Persist port mapping and volume information for containers across WSLA sessions #14118

kvega005 · 2026-01-28T00:44:10Z

Summary of the Pull Request

Added support to persist WSLA container metadata (port mappings, volume mounts, TTY setting) in a Docker label. This enables running containers with their full configuration when opening them from previous sessions.

Changes

New Container Metadata Schema (docker_schema.h)

Added WSLAContainerMetadataLabel constant for the label key
Added ContainerMetadata struct with JSON schema for storing:
- Volume mounts (host path, VM path, container path, read-only flag)
- Port mappings (host port, VM port, container port, family, mapped-to-host flag)
- TTY setting

Container Creation (WSLAContainer.cpp)

On Create(), serialize metadata to JSON and store in Docker label

Container Recovery (WSLAContainer.cpp)

On Open(), read metadata from Docker label
Re-mount volumes and re-map ports using stored configuration

Tests (WSLATests.cpp)

Added ContainerVolumeAndPortRecoveryFromStorage test that:
- Creates a container with volumes and ports
- Recovers it in a new session and verifies port/volume work
- Verifies session creation succeeds when host folder for volume is missing

PR Checklist

Closes: Link to issue #xxx
Communication: I've discussed this with core contributors already. If work hasn't been agreed, this work might be rejected
Tests: Added/updated if needed and all pass
Localization: All end user facing strings can be localized
Dev docs: Added/updated if needed
Documentation updated: If checked, please file a pull request on our docs repo and link it here: #xxx

Detailed Description of the Pull Request / Additional comments

Validation Steps Performed

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds support for persisting WSLA container metadata (volumes, port mappings, and TTY settings) in Docker container labels, enabling containers to be recovered with full configuration across WSLA session restarts.

Changes:

Introduced a JSON-based metadata schema stored in Docker labels to persist container configuration (volumes, ports, TTY)
Changed WSLA_VOLUME.HostPath API from LPCWSTR to LPCSTR for consistency with other string fields
Refactored port mapping logic to support both creation-time and recovery-time scenarios

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 8 out of 8 changed files in this pull request and generated 9 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainerMetadata.h	New metadata schema with JSON serialization for volumes, ports, and TTY settings
src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainer.h	Updated type signatures to use WSLAVolumeMount and WSLAPortMapping from metadata schema
src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainer.cpp	Implemented metadata serialization on Create(), deserialization on Open(), and refactored port/volume handling
src/windows/inc/docker_schema.h	Added Labels field to CreateContainer request for metadata storage
src/windows/wslaservice/inc/wslaservice.idl	Breaking API change: WSLA_VOLUME.HostPath changed from LPCWSTR to LPCSTR
src/windows/common/WSLAContainerLauncher.h	Updated AddVolume and Create method signatures to use std::string instead of std::wstring
src/windows/common/WSLAContainerLauncher.cpp	Updated implementation to handle string-based paths and added Create method
test/windows/WSLATests.cpp	Added comprehensive recovery test and updated existing tests for string-based path API

src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainer.cpp

src/windows/wslaservice/inc/wslaservice.idl

src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainerMetadata.h

test/windows/WSLATests.cpp

src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainer.cpp

OneBlue

Change looks good, added a couple minor comments

src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainerMetadata.h

test/windows/WSLATests.cpp

src/windows/wslaservice/inc/wslaservice.idl

src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainer.cpp

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

test/windows/WSLATests.cpp

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Copilot · 2026-01-30T00:04:52Z

test/windows/WSLATests.cpp

+        // Delete the host folder to simulate volume folder being missing on recovery
+        cleanup.reset();
+
+        // Create a new session - this should succeed even though the volume folder is gone


The comment is slightly misleading. The session creation succeeds not because "the volume folder is gone" but because the container was already deleted in the previous session (line 2544). When OpenContainer is called, it returns ERROR_NOT_FOUND because the Docker container no longer exists, not because of the missing volume folder. Consider updating the comment to clarify that the container was deleted before the session was created.

