 at 15:11

score 37 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 13 '20 at 16:51

37

All other answers were helpful, but can be other scenarios too, follow here as per yours. Mine was Ubuntu 16.04, so I used the following:

ubuntu1604 config --default-user <username>

If you installed Ubuntu 18.04:

ubuntu1804 config --default-user <username>

If you used the default one, then:

ubuntu config --default-user <username>

edited Oct 13 '20 at 16:51

Zanna

70,465

answered Jan 19 '19 at 03:57

kakabali

471

Should this not change the current username to the username I provide in ? When I try this it just tells me the username I am providing does not exist. This is on 18.0.4 – wuno Apr 26 '19 at 17:09
U may want to use root as user?? – kakabali Jun 27 '19 at 03:50
1

this should be the ANSWER, today at 2020-02-15, this is the only option works. – Luke Feb 15 '20 at 02:24
The right answer as I have two Ubuntus! You have yo specify. – raphaklaus Nov 04 '22 at 20:11

score 15 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 13 '20 at 16:51

15

If you're running Ubuntu 18.04 from the Microsoft Store, the command (powershell or cmd) will be:

ubuntu1804 config --default-user <username>

edited Oct 13 '20 at 16:51

Zanna

70,465

answered Sep 26 '18 at 15:39

rainabba

277

score 14 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 26 '16 at 11:13

14

You can change the default user for bash by running the following command in a normal command prompt (cmd.exe):

LxRun.exe /setdefaultuser <new_name>

answered Aug 26 '16 at 11:13

William Bowling

141

score 8 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 10 '21 at 16:46

Old question that got bumped today, but the answers need updating and consolidating to be current (and correct).

There are two parts to the question, and every answer here so far just covers one or the other.

First question:

How can I change the user name of the user I'm logged in as?

As @PJ127 correctly pointed out, the first step is to actually change the username within Ubuntu. This can most easily be done (now, in 2021) by exiting WSL and starting PowerShell, then:

wsl -l -v
wsl --terminate <distro> # <distro> from the previous command
wsl -u root -d <distro> # "-d <distro>" is only needed for non-default instances
# Now from in WSL
usermod -l newname oldname 
# Optionally change the home directory name to match
usermod -d /home/doug -m doug
# Optionally change the group name to match
groupmod -n newname oldname

Then there's the second part of the question, which is what most of the answers here attempt to cover:

When I open bash it automatically logs me in with my current user

There are multiple ways of doing this, but the Microsoft recommended/documented method in 2021 is as @Jacktose answered:

In your WSL instance, sudo editor /etc/wsl.conf with the following contents:
```
[user]
default=username
```
Exit, then from PowerShell, wsl --terminate <distro name> and restart WSL.

While the ubuntu.exe --config method will work, there are two problems:

It's not always "ubuntu.exe". The name of the executable (technically "app execution alias") depends on which version you installed from the Store. Ubuntu has come in multiple Store packages over the years. There's a package for each supported release (e.g. ubuntu2004.exe, etc.) and one for the "current" version (ubuntu.exe). And while this is Ask Ubuntu, it also could be alpine.exe, etc. if you are using a different distribution.
It also, as has been pointed out in other answers, does not work if you have more than one instance installed (which is a great feature of WSL). It will only work for the first, store-installed instance.

Then, of course, there are registry-based methods of changing the default name, but since we have safer, supported methods let's not even cover those here. :-)

Setting the default user didn't work for me until I added that user. Now it works like a charm. (WSL with VS Code just used root, no additional user was added until I did this) — ps2goat, Apr 05 '22 at 16:50

Benjamin McIntire · Answer 7 · 2019-01-22T04:45:15.093

5

In CMD

See which distros you have installed wslconfig /l

I have Ubuntu and I wanted to set the default user to root ubuntu config --default-user root

Documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/user-support

edited Jan 22 '19 at 04:45

answered Jan 21 '19 at 19:54

Benjamin McIntire

49

score 4 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 05 '21 at 10:46

4

ubuntu was not recognized by cmd.exe (Windows 10 / WSL Ubuntu 20.04), so the solutions above did not work for me.

What worked for me (from Windows terminal):

wsl.exe -u root
sudo usermod -l newUsername oldUsername
sudo usermod -d /home/newHomeDir -m newUsername

answered Feb 05 '21 at 10:46

PJ127

281

This is the correct answear, because it is changing the username, not the user itself. Also, if you get the message that username can't be changed because a process is running, just sudo kill processId – pmiguelpinto90 Jun 25 '21 at 16:46
1

And you also probably want to change the group name 'sudo groupmod -n newUsername oldUsername' – pmiguelpinto90 Jul 01 '21 at 00:37

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Dec 02 '22 at 12:18

0

Use wsl --list command to see what WSL distribution you have installed. It may return Ubuntu-22.04 or some other version you may have installed. Alternatively you can run the following from WSL Ubuntu terminal session to get your Ubuntu version:

grep "DISTRIB_RELEASE=" /etc/lsb-release | grep -E [0-9]{2}.[0-9]{2} -o

Having Ubuntu version clarified run the command below from Windows CMD to set your default user, making sure that replacing 2204 to the specific version you have (obtained using commands above):

ubuntu2204 config --default-user <username>

answered Dec 02 '22 at 12:18

Mike

119
3

2

This looks to be exactly the same information that was already given in this answer from 5 years ago. While we welcome new answers to old questions, we do ask that they be new ;-). If you are just adding the ubuntu2204 for the latest release, then that should be a simple edit to the existing answer. If you'd like to make that edit, I'd be happy to approve it for you. Thanks! – NotTheDr01ds Dec 02 '22 at 12:27
Well I explicitly added on how to get Ubuntu version used instead of listing couple of versions to be common at the moment of the answer. that was the only new part... I didn't noticed that part covered in other answers so decided to add mine – Mike Dec 02 '22 at 14:01
2

Understood - Just looks like information that should probably have been edited in to the other answer. Sometimes it's a tough call, I know. But look at the other similar edits that other users have made to that answer. – NotTheDr01ds Dec 02 '22 at 14:04
When building on other people's answers it is important to give credit. These purpose of these communities is to share knowledge therefore it is important to link duplicate or similar answers. – theYnot Dec 09 '22 at 21:39

How to change default user in WSL Ubuntu bash on Windows 10

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