Cannot save library in WSL folder from Windows

[DominikStiller]

JabRef version

Latest development branch build (please note build date below)

Operating system

Windows

Details on version and operating system

JabRef 5.8--2022-12-18--b7fae4b and JabRef 6.0--2023-01-05--89890e5, Windows 10 Pro 22H2

Checked with the latest development build

• I made a backup of my libraries before testing the latest development version.
• I have tested the latest development version and the problem persists

Steps to reproduce the behaviour

1. Set up Windows Subsystem for Linux (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install). I am using WSL2 1.0.3.0 with Ubuntu 22.04.
2. Open JabRef in Windows.
3. Create a new library.
4. Save the library to a WSL path (e.g., \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\myuser\test.bib).

Appendix

• An empty file "test.bib.tmp" is created in the same folder (even with added library entries).
• The error did not occur with JabRef 5.7.
• The path is accessible, I can save to the same path from Windows Notepad.

Log File

Not updating theme because it hasn't changed
Theme set to Theme{type=DEFAULT, name=''} with base css StyleSheet{jrt:/org.jabref/org/jabref/gui/Base.css}
No open database detected
Saving library...
A problem occurred when trying to save the file \\wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\dominik\test.bib
org.jabref.logic.exporter.SaveException: Problems saving: java.io.IOException: Incorrect function
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.gui.exporter.SaveDatabaseAction.saveDatabase(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.gui.exporter.SaveDatabaseAction.save(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.gui.exporter.SaveDatabaseAction.saveAs(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.gui.exporter.SaveDatabaseAction.save(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.gui.exporter.SaveDatabaseAction.save(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.gui.exporter.SaveAction.execute(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.gui.actions.JabRefAction.lambda$new$3(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/org.controlsfx.control.action.Action.handle(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/org.controlsfx.control.action.Action.handle(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventHandler.dispatchBubblingEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEventImpl(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/javafx.event.Event.fireEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/javafx.scene.control.MenuItem.fire(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.scene.control.ContextMenuContent$MenuItemContainer.doSelect(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.scene.control.ContextMenuContent$MenuItemContainer.lambda$createChildren$12(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventHandler$NormalEventHandlerRecord.handleBubblingEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventHandler.dispatchBubblingEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventDispatcher.dispatchBubblingEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEventImpl(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/javafx.event.Event.fireEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/javafx.scene.Scene$MouseHandler.process(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/javafx.scene.Scene.processMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/javafx.scene.Scene$ScenePeerListener.mouseEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.GlassViewEventHandler$MouseEventNotification.run(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.GlassViewEventHandler$MouseEventNotification.run(Unknown Source)
	at java.base/java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.GlassViewEventHandler.lambda$handleMouseEvent$2(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.QuantumToolkit.runWithoutRenderLock(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.GlassViewEventHandler.handleMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.glass.ui.View.handleMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.glass.ui.View.notifyMouse(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication._runLoop(Native Method)
	at org.jabref.merged.module@6.0.3218/com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication.lambda$runLoop$3(Unknown Source)
	at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: java.io.IOException: Incorrect function
	at java.base/sun.nio.ch.FileDispatcherImpl.lock0(Native Method)
	at java.base/sun.nio.ch.FileDispatcherImpl.lock(Unknown Source)
	at java.base/sun.nio.ch.FileChannelImpl.lock(Unknown Source)
	at java.base/java.nio.channels.FileChannel.lock(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.logic.exporter.AtomicFileOutputStream.<init>(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.logic.exporter.AtomicFileOutputStream.<init>(Unknown Source)
	at org.jabref@6.0.3218/org.jabref.logic.exporter.AtomicFileWriter.<init>(Unknown Source)
	... 50 more

[Siedlerchr]

Hi, thanks for reporting. This is related to the save improvements, and it seems like file locks are not supported on WSL: microsoft/WSL#5762

You might try some workarounds microsoft/WSL#4309 (comment)

Unfortunately, there is nothing from our side we can do to solve this error.

[DominikStiller]

Thank you for the prompt reply, that is unfortunate. I will stay on JabRef 5.7 then or run JabRef within WSL.

[Siedlerchr]

@DominikStiller We recently had a similar issue with saving on Samoa shares on macOS and added workaround. Can you please test the latest version 5.11?

[DominikStiller]

This issue is fixed in 5.11! Thank you.