# VSCode repl in WSL terminalserver.jl not found

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/vscode-repl-in-wsl-terminalserver-jl-not-found/135047>\
**Category:** VS Code\
**Created:** [January 14, 2026, 8:40am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/vscode-repl-in-wsl-terminalserver-jl-not-found/135047 "2026-01-14T08:40:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jdad](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jdad/32/4739_2.png) [@jdad](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jdad)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 8:40am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/vscode-repl-in-wsl-terminalserver-jl-not-found/135047/1 "2026-01-14T08:40:55Z")

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Since this morning, with update of VSCode Julia extension to 1.173.2, I have an error message when (using VSCode inside WSL) starting REPL in a WSL directory. It says `terminalserver.jl` not found, with a Windows-style path. I checked, the terminal server.jl file is there in my ext4/wsl .vscode-server directory.

(note that VSCode still work works OK in windows)

Is this a bug in the update ?

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**Author:** ![jdad](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jdad/32/4739_2.png) [@jdad](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jdad)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 10:33am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/vscode-repl-in-wsl-terminalserver-jl-not-found/135047/2 "2026-01-15T10:33:27Z")

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With Julia VSCode extension 1.174.2, still can’t use Julia in a WSL directory. Error is now `IOError: connect : unknown error` then REPL is not connected to VSCode, so it is impossible to run any Julia code or file from VSCode (but I still have Julia prompt)

Issue opened on GitHub repo, #3981

Hope to have some news soon?

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**Author:** ![jdad](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jdad/32/4739_2.png) [@jdad](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jdad)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 1:18pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/vscode-repl-in-wsl-terminalserver-jl-not-found/135047/3 "2026-01-17T13:18:44Z")

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From GitHub issue dialog, I found a (temp) fix thanks to @pfitzseb . The fix is to set the extension parameter `juliaexecutablePath` (which previously was empty) to `julia`. Then the REPL starts in the wsl directory.

However, then the same setting then does not work on pure windows11 (julia command not found). I have to revert to empty parameter to get it working again on windows.

Anyway I can again run code in WSL, so will mark it as a (temp) solution.

BTW I think I can now explain the different error messages I got : `code`, launched from WSL, uses a windows process. When it tries to start the REPL, as the executablepath is not defined, it find the default windows installation and launch it (verified with `versioninfo()`), not the WSL/ubuntu one. So I get a windows Julia repl running into a WSL directory, not WSL native one !

Is this a correct explanation ?

Thanks again @pfitzseb for your quick reaction, (and @dprossel for sharing experience!)  
J.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jdad](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/jdad/32/4739_2.png) [@jdad](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jdad)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 8:03am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/vscode-repl-in-wsl-terminalserver-jl-not-found/135047/4 "2026-01-19T08:03:43Z")

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For the record, new extension version 1.176.2 works (with default empty executablePath ) on both Windows and WSL. So trouble definitively solved. Thanks @pfitzseb !