xterm fails under WSL: not enough ptys

Question

Having just updated to the newest Windows 10 release (build 14316), I started the Windows Subsystem for Linux, which is supposed to run an Ubuntu installation on Windows.

When I type xterm in terminal I get error:

xterm: Error 32, errno 2: No such file or directory
Reason: get_pty: not enough ptys

What's the problem? I would like to install KDE konsole, it will work?

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:08

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Windows Subsystem for Linux doesn't (yet) have a working pseudo-terminal (pty) implementation. Programs that need to create one (like xterm, but also konsole, screen and rlwrap) will invariably fail with ENOENT ("No such file or directory")

see also: rlwrap could not open master pty

EDIT: as of june 9 2016, and build 14361, this problem appears to have been solved (see the comments on Microsofts github and Alexis' comment below)

edited May 23 '17 at 12:08

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answered Apr 16 '16 at 08:13

Hans Lub

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There is a way to implement `pty`? – lukassz Apr 16 '16 at 13:06
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@lukassz: WSL is closed source, so only Microsoft can do that - and they probably will. – Hans Lub Apr 17 '16 at 08:16
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According to a comment on [Microsoft's github](https://github.com/Microsoft/BashOnWindows/issues/323) "this one is near the top of our priority list." – Hans Lub May 14 '16 at 07:34

xterm fails under WSL: not enough ptys

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