Docker Desktop not starting up in windows 10 with WSL2 enabled

Question

Docker Desktop is not starting up with WSL2 Enabled and below is the stack trace? Any help would be very much appreciated.

System.TimeoutException:
Timed out waiting for the lifecycle-server to start.
This may be the result of a slow environment or there may be a real problem.
This timeout can be increased by editing settings.json, value 'lifecycleTimeoutSeconds'.
This file is usually in C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Roaming\Docker
   at Docker.ApiServices.LifecycleClient.<WaitForServerUpAsync>d__8.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\stable-2.5.x\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.ApiServices\LifecycleClient.cs:line 84
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Docker.Engines.WSL2.LinuxWSL2Engine.<DoStartAsync>d__25.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\stable-2.5.x\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.Desktop\Engines\WSL2\LinuxWSL2Engine.cs:line 148
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Docker.ApiServices.StateMachines.TaskExtensions.<WrapAsyncInCancellationException>d__0.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\stable-2.5.x\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.ApiServices\StateMachines\TaskExtensions.cs:line 29
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Docker.ApiServices.StateMachines.StartTransition.<DoRunAsync>d__5.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\stable-2.5.x\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.ApiServices\StateMachines\StartTransition.cs:line 67
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at Docker.ApiServices.StateMachines.StartTransition.<DoRunAsync>d__5.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\stable-2.5.x\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.ApiServices\StateMachines\StartTransition.cs:line 92

Answer 1

I had the same issue and I resolved it following the instructions in the error. Have you tried that?

Long story short, change the lifecycleTimeoutSeconds setting in C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Roaming\Docker\settings.json from 600 to 3600, and restart Docker Desktop.

Researching a bit the problem and what would be a proper value to set, this issue and this comment in particular helped. But in essence, the conclusion is the error message has it all, except the actual value (3600) to put and precise file (setttings.json) that owns it.

Answer 2

In my case helped total disabling of Exploit Protection in Windows 10 Pro

1. Windows Security
2. App & browser control
3. Exploit protection

If you are going to try please also check overriding of default settings on Program Settings tab for c:\Windows\System32\vmcompute.exe process.