Incorrect behavior running executable if current location path is longer than 256 characters

[sba923]

Steps to reproduce

If the path to the current location is > 256 characters, running an executable from PowerShell either fails or works but the executable is run in a separate console.

PS> pwd; (pwd).Path.Length
Path
----
C:\Users\steph\OneDrive\test\test01\test02\test03\test04\test05\test06\test07\test08\test09\test10\test11\test12\test13\test14\test15\test16\test17\test18\test19\test20\test21\test22\test23\test24\test25\test26\test27\test28\test29\tes…
245
PS> HelloCsharpWorld.exe
Hello, C# world!
PS> cd test32
PS> pwd; (pwd).Path.Length
Path
----
C:\Users\steph\OneDrive\test\test01\test02\test03\test04\test05\test06\test07\test08\test09\test10\test11\test12\test13\test14\test15\test16\test17\test18\test19\test20\test21\test22\test23\test24\test25\test26\test27\test28\test29\tes…
252
PS> HelloCsharpWorld.exe
Hello, C# world!
PS> cd test33
PS> pwd; (pwd).Path.Length
Path
----
C:\Users\steph\OneDrive\test\test01\test02\test03\test04\test05\test06\test07\test08\test09\test10\test11\test12\test13\test14\test15\test16\test17\test18\test19\test20\test21\test22\test23\test24\test25\test26\test27\test28\test29\tes…
259
PS> HelloCsharpWorld.exe
ResourceUnavailable: Program 'HelloCsharpWorld.exe' failed to run: The directory name is invalid.At line:1 char:1
+ HelloCsharpWorl …
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
PS> cd test34
PS> pwd; (pwd).Path.Length
Path
----
C:\Users\steph\OneDrive\test\test01\test02\test03\test04\test05\test06\test07\test08\test09\test10\test11\test12\test13\test14\test15\test16\test17\test18\test19\test20\test21\test22\test23\test24\test25\test26\test27\test28\test29\tes…
266
PS> HelloCsharpWorld.exe
(no output, executable is run in a separate console that self-closes)

Expected behavior

Running an executable should work and output to the current console, whatever the current location.

Actual behavior

If the path to the current location is > 256 characters long, running an executable either fails or is done in a separate console, yielding no output in the current console.

Environment data

> $psversiontable

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.1.0-rc.2
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.1.0-rc.2
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.19042
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

[jborean93]

I think this may be an actual limitation in CreateProcess. When querying info about setting the current directory that exceeds MAX_PATH I got back this info MicrosoftDocs/feedback#1441.

[sba923]

Seems a valid reason. But shouldn't PowerShell warn about it / yield a well-defined error if this is attempted?

[jborean93]

Sure, just wanted to share some background info that seemed to be relevant.

[karlhorky]

Interesting, is there still a problem with launching programs from long paths in PowerShell, even when LongPathsEnabled is set to 1? (longer than the 260 character MAX_PATH limit)

As part of my research into Node.js support of long paths on Windows I've experienced that running node -v just errors out with The directory name is invalid (Windows 11 Pro x64 machine with LongPathsEnabled is set to 1):

PS C:\> node -v
v20.5.1

PS C:\> mkdir long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\


    Directory: C:\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\l
    ong-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-p
    ath\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d-----        17.11.2023     16:27                long-path


PS C:\> cd long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\
PS C:\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path\long-path> node -v
Program 'node.exe' failed to run: The directory name is invalidAt line:1 char:1
+ node -v
+ ~~~~~~~.
At line:1 char:1
+ node -v
+ ~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ResourceUnavailable: (:) [], ApplicationFailedException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandFailed

More details over here:

• Long node_modules paths cannot be found on Windows when LongPathsEnabled enabled nodejs/node#50753

[karlhorky]

I can also open a new issue if that would be better, since this is not 100% the same issue...

cc @iSazonov

[sba923]

The problem repro'es with 7.4.0 on Windows 11 build 10.0.22621.2715.amd64fre.ni_release.220506-1250

[karlhorky]

@iSazonov @jborean93 @daxian-dbw @SteveL-MSFT can this issue be reopened? I think it should not be closed.

[LesFerch]

This issue appears to apply to ALL executables. Here, I'm just trying to run whoami in PowerShell opened to a long path:

I can open Cmd to the same folder and have no problem running the same Exe. It's ironic that the ancient Cmd.exe is more capable in this regard:

And yes, that really is the same folder. It's more clear if I change my PowerShell prompt to 8.3 format. Of course, that does nothing to fix the problem:

And, finally, before anyone asks; Yes, LongPathsEnabled is already set to 1 (enabled).