Installing Ubuntu - "The specified network name is no longer available."

Screenshot of the issue. I installed Ubtunu 20.04 LTS (as I've read that I need Ubuntu to use ruby on rails on windows 10).

When I open it up for the first time, after installing, it reads:

"Installing, this may take a few minutes.../ The specified network name is no longer available./ Element not found./ Please create a default UNIX user account. The username does not need to match your Windows username./ For more information visit: https://aka.ms/wslusers/ Enter new UNIX username:"

I've tried writing "wslconfig /u Ubuntu-20.04" in the windows command prompt with admin privileges, to unregister to distro (I don't know what that means, I just read it might be helpful). And then opening Ubuntu again - the same thing happens. I've also tried installing Ubuntu (no numbers) through the Windows store, and the same thing happens. I've also tried repairing Ubuntu 20.04, which didn't work.

I'm new to linux, the command prompt, and to coding in general. I'm just trying to put into practice what I'm learning on Code Academy, on the Ruby on Rails course. And it seems that I need Ubuntu for Rails, because Windows makes these things more difficult. So I'm trying to do a workaround for a workaround, as a noob, and would be so grateful for a bit of noob-friendly guidance!

This was happened to me and was so exhausting to find the right solution. But finally it worked after I do the following steps:

1. unregister the distro from the machine using cmd type "wslconfig /l /all" this one list WSL distros installed on your system. After identifying your distro type "wslconfig /u Ubuntu" this command uninstall the distro. Change ubuntu with yours distro
2. Turned on both windows subsystem for linux and SMB features
3. Uninstall antivirus
4. Restart your machine
5. Finally open the software and should start installing. This works for me

I'm sure you've moved on from this by now or found a solution, but for anyone else coming across this, something to check is whether any folders are encrypted or compressed; specifically the %temp% folder or the %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Packages\<distro_package>. The Distro_Package directory will start with "Canonical" for Ubuntu distributions.

If either of these folders are encrypted or compressed, it can cause problems with networking/installation. Usually WSL will detect this and give a better error message, but sometimes not.

Decompress or unencrypt those folders and try again. @bereket-siraw's suggestion to turn off anti-virus is also worth a shot at the same time.