[JENKINS-62657] Shell steps swallow ticks(') and quotes(") that are escaped

I have an issue where I was trying to run a ssh command inside of a shell step but could not preserve the ticks and quotes I needed in the command I run during the SSH. The command looked something like this:

```

sh "ssh -i $keyFile $adminUser@$Host 'sudo $command -f ${Cloud} -u ${env.USERNAME} -x ${env.PASSWORD} -s \"mountPoint=\'/admintool/1\'\" -p redeploy'"

```

The issue is that the shell script I am running $command requires that mountPoint variable to be within quotes " and the argument after the equals needs to be in ticks '.

This issue only happens on shell steps as I can echo the command correctly by replacing the above sh with echo.

Workaround: In the end I had to build a shell script on disk and just run that so something in the groovy interpretation is breaking things.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Start up a brand new Jenkins instance with Pipeline installed

2. Create a new job with the following definition:

node(){

    echo """

    ssh -i $PEM_KEY $USER@$MACHINE 'echo "-f Cloud -u USERNAME -x PASSWORD -s \"mountPoint=\'/admintool/1\'\" -p redeploy"'

    """


    sh """

    ssh -i $PEM_KEY $USER@$MACHINE 'echo "-f Cloud -u USERNAME -x PASSWORD -s \"mountPoint=\'/admintool/1\'\" -p redeploy"'

    """

}

3. Observe that the echo prints out the statememt correctly with: `"mountPoint='/admintool/1'" but the ssh command echo does not as it removes the single ticks around admintool

Thoughts:

My understanding of echo is that it is almost the same as `sh` so I am not sure why the shell step is removing the escaped characters. Maybe there is some interpretation done on `sh` I am not aware of. So if there is any way to fix this or a better workaround I am all ears

---
Originally reported by ataylor, imported from: Shell steps swallow ticks(') and quotes(") that are escaped

• status: Open
  
• priority: Minor
  
• component(s): workflow-basic-steps-plugin
  
• resolution: Unresolved
  
• votes: 0
  
• watchers: 2
  
• imported: 20251215-220547
  

Raw content of original issue

I have an issue where I was trying to run a ssh command inside of a shell step but could not preserve the ticks and quotes I needed in the command I run during the SSH. The command looked something like this:


```

sh "ssh -i $keyFile $adminUser@$Host 'sudo $command -f ${Cloud} -u ${env.USERNAME} -x ${env.PASSWORD} -s \"mountPoint=\'/admintool/1\'\" -p redeploy'"

```


The issue is that the shell script I am running $command requires that mountPoint variable to be within quotes " and the argument after the equals needs to be in ticks '. 


This issue only happens on shell steps as I can echo the command correctly by replacing the above sh with echo. 


Workaround: In the end I had to build a shell script on disk and just run that so something in the groovy interpretation is breaking things. 


Steps to reproduce:

1. Start up a brand new Jenkins instance with Pipeline installed

2. Create a new job with the following definition:




node(){

    echo """

    ssh -i $PEM_KEY $USER@$MACHINE 'echo "-f Cloud -u USERNAME -x PASSWORD -s \"mountPoint=\'/admintool/1\'\" -p redeploy"'

    """


    sh """

    ssh -i $PEM_KEY $USER@$MACHINE 'echo "-f Cloud -u USERNAME -x PASSWORD -s \"mountPoint=\'/admintool/1\'\" -p redeploy"'

    """

}





3. Observe that the echo prints out the statememt correctly with: `"mountPoint='/admintool/1'" but the ssh command echo does not as it removes the single ticks around admintool


Thoughts:

My understanding of echo is that it is almost the same as `sh` so I am not sure why the shell step is removing the escaped characters. Maybe there is some interpretation done on `sh` I am not aware of. So if there is any way to fix this or a better workaround I am all ears

• environment: Jenkins version 2.138.1 but has been tested against the latest LTS and still happens