microsoft / microsoft/winget-cli
Installers requiring interaction in UI don't work via SSH
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Description
Brief description of your issue
I should start by saying that I am not entirely surprised by this but trying to install an application with a installer requiring interaction (such as WinSCP) over an SSH connection just results in the installation hanging at Installing....
Steps to reproduce
- SSH into a machine with winget installed (note I am SSHing into an admin account and thus the prompt is elevated.
- Try to install (for example) WinSCP with
winget install winwcp
Expected behavior
I guess winget should detect the installer is hanging and kill it providing some useful feedback.
Actual behavior
Installation just hangs at Installing...
Cancelling the install with ctrl+c and running get-process -name winscp* shows two process running:
NPM(K) PM(M) WS(M) CPU(s) Id SI ProcessName
------ ----- ----- ------ -- -- -----------
10 4.67 8.38 0.11 22476 0 WinSCP.WinSCP.5.17.5
14 6.86 12.94 0.08 94084 0 WinSCP.WinSCP.5.17.5.tmp
RDPing into the machine and trying to install the same way gives a file access error (presumably due to these processes).
Killing these processes allows the command to work when run locally via RDP and the installer window pops up asking to install for all users or not.
I haven't tried with a X11 server running to see if I can catch the GUI
Environment
[winget --info]
Windows Package Manager v0.1.41331 Preview
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.18363.836
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.0.41331.0
Any other software?
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing winget install for an interactive installer over SSH, then compare it with the RDP behavior and inspect the installer process state. Done means the CLI no longer waits indefinitely and provides useful feedback or terminates the blocked installation; no source file or test is named in the issue.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- cpp, powershell
- Domain
- cli, operating-systems
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100