winget-cli: 'winget install' does not (properly, or at all) expand paths on Windows 11, builds 22449 through latest.

Brief description of your issue

winget install fails to expand paths when encountering user profiles with a name longer than 8 characters. Specifically, a call to std::filesystem::rename will fail. A trigger may also be a space or dot, or any other special character in the user profile path.

A notable example of the latter are accounts provisioned from Azure AD, as these commonly take the form of NameSurname, not normalizing special characters, e.g. IvoIvić, or name.surname, e.g. fran.kelava.

Steps to reproduce

This is perfectly reproducible using any package. You do not need to use the exact package from the example.

During your Windows install, sign in with an MSA/AAD account. Your resulting user directory name may include special characters or a dot separating your name and surname, and this must be the case to trigger this issue. OR During your Windows install, skip MSA/AAD login and create a local account longer than 8 characters in length, and add a space in it for good measure.

PS C:\Users\fran.kelava> winget install 'voidtools.EverythingLite'

Expected behavior

The command throws no error.

Actual behavior

PS C:\Users\fran.kelava> winget install 'voidtools.EverythingLite'
Found Everything Lite [voidtools.EverythingLite]
This application is licensed to you by its owner.
Microsoft is not responsible for, nor does it grant any licenses to, third-party packages.
Downloading https://www.voidtools.com/Everything-1.4.1.1009.x64.Lite.msi
  ██████████████████████████████  1.67 MB / 1.67 MB
Successfully verified installer hash
An unexpected error occurred while executing the command:
rename: The system cannot find the file specified.: "C:\Users\FRAN~1.KEL\AppData\Local\Temp\WinGet\voidtools.EverythingLite.1.4.1.1009", "C:\Users\FRAN~1.KEL\AppData\Local\Temp\WinGet\voidtools.EverythingLite.1.4.1.1009.msi"

This may also be related to the problem showcased in #1203, in which an AAD-based account suffered a similar or identical issue. While the author of that issue also had special characters making the issue more difficult, the issue also plainly appears for usernames which do not feature special characters.

In #1203, the issue author saw functionality restored once the dot and special characters were eliminated from the user directory name. [UPDATE] However, based on the replies below, it seems that this is an issue with path expansion in general.

However, I’m afraid I must insist that this issue be properly fixed. It is not acceptable for winget to ship broken by default in instances where the user cannot influence the name of their user directory, e.g. Azure AD joins in OOBE.

Environment

Windows Package Manager v1.0.11694
Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.22449.1000
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.15.11694.0

This is a clean install of the latest Dev Channel Insiders build at the time of posting.

About this issue

Original URL
State: closed
Created 3 years ago
Reactions: 1
Comments: 22 (7 by maintainers)

Most upvoted comments

With the latest information provided by all of you, I renamed the issue to better reflect its root cause and magnitude. I can also confirm that the issue persists in build 22463.

fkelava on Sep 23, 2021

Fix confirmed in v1.1.12653. winget upgrade and winget install now function as expected for .exe and .msi installers. See:

PS C:\Users\fran.kelava> winget upgrade Notepad++
Found Notepad++ [Notepad++.Notepad++] Version 8.1.5
This application is licensed to you by its owner.
Microsoft is not responsible for, nor does it grant any licenses to, third-party packages.
Downloading https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v8.1.5/npp.8.1.5.Installer.x64.exe
  ██████████████████████████████  4.13 MB / 4.13 MB
Successfully verified installer hash
Starting package install...
Successfully installed

PS C:\Users\fran.kelava> winget upgrade Cisco.WebexTeams
Found Webex [Cisco.WebexTeams] Version 41.9.0.20091
This application is licensed to you by its owner.
Microsoft is not responsible for, nor does it grant any licenses to, third-party packages.
Downloading https://binaries.webex.com/WebexTeamsDesktop-Windows-Gold/Webex.msi
  ██████████████████████████████   242 MB /  242 MB
Successfully verified installer hash
Starting package install...
Successfully installed

PS C:\Users\fran.kelava> winget install qBittorrent.qBittorrent
Found qBittorrent [qBittorrent.qBittorrent] Version 4.3.5
This application is licensed to you by its owner.
Microsoft is not responsible for, nor does it grant any licenses to, third-party packages.
Downloading https://sourceforge.net/projects/qbittorrent/files/qbittorrent-win32/qbittorrent-4.3.5/qbittorrent_4.3.5_x64_setup.exe/download
  ██████████████████████████████  25.9 MB / 25.9 MB
Successfully verified installer hash
Starting package install...
Successfully installed

