golang/go

syscall: exec_windows.go: arguments should not be escaped to work with msiexec

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#15,566 opened on May 6, 2016

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NeedsFixOS-Windowsearly-in-cyclehelp wanted

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Description

Problem: When I try to run a command in Go on Windows using exec.Command() and then exec.Run(), the arguments are escaped using this logic: https://github.com/golang/go/blob/master/src/syscall/exec_windows.go#L26. That logic escapes the quotes around TARGETDIR="%v" which need to be there. I currently am assigning to Cmd.SysProcAttr manually to get around the escaping.

  1. What version of Go are you using (go version)? Go 1.6.2
  2. What operating system and processor architecture are you using (go env)? Windows 10 Pro x64
  3. What did you do?
  4. The code is available here, but needs to be run on Windows: https://play.golang.org/p/aU1PlbNTqM
  5. Download any MSI. I used https://fastdl.mongodb.org/win32/mongodb-win32-x86_64-2008plus-ssl-3.2.6-signed.msi and renamed it to package.msi.
  6. You can run Error() and NoError() to see the difference
  7. What did you expect to see? I expect to see the MSI say: Completed the ... Setup Wizard.
  8. What did you see instead? I see the Windows Installer help Windows and when I click it, I get: exit status 1639 which is: ERROR_INVALID_COMMAND_LINE 1639 Invalid command line argument. Consult the Windows Installer SDK for detailed command line help.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate the argument escaping logic in syscall/exec windows.go line 26. Determine why quotes around TARGETDIR are being escaped and how to preserve them for msiexec. Consider context from the issue and related discussions.
Tech stack
go
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
GoWindows
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
40