Running MarkdownPreview throws uncaught exception: Error: spawn xdg-open ENOENT in WSL 2 with terminal Vim

[nickjj]

Hi,

I'm using Vim 8.1 inside of Ubuntu 20.04 running in WSL 2 using the latest pull from master at the time of writing this comment.

Inside of WSL 1 this plugin worked great. It would open my default browser when running that command without having to do anything custom.

But now within WSL 2 it fails to run :MarkdownPreview with:

[markdown-preview.vim] uncaught exception: Error: spawn xdg-open ENOENT
    at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:267:19)
    at onErrorNT (internal/child_process.js:469:16)
    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:84:21)

Turns out you need to install sudo apt-get install -y xdg-utils, and then things work fine. Although there is a ~5 second delay before it opens where as with WSL 1 it was instant.

Might be worth adding something to the docs or wiki for such an issue in a WSL section.

[iamcco]

I have update README and improve the error message

[mrbeardad]

Turns out you need to install sudo apt-get install -y xdg-utils, and then things work fine. Although there is a ~5 second delay before it opens where as with WSL 1 it was instant.

It doesn't work well for me now in WSL2.
I have changed ip and port, when I execute :MarkdownPreview, my chrome on windows10 will open with site http://172.30.39.164:8854/page/1, and warn me :

This site can’t be reached
172.30.39.164 refused to connect.
Try:
Checking the connection
Checking the proxy and the firewall
ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED

What can I do to solve it?

[nickjj]

I didn't change my ip:port and it works here with an address of http://127.0.0.1:8576/page/1, although there is still a multi-second delay for it to open. I'm running commit faacfbcefe88badb0a5bee3290ec690373552f2b of this plugin.

I would try disabling Windows defender / firewall to see if that fixes anything.

[mrbeardad]

hahahahahhahaha... I have solved it!

I have execute lsof -i in WSL2, and this plugin is listening localhost but not IP address, WSL2 treats Windows as a stand-alone host, so the connection from Windows is refused.

Add let g:mkdp_open_to_the_world = 1 to init.vim will solve this problem!

@iamcco 可以把这加文档里啦，老哥。换windows可搞死我了，wsl（我死了）:joy:

[iamcco]

@mrbeardad README 有链接链到这里了

[ndaman]

I just wanted to mention, using WSL2 (Arch if that makes a difference) the above methods did not work for me.

What DID work was to install wslu and set
g:mkdp_browser='wslview'
in my vimrc (well, init.vim). I have not experienced the multi-second delays the others are talking about using this approach.

[StarfishC]

There is my solution：
sudo ln -s /mnt/c/Program\ Files\ (x86)/Microsoft/Edge/Application/msedge.exe /usr/bin/edge
let let g:mkdp_browser = 'edge'

[xeon-chow]

I just wanted to mention, using WSL2 (Arch if that makes a difference) the above methods did not work for me.

What DID work was to install wslu and set
g:mkdp_browser='wslview'
in my vimrc (well, init.vim). I have not experienced the multi-second delays the others are talking about using this approach.

@ndaman it works on my debian wsl2, mostly perfect except that my terminal window will go blank after i start preview, then it gradually reloads everything when i make some mouse or keyboard movement. no big deal but kinda annoying.

[qingbyin]

@XeonChow it can be solved by using wsl-open instead of wslview. Install wsl-open and set g:mkdp_browser='wsl-open'

If you prefer a general vim setting to a WSL specified one, use this trick without modifying g:mkdp_browser

sudo rm $(which xdg-open)
sudo ln -s $(which wsl-open) /usr/local/bin/xdg-open

Just run :MarkdownPreview and you should be good to go.

[xeon-chow]

@XeonChow it can be solved by using wsl-open instead of wslview. Install wsl-open and set g:mkdp_browser='wsl-open'

If you prefer a general vim setting to a WSL specified one, use this trick without modifying g:mkdp_browser

sudo rm $(which xdg-open)
sudo ln -s $(which wsl-open) /usr/local/bin/xdg-open

Just run :MarkdownPreview and you should be good to go.

@qingbyin
thank yuo so much, i followed your instruction and it works flawlessly.

[ZihaoXingUP]

I didn't change my ip:port and it works here with an address of http://127.0.0.1:8576/page/1, although there is still a multi-second delay for it to open. I'm running commit faacfbcefe88badb0a5bee3290ec690373552f2b of this plugin.

I would try disabling Windows defender / firewall to see if that fixes anything.

when i tap ':MarkdownPreview' on WSL1 vim. my chrome on windows10 will open with site 'http://127.0.0.1:9410/markdown/16300587241?L2hvbWUvemloYW94aW5nL3NoaW55X3Byb2plY3RzL1N3aW1NYXAvd3d3L3Rlc3QubWQmL2hvbWUvemloYW94aW5nLy52aW0vYnVuZGxlL21hdGhqYXgtc3VwcG9ydC1mb3ItbWtkcC9tYXRoamF4LXN0YXRpYy8='
it can't access this website, what should i do to solve this problem?