PS C:\Users\fran.kelava> winget install meld.meld
Found Meld [Meld.Meld] Version 3.20.4
This application is licensed to you by its owner.
Microsoft is not responsible for, nor does it grant any licenses to, third-party packages.
Downloading https://download.gnome.org/binaries/win32/meld/3.20/Meld-3.20.4-mingw.msi
  ██████████████████████████████  42.6 MB / 42.6 MB
Successfully verified installer hash
Starting package install...
Successfully installed

with versions:

Windows Package Manager v1.1.12653
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.22463.1000
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.16.12653.0

fkelava on Sep 28, 2021

This has been resolved in the latest release of winget (v1.1.12653):

S C:\Users\Easton Pillay\projects\winget-pkgs\manifests\a\AgileBits\1Password> winget install spotify --source winget
Found Spotify [Spotify.Spotify] Version 1.1.68.632.g2b11de83
This application is licensed to you by its owner.
Microsoft is not responsible for, nor does it grant any licenses to, third-party packages.
Downloading https://download.scdn.co/SpotifyFullSetup.exe
  ██████████████████████████████  68.3 MB / 68.3 MB
Successfully verified installer hash
Starting package install...
Successfully installed
PS C:\Users\Easton Pillay\projects\winget-pkgs\manifests\a\AgileBits\1Password> winget --info
Windows Package Manager v1.1.12653
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.22463.1000
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.16.12653.0

Logs: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\DiagOutputDir

Links
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Privacy Statement   https://aka.ms/winget-privacy
License Agreement   https://aka.ms/winget-license
Third Party Notices https://aka.ms/winget-3rdPartyNotice
Homepage            https://aka.ms/winget
Windows Store Terms https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/storedocs/terms-of-sale

Either spam the update button in the Microsoft Store until you get an update or download it here.

jedieaston on Sep 27, 2021

Still not working on 22463:

PS C:\Users\Easton Pillay> winget install spotify
Found Spotify [Spotify.Spotify] Version 1.1.68.632.g2b11de83
This application is licensed to you by its owner.
Microsoft is not responsible for, nor does it grant any licenses to, third-party packages.
Downloading https://download.scdn.co/SpotifyFullSetup.exe
  ██████████████████████████████  68.3 MB / 68.3 MB
Successfully verified installer hash
An unexpected error occurred while executing the command:
rename: The system cannot find the file specified.: "C:\Users\EASTON~1\AppData\Local\Temp\WinGet\Spotify.Spotify.1.1.68.632.g2b11de83", "C:\Users\EASTON~1\AppData\Local\Temp\WinGet\Spotify.Spotify.1.1.68.632.g2b11de83.exe"
PS C:\Users\Easton Pillay> winget --info
Windows Package Manager v1.0.12581
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Windows: Windows.Desktop v10.0.22463.1000
Package: Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller v1.16.12581.0

Logs: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\DiagOutputDir

Links
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Privacy Statement   https://aka.ms/winget-privacy
License Agreement   https://aka.ms/winget-license
Third Party Notices https://aka.ms/winget-3rdPartyNotice
Homepage            https://aka.ms/winget
Windows Store Terms https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/storedocs/terms-of-sale
PS C:\Users\Easton Pillay>

jedieaston on Sep 23, 2021

Feedback hub: https://aka.ms/AAdvvje

jedieaston on Sep 22, 2021

It is borked for me on 22454. If your user folder name is less than 8 characters you probably won’t be affected.

jedieaston on Sep 16, 2021

This is the first build it was broken for me, weird. Must be a winget thing though.

jedieaston on Sep 13, 2021

@jedieaston This issue persists for me through a few Insider builds now. If they’ve been broken, they’ve been broken for a while now, which might be possible but seems unlikely. Considering a normal “ren” will expand the path correctly, I’m inclined to think it’s not the OS.

fkelava on Sep 13, 2021

Works fine for me on latest, it looks like for some reason that the Admini~1 isn’t being expanded by either winget or the system for some reason is my guess

Masamune3210 on Sep 13, 2021