High CPU usage for vmmem

Steve Lo 135

Hi,

I have experienced high CPU usage for Vmmem frequently (~every 2days) and the only solution at the moment is simply restart my machine.

It is understood that is related to WSL and I do have a Docker image running on Ubuntu on Windows. However it is not really responding for Ubuntu and Docker (see below) and CPU usage is still that high even I manually close Docker Desktop and run cmd wsl --shutdown.

It's really disruptive for me and any opinion would be appreciated.

Cheers

Steve

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Steve Lo 135 Reputation points

2023-03-22T19:18:54.26+00:00

Thanks for your answer, it's probably fix the symptom by scarifying the performance. However, any idea what is the root cause or how to figure it out? Particularly high cpu with unresponding Ubuntu and no docker running?
Kesims 50 Reputation points

2023-05-10T15:20:48.76+00:00

Hello, I can confirm the issue! Also running WSL2 with Docker, exactly the same issue. Sometimes the WSL just bugs and uses 100% of my cpu, making the computer basically unusable. Only restart of the whole system helps, I have not figured out a way to restart just the vmmem thing... I have a limit on memory for WSL, but while putting a limit on processors could treat the symptoms, it is definitely not going to fix the root issue.

Also from my experience, when this bug occures, things using WSL (Docker) stop working. It is really annoying and if programs such as Adobe or Fusion 360 did not held me on Windows, I would already happily move to Linux full time - now I am running dual boot and crying every time I have to use Windows...
Jiri Hajek 30 Reputation points

2023-05-26T14:34:51.1166667+00:00

The very same issue here. I also use WSL2, but the issue happens sometimes even if I haven't used WSL since reboot! The closest to WSL I have used is VSCode with WSL Extension, but this one was only loaded by VSCode, not actively used.

CPU usage spikes to 100% for no apparent reason, the last time when browsing in Chrome.
M$_Sucks 35 Reputation points

2023-05-30T13:41:18.4466667+00:00

Same here. What really helps is to reinstall wsl, which can be a very painful solution. Especially, if you have carefully tuned up your setups on your wsl.
Ajoy Bhatia 5 Reputation points

2023-06-19T23:06:47.51+00:00

Exactly what I am facing. WSL2 with Ubuntu not responding and have never run Docker. Still vmmem is using 75%+ CPU. I have not yet read anyone from Microsoft that vmmem high CPU usage occurs even without Docker
Jasso Miroslav 15 Reputation points

2023-06-26T09:17:20.2166667+00:00

Same issue here. It stared after some of the last Windows updates. About 2 weeks ago. The only one solution is to restart my computer. It is really annoying, because it happens every 2-3 days.
Tim W 45 Reputation points

2023-06-28T09:56:58.1+00:00

I have this problem as well, having installed Docker and WSL2 a few days ago to test some docker containers, I now find my CPU usage for vmmem stuck on 49%, dragging down laptop performance, even though I have no containers running. Stopping all the services for linux processes seems to clear this, but is not an ideal solution.
Mike G 0 Reputation points

2023-06-28T21:42:25.8866667+00:00

In trying to resolve this issue the wsl --shutdown command never completed. I had to reboot to temporarily resolve it. I have experienced this a couple times before and atm expect to have to reboot to resolve. Please help.

Windows 11; WSL2; Docker for Windows with WSL integration for use with VS Code
Daniel 11 Reputation points

2023-07-12T19:17:08.38+00:00

I have also been having this problem for weeks now. I also use Docker and WSL2. Everything everyone says here is exactly what I'm experiencing, and it only started fairly recently (last month or two, not exactly sure when but it's recent).

I've also been rebooting to resolve this, but I just tried to "End Task" the Windows Subsystem for Linux process as someone WFarmer suggested int he answers section, and it dropped the CPU from 100% down to about 5%, so I can at least confirm that workaround works without having to completely reboot. It's still very disruptive though since I regularly use WSL2 for development and this has caused some issues there more than once, including loss of active work.

Please fix this, Microsoft!
Petr Bodnár 40 Reputation points

2023-07-23T09:39:37.4933333+00:00

Yes, this bug seems totally unrelated to Docker - I've got the same problem, no Docker on my PC. Luckily the workaround described by WFarmer works for me (until the WSL goes nuts again, of course).
Jiri Hajek 30 Reputation points

2023-09-21T06:59:58.25+00:00

Just fyi, while I had several instances of this issue in the past, it doesn't happen anymore, haven't had it in the past months. Not sure what changed, my PC usage seems to be pretty much the same, so possibly some of the updates.
1gor 0 Reputation points

2023-11-04T08:49:57.1333333+00:00

Hi there!

Guys, all of you have Intel CPU or Ryzen?
Please link your CPU in comments to understand is this CPU problem.
I have hybrid CPU intel 12500H.
Thomas Arand 0 Reputation points

2023-11-08T07:48:51.26+00:00

I have the same issue.
Sometimes docker is running, sometimes not (So docker alone does not seem to be the only app causing this behaviour).
However, restarting the PC is not a solution.
Unfortunately, sometimes "wsl -shutdown" doesn't work (the command simply doesn't return, and the high mem/CPU usage of VMMEM is still there).
Any other ideas to workaround?
Anonymous

2024-01-10T19:09:42.3+00:00

I am having this problem. I am not using Docker. WSL has become unusable for me. How about a fix?
Robert Lee 0 Reputation points

2024-01-10T19:13:14.1533333+00:00

Yes, this has gotten worse recently. More specifically this week which I'm not sure what's changed. Before I was safe if I hadn't had images copied to my clipboard or had Filezilla running but it seems there's now something else triggering it.
Steve 25 Reputation points

