VSCode with WSL2 - Delayed launching due to no response to ping

Question

Using VSCode with WSL2. Everything was alright until last week. From today, I observed that it is taking time to start the WSL. The following is the log from VSCode.

[2021-02-22 06:00:31.458] Resolving wsl+myubuntu2004, resolveAttempt: 1
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.553] Starting VS Code Server inside WSL (MyUbuntu2004)
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.553] Extension version: 0.53.4, Windows build: 18363. Multi distro support: available. WSL path support: enabled
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.553] No shell environment set or found for current distro.
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.657] Probing if server is already installed: C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe -d MyUbuntu2004 -e sh -c "[ -d ~/.vscode-server/bin/622cb03f7e070a9670c94bae1a45d78d7181fbd4 ] && printf found || ([ -f /etc/alpine-release ] && printf alpine-; uname -m)"
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.830] Probing result: x86_64
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.831] No server install found in WSL, needs x64
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.832] Launching C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe -d MyUbuntu2004 sh -c '"$VSCODE_WSL_EXT_LOCATION/scripts/wslServer.sh" 622cb03f7e070a9670c94bae1a45d78d7181fbd4 stable .vscode-server 0  '}
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.957] Setting up server environment: Looking for /home/raj/.vscode-server/server-env-setup. Not found.
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.957] WSL version: 5.4.72-microsoft-standard-WSL2 MyUbuntu2004
[2021-02-22 06:00:31.957] Installing VS Code Server from tar available at /mnt/c/Users/1186738/AppData/Local/Temp/vscode-remote-wsl/622cb03f7e070a9670c94bae1a45d78d7181fbd4/vscode-server-linux-x64.tar.gz
[2021-02-22 06:00:32.857] Unpacking:   0%  1%  2%  3%  4%  5%  6%  7%  8%  9% 10% 11% 12% 13% 14% 15% 16% 17% 18% 19% 20% 21% 22% 23% 24% 25% 26% 27% 28% 29% 30% 31% 32% 33% 34%
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.158]  35% 36% 37% 38% 39% 40% 41% 42%
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459]  43% 44% 45% 46% 47% 48% 49% 50% 51% 52% 53% 54% 55% 56% 57% 58% 59% 60% 61% 62% 63% 64% 65% 66% 67% 68% 69% 70% 71% 72% 73% 74% 75% 76% 77% 78% 79% 80% 81% 82% 83% 84% 85% 86% 87% 88% 89% 90% 91% 92% 93% 94% 95% 96% 97% 98% 99%100%
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] Unpacked 1769 files and folders to /home/raj/.vscode-server/bin/622cb03f7e070a9670c94bae1a45d78d7181fbd4.
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] WSL2-shell-PID: 96
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] Starting server: /home/raj/.vscode-server/bin/622cb03f7e070a9670c94bae1a45d78d7181fbd4/server.sh  --port=0 --use-host-proxy --without-browser-env-var --enable-remote-auto-shutdown 
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] 
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] 
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] *
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] * Visual Studio Code Server
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] *
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] * Reminder: You may only use this software with Visual Studio family products,
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] * as described in the license https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/license
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] *
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] 
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] IP Address: 172.x.x.x
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] Extension host agent listening on 34395
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] 
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.459] [11:30:33] Extension host agent started.
[2021-02-22 06:00:33.467] Pinging 172.x.x.x:34395...
[2021-02-22 06:03:34.217] 172.x.x.x:34395 no response
[2021-02-22 06:03:34.217] WSL resolver response: ::1:34395
[2021-02-22 06:03:34.217] To debug connection issues, open a local browser on http://[::1]:34395/version

It can be seen that the 'Pinging 172.x.x.x:34395...' is taking 3 mins time and returning no response. This is causing a delay of 3 minutes during each launch of VSCode workspace.

I tested connection to the above ip with port through both Windows and through WSL successfully.

PS C:\Users\Raj> Test-NetConnection 172.x.x.x -port 34395


ComputerName     : 172.x.x.x
RemoteAddress    : 172.x.x.x
RemotePort       : 34395
InterfaceAlias   : vEthernet (WSL)
SourceAddress    : 172.x.x.x
TcpTestSucceeded : True

raj@WSL-Host:~$ nc -vz 172.x.x.x 34395
Connection to 172.x.x.x 34395 port [tcp/*] succeeded!

VSCode version details.

Version: 1.53.2 (user setup)
Commit: 622cb03f7e070a9670c94bae1a45d78d7181fbd4
Date: 2021-02-11T11:48:04.245Z
Electron: 11.2.1
Chrome: 87.0.4280.141
Node.js: 12.18.3
V8: 8.7.220.31-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.18363

Answer 1

You can configure the WSL remote extension to use localhost for probing instead of the VM machine IP. (See this issue).

Configure the remote.WSL.server.connectThroughLocalhost setting to true.

Answer 2

The issue seems to be due to proxy configuration in the VSCode settings. Removing it has resolved the delay.