startingDirectory works with Ubuntu 18.04, but not Ubuntu 20.04 #8309

@paulomanrique commented on GitHub (May 21, 2020):

Mine is working fine. One workaround is to include a "cd" in the end of your ~/.bashrc

@paulomanrique commented on GitHub (May 21, 2020): Mine is working fine. One workaround is to include a "cd" in the end of your ~/.bashrc

claunia commented

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (May 22, 2020):

Huh, this is a real thinker. @benhillis / @craigloewen-msft any ideas why this might be? Maybe something weird with the windows<->//wsl$/ interop?

I honestly have no idea why it would work for one distro and not the other.

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (May 22, 2020): Huh, this is a real thinker. @benhillis / @craigloewen-msft any ideas why this might be? Maybe something weird with the windows\<->`//wsl$/` interop? I honestly have no idea why it would work for one distro and not the other.

claunia commented

@henriksen commented on GitHub (May 24, 2020):

One workaround is to include a "cd" in the end of your ~/.bashrc

Yeah, I did that (just to the /etc/bash.bashrc file). Still weird how it works on some distroes and not on others.

@henriksen commented on GitHub (May 24, 2020): > One workaround is to include a "cd" in the end of your ~/.bashrc Yeah, I did that (just to the `/etc/bash.bashrc` file). Still weird how it works on some distroes and not on others.

claunia commented

@henriksen commented on GitHub (May 24, 2020):

(edited the OP from WLinux to Ubuntu since I copy/pasted the wrong entry from settings. WLinux behaves like Ubuntu, it respects the startingDirectory setting)

@henriksen commented on GitHub (May 24, 2020): (edited the OP from WLinux to Ubuntu since I copy/pasted the wrong entry from settings. WLinux behaves like Ubuntu, it respects the `startingDirectory` setting)

claunia commented

@henriksen commented on GitHub (May 24, 2020):

Tried it on another, fresh machine. This time with Ubuntu as 20.04 and Ubuntu-18.04. Both worked as expected and started with my home dir as the current path. As specified. Just a freak thing I guess.

@henriksen commented on GitHub (May 24, 2020): Tried it on another, fresh machine. This time with `Ubuntu` as 20.04 and `Ubuntu-18.04`. Both worked as expected and started with my home dir as the current path. As specified. Just a freak thing I guess.

claunia commented

@warpdesign commented on GitHub (Jun 5, 2020):

It doesn't seem to work for me either.

Here is my profile for Ubuntu-20.04:

        {
            "guid": "{07b52e3e-de2c-5db4-bd2d-ba144ed6c273}",
            "hidden": false,
            "name": "Ubuntu-20.04",
            "cursorShape": "underscore",
            "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl",
            "colorScheme": "One Half Dark",
            "padding" : "5, 5, 5, 5",
            "fontSize": 11,
            "closeOnExit" : true,
            "startingDirectory": "/home"
        }

Instead of opening in /home it opens in the default which is ~.

@warpdesign commented on GitHub (Jun 5, 2020): It doesn't seem to work for me either. Here is my profile for Ubuntu-20.04: ``` { "guid": "{07b52e3e-de2c-5db4-bd2d-ba144ed6c273}", "hidden": false, "name": "Ubuntu-20.04", "cursorShape": "underscore", "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl", "colorScheme": "One Half Dark", "padding" : "5, 5, 5, 5", "fontSize": 11, "closeOnExit" : true, "startingDirectory": "/home" } ``` Instead of opening in `/home` it opens in the default which is `~`.

claunia commented

@DHowett commented on GitHub (Jun 5, 2020):

@warpdesign Since Terminal is a Windows application, it expects paths in Windows format.

To open in /home for Ubuntu-20.04, you'll want //wsl$/Ubuntu-20.04/home.

@DHowett commented on GitHub (Jun 5, 2020): @warpdesign Since Terminal is a Windows application, it expects paths in Windows format. To open in `/home` for `Ubuntu-20.04`, you'll want `//wsl$/Ubuntu-20.04/home`.

claunia commented

2026-01-31 01:26:13 +00:00

@warpdesign commented on GitHub (Jun 5, 2020):

It does not work with //wsl$/Ubuntu-20.04/home either: it still opens in ~.

Also tried with "\\\\wsl$\\Ubuntu-20.04\\home\\" without luck.

Btw since the source is set to Windows.Terminal.wsl, shouldn't it accept linux paths?

Note: I tried to do the same with the wt.exe command but it still fails to change the startup directory.

wt -p Ubuntu-20.04 -d \\wsl$\Ubuntu-20.04\home

@warpdesign commented on GitHub (Jun 5, 2020): It does not work with `//wsl$/Ubuntu-20.04/home` either: it still opens in `~`. Also tried with `"\\\\wsl$\\Ubuntu-20.04\\home\\"` without luck. Btw since the source is set to `Windows.Terminal.wsl`, shouldn't it accept linux paths? **Note:** I tried to do the same with the `wt.exe` command but it still fails to change the startup directory. > wt -p Ubuntu-20.04 -d \\\\wsl$\Ubuntu-20.04\home

claunia commented

@warpdesign commented on GitHub (Jun 8, 2020):

@henriksen I think I found the "problem": Ubuntu-20.04 automatically changes the directory to the user's home in .bashrc:

cd ~

So the startingDirectory option actually works but directory is changed back to the user's home when .bashrc is executed.

