Terminal won't start / immediately crashes as of v0.5.2661.0

[vsalvino]

Environment

Windows build number: 10.0.18363.0
Windows Terminal version (if applicable): v0.5.2661.0

Any other software? PowerShell Core 6.2.2 is also installed.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install windows terminal from either Microsoft Store, or via download from GitHub release.
2. Try to launch the terminal.

Have tried un-installing/re-installing/rebooting multiple times to no avail.

Expected behavior

Terminal should launch, and at least show an error message.

Actual behavior

Terminal immediately crashes, you can see the ghost of a window frame before it disappears.

[DHowett-MSFT]

Can you share the contents of your profiles.json? %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\profiles.json

Thanks.

[vsalvino]

Ah thanks for the path, was having trouble tracking down the install folder. The profile seems suspiciously small compared to past versions?

// To view the default settings, hold "alt" while clicking on the "Settings" button.
// For documentation on these settings, see: https://aka.ms/terminal-documentation

{
    "$schema": "https://aka.ms/terminal-profiles-schema",

    "defaultProfile": "{61c54bbd-c2c6-5271-96e7-009a87ff44bf}",

    "profiles":
    [
        {
            // Make changes here to the powershell.exe profile
            "guid": "{61c54bbd-c2c6-5271-96e7-009a87ff44bf}",
            "name": "Windows PowerShell",
            "commandline": "powershell.exe",
            "hidden": false
        },
        {
            // Make changes here to the cmd.exe profile
            "guid": "{0caa0dad-35be-5f56-a8ff-afceeeaa6101}",
            "name": "cmd",
            "commandline": "cmd.exe",
            "hidden": false
        },
        {
            "guid": "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}",
            "hidden": false,
            "name": "PowerShell Core",
            "source": "Windows.Terminal.PowershellCore"
        },
        {
            "guid": "{b453ae62-4e3d-5e58-b989-0a998ec441b8}",
            "hidden": false,
            "name": "Azure Cloud Shell",
            "source": "Windows.Terminal.Azure"
        }
    ],

    // Add custom color schemes to this array
    "schemes": [],

    // Add any keybinding overrides to this array.
    // To unbind a default keybinding, set the command to "unbound"
    "keybindings": []
}

[DHowett-MSFT]

Indeed! That's part of the recent settings reform.

Since it doesn't look like a bad default profile, would you mind sharing a feedback hub link?

[DHowett-MSFT]

/feedback

[ghost]

Hi there!

Can you please send us feedback with the Feedback Hub with this issue and paste the link here so we can more easily find your crash information on the back end?

Thanks!

[vsalvino]

Feedback hub: https://aka.ms/AA63w7j

[vsalvino]

After tinkering with the profile.json, It only exhibits this problem when trying to open a Windows PowerShell terminal (which was the default). Changing the default to PowerShell Core or CMD works! Same problem persists when trying to open a Windows PowerShell tab: the new tab immediately crashes/closes.

Investigating further, powershell.exe is not on the PATH. If I change this to the full path to the executable, it works (C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe).

Perhaps a couple ideas here, start by providing the full path in the default profile.json, and also show an error if there is a problem executing commandline.

[DHowett-MSFT]

If powershell's not on your path, that's a sign of a serious system misconfiguration. Has something changed the systemwide PATH variable? The system-provided powershell should definitely be there.

Otherwise, this is /dup #2563.

[ghost]

Hi! We've identified this issue as a duplicate of another one that already exists on this Issue Tracker. This specific instance is being closed in favor of tracking the concern over on the referenced thread. Thanks for your report!

[vsalvino]

Thanks for the help. Glad there is already an issue for this problem. Yes, many things have changed the PATH over the years (countless developer tools such as git, python, node/npm, ruby, dotnet, docker, and all of the other cruft that comes along with such toolchains). I imagine some botched install or crappy tool must have hosed the PATH at one time.

[GaaTY]

I can confirm the PATH thing.

The app was also closing on startup, checked my PATH. No reference to powershell. Added the powershell path to PATH, Terminal opens on my default (which I set to Powershell).