[ZihaoXingUP]

@XeonChow it can be solved by using wsl-open instead of wslview. Install wsl-open and set g:mkdp_browser='wsl-open'

If you prefer a general vim setting to a WSL specified one, use this trick without modifying g:mkdp_browser

sudo rm $(which xdg-open)
sudo ln -s $(which wsl-open) /usr/local/bin/xdg-open

Just run :MarkdownPreview and you should be good to go.

when i tap ':MarkdownPreview' on WSL1 vim. my chrome on windows10 will open with site 'http://127.0.0.1:9410/markdown/16300587241?L2hvbWUvemloYW94aW5nL3NoaW55X3Byb2plY3RzL1N3aW1NYXAvd3d3L3Rlc3QubWQmL2hvbWUvemloYW94aW5nLy52aW0vYnVuZGxlL21hdGhqYXgtc3VwcG9ydC1mb3ItbWtkcC9tYXRoamF4LXN0YXRpYy8='
it can't access this website, what should i do to solve this problem?

[ZihaoXingUP]

There is my solution：
sudo ln -s /mnt/c/Program\ Files\ (x86)/Microsoft/Edge/Application/msedge.exe /usr/bin/edge
let let g:mkdp_browser = 'edge'

when i tap ':MarkdownPreview' on WSL1 vim. my edge on windows10 will open with site 'http://127.0.0.1:9410/markdown/16300587241?L2hvbWUvemloYW94aW5nL3NoaW55X3Byb2plY3RzL1N3aW1NYXAvd3d3L3Rlc3QubWQmL2hvbWUvemloYW94aW5nLy52aW0vYnVuZGxlL21hdGhqYXgtc3VwcG9ydC1mb3ItbWtkcC9tYXRoamF4LXN0YXRpYy8='
it can't access this website, what should i do to solve this problem?

[nickjj]

If anyone is looking for a solution that doesn't require installing wsl-open, modifying your vimrc or creating a symlink you can set up this alias: alias open="/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe"

I've been doing this on WSL 2 for months and running :MarkdownPreview works.

[johnsonkee]

I use this plugin in WSL1, ubuntu. Every time I input :MarkdownPreview, the statusline shows " openning 'http://127.0.0.1:8781/page/5' ... done! (xdg-open)". And I have to type this address in my browser to view my markdown.

I would like to ask how to make the preview page show automatically? Thank you very much.

[timsu92]

@ndaman it works on my debian wsl2, mostly perfect except that my terminal window will go blank after i start preview, then it gradually reloads everything when i make some mouse or keyboard movement. no big deal but kinda annoying.

@XeonChow Another way to solve is to redraw! in the last line of the function pointed by g:mkdp_browserfunc

This is working on WSL2(Ubuntu 22.04) on a x64 machine.
This opens using Chrome by default, and switch to Edge if Chrome not found.

function! MdpOpenPreview(url) abort
	let l:mdp_browser = '/mnt/c/Program\ Files/Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe'
	let l:mdp_browser_opts = '--new-window'
	if !filereadable(substitute(l:mdp_browser, '\\ ', ' ', 'g'))
		let l:mdp_browser = '/mnt/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Microsoft/Edge/Application/msedge.exe'
		let l:mdp_browser_opts = '--new-window'
	endif
	execute join(['silent! !', l:mdp_browser, l:mdp_browser_opts, a:url])
	redraw!
endfunction

let g:mkdp_browserfunc = 'MdpOpenPreview'

[timsu92]

I use this plugin in WSL1, ubuntu. Every time I input :MarkdownPreview, the statusline shows " openning 'http://127.0.0.1:8781/page/5' ... done! (xdg-open)". And I have to type this address in my browser to view my markdown.

I would like to ask how to make the preview page show automatically? Thank you very much.

@johnsonkee I guess your settings is broken.

When I was testing, I encountered this as well. And it turned out that I made mistakes. Furthermore, even if silent is not used, error messages regarding to the call to browser hide behind vim.

[Moxie1337]

@ndaman it works on my debian wsl2, mostly perfect except that my terminal window will go blank after i start preview, then it gradually reloads everything when i make some mouse or keyboard movement. no big deal but kinda annoying.

@XeonChow Another way to solve is to redraw! in the last line of the function pointed by g:mkdp_browserfunc

This is working on WSL2(Ubuntu 22.04) on a x64 machine. This opens using Chrome by default, and switch to Edge if Chrome not found.

function! MdpOpenPreview(url) abort
	let l:mdp_browser = '/mnt/c/Program\ Files/Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe'
	let l:mdp_browser_opts = '--new-window'
	if !filereadable(substitute(l:mdp_browser, '\\ ', ' ', 'g'))
		let l:mdp_browser = '/mnt/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Microsoft/Edge/Application/msedge.exe'
		let l:mdp_browser_opts = '--new-window'
	endif
	execute join(['silent! !', l:mdp_browser, l:mdp_browser_opts, a:url])
	redraw!
endfunction

let g:mkdp_browserfunc = 'MdpOpenPreview'

You solve my problem! Thank you