Suggested change

// Delete the host folder to simulate volume folder being missing on recovery

cleanup.reset();

// Create a new session - this should succeed even though the volume folder is gone

// Delete the host folder to simulate the volume folder being missing before recovery.

cleanup.reset();

// Create a new session. This succeeds because the container was deleted in the previous

// session; OpenContainer below is expected to return ERROR_NOT_FOUND for the missing

// container, regardless of the missing volume folder.

Copilot · 2026-01-30T00:04:53Z

test/windows/WSLATests.cpp

+            // Try to open the container - this should fail due to missing metadata.
+            wil::com_ptr<IWSLAContainer> container;
+            auto hr = session->OpenContainer("test-invalid-metadata", &container);
+            VERIFY_ARE_EQUAL(hr, E_UNEXPECTED);


The test expects E_UNEXPECTED, but the implementation throws E_INVALIDARG when the metadata label is missing. In WSLAContainer.cpp line 794-798, THROW_HR_IF_MSG throws E_INVALIDARG when dockerContainer.Labels.find(WSLAContainerMetadataLabel) returns end(). Change the expected error code to E_INVALIDARG to match the actual implementation.

Suggested change

VERIFY_ARE_EQUAL(hr, E_UNEXPECTED);

VERIFY_ARE_EQUAL(hr, E_INVALIDARG);

Copilot

Copilot encountered an error and was unable to review this pull request. You can try again by re-requesting a review.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainer.cpp

benhillis

I think some of these copilot comments are legit.

…kvega005/WSL into user/kevinve/container-metadata

OneBlue · 2026-01-31T01:02:16Z

src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainer.cpp

+        GUID volumeId;
+        THROW_IF_FAILED(CoCreateGuid(&volumeId));
+
+        auto parentVMPath = std::format("/mnt/{}", wsl::shared::string::GuidToString<char>(volumeId));


nit: I liked having the container name as prefix, but now that it might be empty, we could use the container id (since it's always guaranteed to be set)

kvega005 added 4 commits January 27, 2026 14:05

Persist container metadata across WSLA sessions

b1e3890

Fix network and ports

e60b46a

Add test

f1c2e9b

Verify conainer recovery doesnt break starting WSLA Session

220e2c5

kvega005 requested a review from a team as a code owner January 28, 2026 00:44

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 28, 2026 00:44

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src/windows/wslaservice/exe/WSLAContainerMetadata.h Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

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src/windows/wslaservice/inc/wslaservice.idl Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Address suggestions

77fd43a

OneBlue reviewed Jan 28, 2026

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kvega005 added 3 commits January 28, 2026 14:24

Fix versioning

f74e6ed

Add invalid metadata test

397d9fc

Fix formatting

61d9949

OneBlue approved these changes Jan 29, 2026

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benhillis requested a review from Copilot January 29, 2026 17:10

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kvega005 added 2 commits January 29, 2026 11:33

fix typos

9c468c5

Merge branch 'feature/wsl-for-apps' into user/kevinve/container-metadata

0c6d414

kvega005 requested a review from Copilot January 29, 2026 23:59

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benhillis requested a review from Copilot January 30, 2026 00:40

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Merge branch 'feature/wsl-for-apps' into user/kevinve/container-metadata

bdc7d9d

benhillis requested changes Jan 30, 2026

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kvega005 added 2 commits January 30, 2026 10:42

Address suggestions

1a9819f

Merge branch 'user/kevinve/container-metadata' of https://github.com/…

64035bc

…kvega005/WSL into user/kevinve/container-metadata

kvega005 requested a review from benhillis January 30, 2026 18:46

OneBlue reviewed Jan 31, 2026

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OneBlue approved these changes Jan 31, 2026

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	VERIFY_ARE_EQUAL(hr, E_UNEXPECTED);
	VERIFY_ARE_EQUAL(hr, E_INVALIDARG);

Persist port mapping and volume information for containers across WSLA sessions #14118

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Persist port mapping and volume information for containers across WSLA sessions #14118

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kvega005 commented Jan 28, 2026

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