can't access 127.0.0.1:80 outside of WSL2 / Ubuntu 20.04

Solution 1:

That's because each host has a localhost 127.0.0.1. The windows host thinks it's going to itself. The easiest solution is for you to IP with a real IP. example 192.168.x.x

I found the following blurb

In the early stages of WSL 2, we can’t use localhost. We need to use an IP since Linux is inside a VM.

To access your application currently, we will use an IP.

Solution 2:

Problem:

Windows 10 thinks localhost is ::1.

PS C:\Users\michael> ping localhost

Pinging DESKTOP[::1] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from ::1: time<1ms

Ubuntu thinks localhost is 127.0.0.1

$ ~ > cat /etc/hosts
# This file was automatically generated by WSL. To stop automatic generation of this file, add the following entry to /etc/wsl.conf:
# [network]
# generateHosts = false
127.0.0.1       localhost
127.0.1.1       DESKTOP.localdomain     DESKTOP

Current Solution: 7/27/2021

WSL is changing relatively quickly.

My current solution w/ WSL2 is

1. "Start->Network Reset (system settings)->Reset
2. Casually reboot windows like it's 1998.
3. Get on with my life.

Solution 1:

1. Read this documentation
2. Notice the obscure note in wsl settings about true except for some builds.
3. Add a file with these contents to C:\Users\Me\.wslconfig:

[wsl2]
localhostForwarding=true

This is what worked for me.

Solution 2:

This didn't work so well for me, but might for you. Stop automatic generation as instructed in the comments in /etc/hosts, and change localhost to ::1 so they refer to the same adapter. For compatibility, 0.0.0.0 binds to all interfaces (127.0.0.1 and ::1) so it works.

# This file was automatically generated by WSL. To stop automatic generation of this file, add the following entry to /etc/wsl.conf:
# [network]
# generateHosts = false
127.0.0.1       ip4-localhost
::1 localhost

...

Will this mess things up? Probably. If it does, you'll have to remember to fiddle this to get that to work.

Solution 3:

This is what worked for me, as with localhost/127.0.0.1 I had no luck:

1. get WSL2 linux IP using ifconfig:

aristos32@DESKTOP-V493N00:~$ ifconfig
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 172.21.115.144  netmask 255.255.240.0  broadcast 172.21.127.255
        inet6 fe80::215:5dff:fea0:1a98  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>

2. use this IP in the browser instead of localhost

http://172.21.115.144/