From “WSL 2 Is Stuck on 172.28.x.x” → “My Kali Box Shows Up on the Real LAN”

🎯 Finally Linux inside WSL2 sees the Internet.

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1️⃣ Why the Default WSL 2 Network Is “Stubborn”

Feature	Default behavior in WSL 2
Virtual NIC	eth0 attached to Hyper‑V internal switch (WSL switch)
IP range	VM gets 172.28.0.0/12 (e.g., 172.28.176.1)
Routing	Traffic NAT‑ed through host’s network stack
Result	VM reaches Internet, but LAN devices cannot reach it directly

Because the switch is internal, the VM is isolated. To make it behave like a regular PC, replace the internal switch with an External Hyper‑V switch (bridged networking).

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2️⃣ What “Bridged” Actually Means (and Why You Need It)

• VM NIC attaches directly to physical adapter (Wi‑Fi/Ethernet).
• VM receives a real LAN IP from router DHCP.
• Other machines can ssh/ping/open services without port‑forwarding.
• DNS works automatically.
• LAN‑only services (SMB, multicast, mDNS) become reachable.

Note that: Bridging requires enabling the full Hyper‑V role and creating an External virtual switch.

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3️⃣ Prerequisites – What Must Be in Place First

• Windows edition: Windows 11 Pro/Enterprise/Education → systeminfo

• Virtualization support: VT‑x/AMD‑V enabled → systeminfo

• Hyper‑V feature installed:

  Get-WindowsOptionalFeature –Online –FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All
  Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All -NoRestart
  

• Administrator rights: Run PowerShell as Administrator.

• Physical NIC name: Get-NetAdapter

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4️⃣ Step‑by‑Step: Create an External Switch & Tell WSL to Use It

Run all commands in Windows PowerShell (Admin)

4.1 Create/verify external Hyper‑V switch

Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Up"} | Format-Table Name, InterfaceDescription, MacAddress

$AdapterName = "Wi‑Fi"
$SwitchName  = "ExternalWSL"

if (-not (Get-VMSwitch -Name $SwitchName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
    New-VMSwitch -Name $SwitchName -NetAdapterName $AdapterName -AllowManagementOS $true
} else {
    Write-Host "Switch already exists"
}

4.2 Write global .wslconfig

$cfgPath = "$env:USERPROFILE\.wslconfig"
@"
[wsl2]
networkingMode = bridged
vmSwitch = $SwitchName
"@ | Set-Content -Path $cfgPath -Encoding UTF8

4.3 Shut down WSL

wsl --shutdown
Get-Process vmmem -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

4.4 Start distro fresh

wsl -d kali-linux

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5️⃣ Validate – Is Your VM Actually on the LAN?

Inside Linux:

ip -br a show eth0   # expect 192.168.x.x
ping -c 2 192.168.1.1
ping -c 2 8.8.8.8
ping -c 2 google.com
sudo apt update

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6️⃣ Troubleshooting – The “It Still Shows 172.28.x.x” Checklist

1. External switch bound → Get-VMSwitch -Name ExternalWSL
2. .wslconfig content correct → Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\.wslconfig" -Raw
3. WSL read config → wsl.exe --status
4. No conflicting /etc/wsl.conf inside distro.
5. VM shut down properly.
6. Encoding/BOM issue → recreate file with Set-Content -Encoding UTF8.
7. Group Policy removing file → check after logon.

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7️⃣ Optional Extras – Making the Bridged VM Even More Useful

• Lock .wslconfig: attrib +R "$env:USERPROFILE\.wslconfig"
• Allow inbound SSH: netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="WSL SSH inbound" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=22
• Expose web service: netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="WSL HTTP 8080" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=8080
• Run Docker: sudo apt install -y docker.io
• Run GUI apps: WSLg already included.
• Run VPN: sudo apt install -y openvpn
• Add static IP: configure /etc/netplan/01-static.yaml.
• Switch back to NAT: delete .wslconfig and restart WSL.

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8️⃣ How to Switch Back to Default NAT

Remove-Item "$env:USERPROFILE\.wslconfig"
wsl --shutdown
wsl -d kali-linux

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9️⃣ Wrap‑Up & Quick Reference Cheat‑Sheet

$AdapterName = "Wi‑Fi"
$SwitchName  = "ExternalWSL"

if (-not (Get-VMSwitch -Name $SwitchName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
    New-VMSwitch -Name $SwitchName -NetAdapterName $AdapterName -AllowManagementOS $true
}

$cfgPath = "$env:USERPROFILE\.wslconfig"
@"
[wsl2]
networkingMode = bridged
vmSwitch = $SwitchName
"@ | Set-Content -Path $cfgPath -Encoding UTF8

wsl --shutdown
Get-Process vmmem -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

wsl -d kali-linux

Inside distro:

ip -br a show eth0
ping -c 2 8.8.8.8
ping -c 2 google.com
sudo apt update