Windows Installer breaks PATH variable

[max06]

Your Windows Installer is breaking the users environment by adding a single " at the end of the path-variable.

Can only be reverted via registry editor:

Windows UI for env vars doesn't show it anymore.

Also, as a side note: It doesn't clean up the env var when uninstalling.

[mheon]

@jwhonce PTAL

[jwhonce]

The clean up issue is being tracked here: #11089

We are waiting on PR to wixl to support clean up.

@baude @ashley-cui I seem to remember the quote issue being addressed or at least discussed before. Do you have any input?

[ndavids-msft]

One non-obvious symptom of this issue is that, after installing Podman, the CLI can only be called from the traditional Windows Command Prompt (CMD) and not from PowerShell. Apparently CMD will parse PATH with the invalid trailing quote, but PowerShell will not. So PowerShell users will just get the usual error message indicating a missing command:

podman: The term 'podman' is not recognized as a name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or executable program.
Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.

CMD:

PowerShell:

Not that this changes anything about the underlying problem, but it might help to direct PowerShell users' searches to this issue where the fix is described.

[max06]

Just for completeness:
Besides Powershell not parsing it properly, windows itself has the same issue. The window where you can set profile environment variables lists the content in Path, but it stays empty as soon as you try to modify it.

To fix:
Run regedit with admin privileges, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Environment. You'll find Path on the right side, ready to be modified. Changes in there are reflected immediately.

[ndavids-msft]

So I found that you can actually edit it in the regular environment variables UI, you just need to use the "Edit text" option.

Steps

1. Open the System Properties windows (sysdm.cpl)
2. Under the Advanced tab click "Environment Variables..."
3. Edit the Path variable in the User variables section (top section of the window)
4. In the Edit dialog, click the "Edit text..." button
   
5. Remove the trailing quote, then "OK" through all the open dialogs
   

[max06]

I should have confirmed that dialog box when I had the chance ... that's easier than using the registry 💯

[github-actions]

A friendly reminder that this issue had no activity for 30 days.

[max06]

The latest installer is still adding a single double-quote to the Path...

[github-actions]

A friendly reminder that this issue had no activity for 30 days.

[rhatdan]

Is this fixed in podman 3.4.1

[max06]

@rhatdan Sorry, I completely missed this...

Just tested: Removed all previous versions, made sure my env vars are clean. Still a lost double-quote after 3.4.1...

[rhatdan]

28 days ago, I nagged the PR to MSI, but still no movement that I can see.

[max06]

/shrug
Can I add some WD-40 somewhere?

[rhatdan]

Go add a further whine to #11089