`netstat` command in WSL return empty list

Question

I install python and start python -m SimpleHTTPServer in windows WSL. But the command netstat -an return an empty list. And of course i can't visit the url http://127.0.0.1:8000 in windows browser.

Furthermore, any commands which expose a port like ssh are not working.

Here is my windows version:

• Windows 10 1703 15063.608

Here is the screenshots:

Answer 1

It is a known issue that netstat does not currently work under WSL.

Answer 2

As OrangeDog link says, the netstat native linux does not work under WSL (v1).

However in the GitHub comments there is a workaround (nice or ugly, I don't know): you can use the netstat.exe instead (I am also surprised that windows executables .exe runs on Linux).

Then in my WSL (v1) I was able to execute something like this:

netstat.exe -an | grep -i "listen" | grep -v "\[::\]" | grep 1616

A solution using the real native Linux executable would certainly be better but in the meantime this workaround does the job.

Answer 3

Do this:

alias netstat='/mnt/c/Windows/System32/netstat.exe'
netstat