PS C:\Users\eli> podman machine init
Extracting compressed file
Importing operating system into WSL (this may take a few minutes on a new WSL install)...
The requested operation could not be completed due to a virtual disk system limitation. Virtual hard disk files must be uncompressed and unencrypted and must not be sparse.
Error: the WSL import of guest OS failed: exit status 0xffffffff
WSL 2 local virtual disks must not be compressed. Podman uses the following location for its machine files.
%UserProfile%\.local\share
Ref: