Skip to content
Kiro WSL AWS Setup Guide

Enable WSL Integration

Enable WSL Integration in Docker Desktop

Section titled “Enable WSL Integration in Docker Desktop”
  1. Docker Desktop → Settings → Resources → WSL integration
  2. Check Enable integration with my default WSL distro
  3. Under Enable integration with additional distros: turn ON Ubuntu-26.04 (your distro name)
  4. Click Apply & restart (bottom-right) → wait for whale icon to steady (~30–60 seconds)

Important: Step 3 is what actually enables Docker in your Ubuntu distro. The “default WSL distro” checkbox (step 2) only applies to whichever distro wsl --list marks with * — which may be docker-desktop, not Ubuntu. Enabling your specific distro by name in step 3 ensures Docker works regardless of which distro is set as default.

Optional: If you want Ubuntu to be your default distro (so wsl opens Ubuntu instead of docker-desktop), run in PowerShell:

Terminal window
wsl --set-default Ubuntu-26.04

Expected before you click Apply & restart — both enabled:

Docker Desktop WSL integration settings showing default WSL distro checked and Ubuntu-26.04 enabled

Distro not listed? Click Refetch distros, or open Ubuntu once → PowerShell: wsl --list --verbose → restart Docker Desktop.

Fresh WSL2 Terminal

Section titled “Fresh WSL2 Terminal”

Close all Ubuntu windows. Open a new one (Start menu → Ubuntu). Integration applies to new sessions only.