Can I set a static ip address for WSL 2? - mysql

Question

I'm doing some Ruby on Rails development on a WSL 2. The rails app connects to a MySQL server running on my Windows host. When I used WSL 1 it as easy to set the host to 127.0.0.1 but on WSL 2 I have to use the nameserver written in /etc/resolv.conf
But I found out that IP address written in resolv.conf changes on reboots.
Is there a way to set a static IP address for WSL 2 ?

Answer 1

You can consider ocroz/wsl2-boot (see INSTALL for installation instructions)
After running wsl-boot command:
The WSL network is configured as per its predefined definition always (Windows side),
All WSL hosts are configured with their predefined static IP always (Linux side),
All WSL hosts and connected Hyper-V VMs can talk to each other always,
The DNS resolution works however you are connected to Internet or VPN,
You can SSH to WSL host without any delay.
Dec. 2022, microsoft/WSL issue 4210 also adds:
With the latest Windows 11 (22621+), you can already specify the network adapter you want to use for WSL2 in .wslconfig:
[wsl2]
networkingMode=bridged
vmSwitch=my-switch
ipv6=true
So, now you can create a Hyper-V external virtual switch for WSL2 and fix the IP address, no other scripts are required. It works out-of-box.
The same thread adds:
Create a vSwitch in Hyper-V，I Use Hyper-V Gui to do this. Hyper-V has three types of virtual switches -- external, internal, and private.
I choose the "external" type , which is bridge type, the same as VMWare workstation.
set this config in .wslconfig
I find the IP change to the network of my home router，which is replace the old of eth0.
You can set DHCP in you home router, then Fix the IP of the bridge.
To sum up, in the case of bridge, it is essentially DHCP , and whether it is fixed or not depends on the DHCP server.

Answer 2

If you don't want /etc/hosts, /etc/resolv.conf to change after restart, you can create
/etc/wsl.conf
[network]
generateHosts = false
generateResolvConf = false