IssueRaiser

[WSL2] File changes made by Windows apps on Windows filesystem don't trigger notifications for Linux apps

WSL2 is **really close** to being a perfect runtime environment for server apps being developed in Windows. Great job! One missing feature however is breaking a core part of the developer flow. For sources stored on the Windows filesystem, any changes made by Windows applications such as Visual Studio do not trigger any file change notifications as far as Linux apps are concerned. This means that all "live rebuild"-type tools don't work (examples: `webpack --watch`, `jekyll --interactive`, and [Tilt.dev](https://tilt.dev/)) when running under WSL2. This unfortunately renders many modern dev workflows unviable. Notes: * I strongly expect this is already a known issue [as hinted here](https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/1956#issuecomment-491266167). However I was unable to find any open GitHub issue that specifically tracks this. #1956 is about a different scenario, #4064 isn't specifically about change notifications, #4224 is closed, #4293 doesn't fix it. * I'm aware the WSL team suggests that with WSL2 it's good to store your application sources inside the Linux filesystem instead of the Windows one. However I don't think that's a viable solution since the whole point of WSL (for me) is to be able to use Windows-based editors such as full VS with a Linux dev environment. If it was sufficient to use Linux-based editors, I'd just use Mac/Linux as my actual OS and would have no need for WSL. * This did work great on WSL1 * Changing `fs.inotify.max_user_watches` doesn'

Posted by SteveSandersonMS on Dec 6, 2019, 2:55 PM

Tags

Related issues

Raise real-world problems, find people facing the same issue, and discuss solutions.3,500 issues0 comments

github (Sysadmin)

[WSL2] File changes made by Windows apps on Windows filesystem don't trigger notifications for Linux apps

SteveSandersonMSDec 6, 2019, 2:55 PM

WSL2 is **really close** to being a perfect runtime environment for server apps being developed in Windows. Great job! One missing feature however is breaking a core part of the developer flow. For sources stored on the Windows filesystem, any changes made by Windows applications such as Visual Studio do not trigger any file change notifications as far as Linux apps are concerned. This means that all "live rebuild"-type tools don't work (examples: `webpack --watch`, `jekyll --interactive`, and [Tilt.dev](https://tilt.dev/)) when running under WSL2. This unfortunately renders many modern dev workflows unviable. Notes: * I strongly expect this is already a known issue [as hinted here](https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/1956#issuecomment-491266167). However I was unable to find any open GitHub issue that specifically tracks this. #1956 is about a different scenario, #4064 isn't specifically about change notifications, #4224 is closed, #4293 doesn't fix it. * I'm aware the WSL team suggests that with WSL2 it's good to store your application sources inside the Linux filesystem instead of the Windows one. However I don't think that's a viable solution since the whole point of WSL (for me) is to be able to use Windows-based editors such as full VS with a Linux dev environment. If it was sufficient to use Linux-based editors, I'd just use Mac/Linux as my actual OS and would have no need for WSL. * This did work great on WSL1 * Changing `fs.inotify.max_user_watches` doesn'

Comments (0)

No comments yet. Start the discussion.

Comment on this issue