2024-01-19T09:22:09.1166667+00:00

I believe this is related to stealth updates by MS. I have auto-updates turn off (I don't trust them, I prefer stable versions that have been out for 1 year), and this issue only started occurring 6 months ago, before an update. I too have noticed this occurring every day now over the last 1 week, whereas before it only used to occur once every week or so. Examining github, MS does not seem to care about this issue. At this stage is seems WSL2 is abandoned on W10. Make of that what you will.
PLEUN SAARLOOS 0 Reputation points

2024-02-16T10:05:56.57+00:00

I had the exact same problem on my laptop.
I solved it by removing the charger and now I can run wsl and docker as normal. I hope someone smarter finds a better solution.
Alex Herlan 0 Reputation points

2024-03-27T03:08:43.76+00:00

I am having the same issue. AMD Ryzen 5900 series CPU, 32gbs DDR4, Windows 11 64bit. Running Docker. Only started occuring after this most recent Windows Update. :-. Anything to do with WSL, virtualization, etc. Has been a huge pain to deal with on Windows 11. I am not a happy customer at all.
Stéphane Tremblay 0 Reputation points

2024-04-04T18:43:04.1866667+00:00

I am getting this issue as well where VMmemwsl starts progressively using more and more CPU until it reaches 100% all while doing nothing in my WSL Ubuntu.

However, I noticed this only happens when I am connected to our corporate Citrix Secure Access VPN, in which case I cannot access the internet. As soon as I disconnect from the VPN, CPU usage drops back down to normal.

All of you who had the CPU spike issue, can you all please check if networking or internet access from WSL has anything to do with the spike?

I hope this helps.
Anonymous

2024-05-03T15:48:12.9466667+00:00

I can't use WSL anymore because of this bug. If Windows 11 is the solution (is it?), it won't work for me on my corp laptop (which I can barely install WSL on; long story). I just use Cygwin now. Less than ideal, but the only game in town (my IT won't let us install VirtualBox, etc).
Samia, Michel 0 Reputation points

2024-05-06T09:15:18.1866667+00:00

I disconected from VPN and it didn't help. If I run 'top' in the ubuntu, I see that 100% CPU is taken by the init process. Which is weird as I switched to systemd via a config change. wsl --shutdown helped.
zip 5 Reputation points

2024-07-02T01:35:33.2466667+00:00
you have to wait. Because it uses 100% of the CPU your pc needs time to shut it down.
for me usually its about 2 minutes but i got a workaround.
create a file in C:/Users/<yourUserName>/.wslconf
with

[wsl2] memory=3GB processor=4

to limit the available resources for wsl
depending on your pc / laptop i use 1/4 of my devices resources
Anonymous

2024-07-03T16:09:48.26+00:00

Note: It's .wslconfig
Carlos-SysAdmin 5 Reputation points

2024-09-26T09:15:11.2633333+00:00

Same problem in 2024. As I dont really need for work, Uninstalling WSL solved my random 100% CPU problem.
Leszek Pietrzak 6 Reputation points

2024-09-26T13:52:09.7333333+00:00

2024/09 and still I can confirm the issue! Also running WSL2 with Docker, exactly the same issue.

12 answers

Anonymous

2023-06-07T15:54:52.5933333+00:00

Hi All,

I use Docker and WSL2 frequently and have run into this problem many times. It seems to happen semi-randomly after some period of time, ~1-2 days.

I don't have a solution that addresses the core issue with Vmmem but I do have a workaround that doesn't require rebooting my whole machine. For me, going into Task Manager and ending the "Windows Subsystem for Linux" task is sufficient and Vmmem goes back to normal.

Hope this works and saves people from having to restart every time.
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10 people found this answer helpful.
M$_Sucks 35 Reputation points

2023-06-08T10:13:59.84+00:00

I don't think this is possible (at least on my Win11 PRO it is refused), but if I go to power shell (as admin) and type

wsl --shutdown

that takes some time to process, but usually works..
https://www.how2shout.com/how-to/how-to-reboot-wsl-windows-subsystem-linux-in-windows-10.html

Jiri Hajek 30 Reputation points

2023-06-16T08:52:10.7633333+00:00

Thanks for sharing WFarmer, I can confirm that it works. The 100% utilization just happened to me and termination of wslhost.exe fixed the issue (Win10). So, as you wrote, not a solution, but a good workaround.

Max F 0 Reputation points

2023-06-25T22:11:55.5666667+00:00

Didn't work for me, exited wsl but vmmem still using 100% CPU and impossible to kill.

Hongjune Kim 0 Reputation points

2023-06-28T21:06:39.35+00:00

I cannot find any "Windows Subsystem for Linux" process, since I have closed all WSL instances, and wsl --shutdown, even if in administrator account won't respond. The vmmemSWL is still taking up 75% of CPU and cannot do anything else but reboot my system.
Limitless Technology 45,246 Reputation points

2023-03-22T14:19:50.54+00:00

Hello

Thank you for your question and reaching out. I can understand you are having query\issues related to vmmem high CPU usage.

When Docker is running, it uses memory just like any other virtual machine in any virtualizer. Docker is a sort of virtual machine.

It suggests that you create the following text file at:

C:\Users<your-username>.wslconfig

[wsl2]

memory=2GB # Limits VM memory in WSL 2

processors=1 # Makes the WSL 1 VM use two virtual processors

Reference :

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20180717-00/?p=99265

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept as answer--
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Yoad 10 Reputation points

2023-05-25T08:26:24.9066667+00:00

In my case, it doesn't solve the problem.

So instead of using 95 CPUs it will use 50, this still prevents WSL from being used for other things

Plus I also shut down Docker, usage continues to be high

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Max F 0 Reputation points

2023-06-25T22:09:17.92+00:00

You are talking about memory, the problem and question is about CPU usage