microsoft / microsoft/winget-cli

Installers requiring interaction in UI don't work via SSH

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#346 2 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Issue-Feature
Dominant language
C++
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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

  1. SSH into a machine with winget installed (note I am SSHing into an admin account and thus the prompt is elevated.
  2. 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

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. 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

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