Removing this line obviously fixes the problem.

@warpdesign commented on GitHub (Jun 8, 2020): @henriksen I think I found the "problem": Ubuntu-20.04 automatically changes the directory to the user's home in `.bashrc`: > cd ~ So the `startingDirectory` option actually works but directory is changed back to the user's home when `.bashrc` is executed. Removing this line obviously fixes the problem.

claunia commented

2026-01-31 01:26:13 +00:00

@warpdesign commented on GitHub (Jun 8, 2020):

Hmm.. after some more digging there is actually a problem that seems to be related to the status of the WSL distro:

if it is running, startingDirectory works as expected
if it is not running, startingDirectory becomes %USERPROFILE% (/mnt/c/Users/xxx)

On this video the distro is not running when I first open an Ubuntu tab and the starting directory becomes my Windows user profile (not expected). But when I open a new Ubuntu tab, the distro is running, and the starting directory is the expected (set in the settings file) one: ~/Dev.

@warpdesign commented on GitHub (Jun 8, 2020): Hmm.. after some more digging there is actually a problem that seems to be related to the status of the WSL distro: - if it is running, startingDirectory works as expected - if it is not running, startingDirectory becomes %USERPROFILE% (`/mnt/c/Users/xxx`) On this video the distro is not running when I first open an Ubuntu tab and the starting directory becomes my Windows user profile (not expected). But when I open a new Ubuntu tab, the distro is running, and the starting directory is the expected (set in the settings file) one: `~/Dev`. ![wsl-startup](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/199648/84084789-6f1c8880-a9e4-11ea-8669-6353b2be8a8b.gif)

claunia commented

2026-01-31 01:26:13 +00:00

@DHowett commented on GitHub (Jun 8, 2020):

Can you share .bashrc?

@DHowett commented on GitHub (Jun 8, 2020): Can you share `.bashrc`?

claunia commented

@ghost commented on GitHub (Jun 13, 2020):

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 4 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.

@ghost commented on GitHub (Jun 13, 2020): This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for **4 days**. It will be closed if no further activity occurs **within 3 days of this comment**.

claunia commented

@henriksen commented on GitHub (Jun 14, 2020):

Can you share .bashrc?

Both .bashrcs are here: https://gist.github.com/henriksen/4ebbf1e5b38c23da68f5dfe987d507b8
No cd in any of them as far as I can see.

@henriksen commented on GitHub (Jun 14, 2020): > Can you share `.bashrc`? Both `.bashrc`s are here: https://gist.github.com/henriksen/4ebbf1e5b38c23da68f5dfe987d507b8 No `cd` in any of them as far as I can see.

claunia commented

@henriksen commented on GitHub (Jun 14, 2020):

Hmm.. after some more digging there is actually a problem that seems to be related to the status of the WSL distro:

Makes no difference in my case.

@henriksen commented on GitHub (Jun 14, 2020): > Hmm.. after some more digging there is actually a problem that seems to be related to the status of the WSL distro: Makes no difference in my case. ![pVvrPq8nwP](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/121837/84603238-2570e980-ae8d-11ea-8ac5-7c5e6fe145e9.gif)

claunia commented

@pcolmer commented on GitHub (Jun 15, 2020):

I'm seeing the same problem but, in my case, I've pinned it down to the source config entry. If I have two Ubuntu entries:

            {
                "guid": "{c6eaf9f4-32a7-5fdc-b5cf-066e8a4b1e40}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "Ubuntu",
                "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl",
                "commandline": "wsl.exe ~"
            },
            {
                "guid": "{daaee0d5-f525-4b10-98d1-d0ed1ede9f72}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "Ubuntu-no-source",
                // "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl",
                "commandline": "wsl.exe ~"
            },

then the "Ubuntu-no-source" will always go into ~/ whereas "Ubuntu" will always go into "/mnt/c/users/phili":

The above shows that it doesn't matter which order I open them in either.

@pcolmer commented on GitHub (Jun 15, 2020): I'm seeing the same problem but, in my case, I've pinned it down to the `source` config entry. If I have two Ubuntu entries: ``` { "guid": "{c6eaf9f4-32a7-5fdc-b5cf-066e8a4b1e40}", "hidden": false, "name": "Ubuntu", "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl", "commandline": "wsl.exe ~" }, { "guid": "{daaee0d5-f525-4b10-98d1-d0ed1ede9f72}", "hidden": false, "name": "Ubuntu-no-source", // "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl", "commandline": "wsl.exe ~" }, ``` then the "Ubuntu-no-source" will **always** go into `~/` whereas "Ubuntu" will always go into "/mnt/c/users/phili": ![ZAe2seVUdu](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1979931/84661173-dd47da80-af11-11ea-8925-c34aa8fb0ba4.gif) The above shows that it doesn't matter which order I open them in either.

claunia commented