wiki: add Ansible reboot.yml become-timeout-on-WSL2 troubleshooting article

Documents why WSL2 hosts fail an Ansible reboot play at privilege
escalation (Timeout waiting for privilege escalation prompt) — WSL2 has
no real reboot semantics + become stalls over the Windows OpenSSH->WSL2
bridge — and the fix: scope reboot.yml to hosts: all:!wsl. Registered
in SUMMARY.md and 05-troubleshooting/index.md.

05-troubleshooting/ansible-reboot-become-timeout-wsl2.md

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+---
+title: "Ansible reboot.yml: become Timeout on WSL2 Hosts (Exclude Them)"
+domain: troubleshooting
+category: ansible
+tags: [ansible, wsl, wsl2, windows, reboot, become, privilege-escalation, openssh, inventory]
+status: published
+created: 2026-06-12
+updated: 2026-06-12
+---
+
+# Ansible reboot.yml: become Timeout on WSL2 Hosts (Exclude Them)
+
+## Problem
+
+Running a reboot play across a Fedora fleet that includes a WSL2 "host" fails on the WSL2 box at privilege escalation — before the reboot command ever runs:
+
+```console
+$ ansible-playbook reboot.yml --limit fedora
+
+TASK [Reboot the server] *******************************************************
+changed: [majorhome]
+changed: [majorlab]
+changed: [majormail]
+changed: [majordiscord]
+[ERROR]: Task failed: Action failed: Timeout (62s) waiting for privilege
+escalation prompt:
+fatal: [majorrig-wsl]: FAILED! => {"changed": false,
+  "msg": "Timeout (62s) waiting for privilege escalation prompt:",
+  "reboot": false}
+```
+
+Every real server reboots fine. Only the WSL2 host fails, and `"reboot": false` confirms the shutdown command never executed.
+
+## Cause
+
+Two independent problems, either of which is enough to break a reboot play against WSL2:
+
+1. **WSL2 has no real reboot semantics.** `ansible.builtin.reboot` issues a shutdown, then blocks up to `reboot_timeout` (e.g. 900s) waiting for SSH to come back. A WSL2 distro doesn't reboot — it just terminates, and nothing relaunches it automatically. The task would hang the full timeout and then fail.
+
+2. **`become` times out over the Windows OpenSSH → WSL2 bridge.** When a WSL2 box is reached as `majorlinux@host` through Windows' built-in OpenSSH Server (which forwards into WSL via the default shell), Ansible's privilege-escalation handshake watches the SSH stream for the sudo prompt/success marker. Across the Windows-intercept pty, that marker detection stalls until the 62s `timeout`. This happens **even with passwordless sudo** — `NOPASSWD` is configured and correct; Ansible simply never sees the handshake complete.
+
+The error surfaces as #2 (it fails at escalation first), but #1 is the deeper reason WSL2 doesn't belong in a reboot play at all.
+
+## Solution
+
+**Exclude the WSL group from the reboot play.** A WSL2 instance is a managed *workstation environment*, not a server — it belongs in package/update plays but not in server lifecycle operations like reboot.
+
+Scope the play to exclude the `wsl` group so even a broad `--limit` skips it:
+
+```yaml
+# reboot.yml
+- name: Reboot servers
+  hosts: all:!wsl     # was: hosts: all
+  become: true
+  tasks:
+    - name: Reboot the server
+      ansible.builtin.reboot:
+        msg: "Reboot initiated by Ansible"
+        reboot_timeout: 900
+```
+
+This assumes your WSL2 hosts are in a dedicated inventory group:
+
+```yaml
+wsl:
+  hosts:
+    majorrig-wsl:
+      ansible_host: 100.98.47.29
+```
+
+Verify the targeting before running — the WSL host should be gone:
+
+```console
+$ ansible-playbook reboot.yml --limit fedora --list-hosts
+  play #1 (all:!wsl): Reboot servers
+    hosts (4):
+      majorhome
+      majorlab
+      majordiscord
+      majormail
+```
+
+### Rebooting the WSL2 instance itself
+
+When you genuinely need to "reboot" WSL2, do it from the Windows side — not Ansible:
+
+```powershell
+wsl --shutdown
+```
+
+The distro relaunches on next access (next SSH login or `wsl` invocation). WSL2 stays in `update.yml` (dnf upgrades) and other package plays; it's only excluded from reboot and other server-specific roles.
+
+## Why not just fix the become timeout?
+
+You *could* raise `timeout` or tweak the become flow, but it doesn't address problem #1 — even a successful escalation would leave the reboot task hanging the full `reboot_timeout` because WSL2 never comes back the way the module expects. Excluding WSL from server lifecycle plays is the correct fix, not a workaround.
+
+## Related
+
+- [Ansible: ansible.cfg Ignored on WSL2 Windows Mounts](ansible-wsl2-world-writable-mount-ignores-cfg.md)
+- [Windows OpenSSH: WSL Default Shell Breaks Remote Commands](networking/windows-openssh-wsl-default-shell-breaks-remote-commands.md)
+- [Ansible: SSH Timeout During dnf upgrade on Fedora Hosts](ansible-ssh-timeout-dnf-upgrade.md)
+</content>
+</invoke>

05-troubleshooting/index.md

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ Practical fixes for common Linux, networking, and application problems.
 - [Vault Password File Missing](ansible-vault-password-file-missing.md)
 - [ansible.cfg Ignored on WSL2 Windows Mounts](ansible-wsl2-world-writable-mount-ignores-cfg.md)
 - [regex_search — capture-group argument doesn't work in set_fact](ansible-regex-search-set-fact-capture-group.md)
+- [reboot.yml: become Timeout on WSL2 Hosts (Exclude Them)](ansible-reboot-become-timeout-wsl2.md)
 
 ## 📦 Docker & Systems
 - [Docker & Caddy Recovery After Reboot (Fedora + SELinux)](docker-caddy-selinux-post-reboot-recovery.md)

SUMMARY.md

@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ updated: 2026-05-15T09:00
     * [Ansible: SSH Timeout During dnf upgrade on Fedora Hosts](05-troubleshooting/ansible-ssh-timeout-dnf-upgrade.md)
     * [Ansible: regex_search Capture-Group Argument Fails in set_fact](05-troubleshooting/ansible-regex-search-set-fact-capture-group.md)
     * [Ansible: Ubuntu Reboot Detection Misses Kernel Upgrades](05-troubleshooting/ansible-ubuntu-reboot-detection-kernel-mismatch.md)
+    * [Ansible: reboot.yml become Timeout on WSL2 Hosts (Exclude Them)](05-troubleshooting/ansible-reboot-become-timeout-wsl2.md)
     * [Fedora Networking & Kernel Troubleshooting](05-troubleshooting/fedora-networking-kernel-recovery.md)
     * [Systemd Session Scope Fails at Login](05-troubleshooting/systemd/session-scope-failure-at-login.md)
     * [wget/curl: URLs with Special Characters Fail in Bash](05-troubleshooting/wget-url-special-characters.md)