# BUG: "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" is broken on Windows 3 messages from 2024-07-08 to 2024-07-08. Participants: Phillip Wood, brian m. carlson, Johannes Schindelin. Thread: https://gitlist.dev/t/61752 ## Phillip Wood, 2024-07-08 10:07 Subject: BUG: "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" is broken on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/cc267962-ca2d-4c4a-9ed8-d40c4d282522%40gmail.com ``` Running "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" on Windows prints "/bin/sh" which is not very helpful when the path to the shell is actually "C:\Users\gitlab_runner\scoop\apps\mingit-busybox\2.45.2\mingw64\bin\ash.exe" Support for GIT_SHELL_PATH was added to "git var" in 1e65721227 (var: add support for listing the shell, 2023-06-27) with the aim of making it possible for external programs to learn the location of the shell used to run the command returned by "git var GIT_EDITOR". As the commit message notes this is especially helpful on Windows where the shell isn't necessarily in $PATH. Unfortunately the implementation simply prints SHELL_PATH which is unused on Windows. As 776297548e (Do not use SHELL_PATH from build system in prepare_shell_cmd on Windows, 2012-04-17) explains the location of the shell depends on git's installation prefix. For the git-for-windows builds it looks like the shell is always in "$GIT_EXEC_PATH/../../bin/" but I'm not sure if that is universally true. It is possible to work around the bug by doing git -c 'alias.run-editor=!$(git var GIT_EDITOR)' run-editor but it would be good to fix "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" or at least document that it is broken on Windows Best Wishes Phillip ``` ## brian m. carlson, 2024-07-08 10:45 Subject: Re: BUG: "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" is broken on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/ZovDPbgBS7WJIipz%40tapette.crustytoothpaste.net In-Reply-To: ``` On 2024-07-08 at 10:07:17, Phillip Wood wrote: > Running "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" on Windows prints "/bin/sh" which is not > very helpful when the path to the shell is actually > "C:\Users\gitlab_runner\scoop\apps\mingit-busybox\2.45.2\mingw64\bin\ash.exe" > > Support for GIT_SHELL_PATH was added to "git var" in 1e65721227 (var: add > support for listing the shell, 2023-06-27) with the aim of making it > possible for external programs to learn the location of the shell used to > run the command returned by "git var GIT_EDITOR". As the commit message > notes this is especially helpful on Windows where the shell isn't > necessarily in $PATH. Unfortunately the implementation simply prints > SHELL_PATH which is unused on Windows. As 776297548e (Do not use SHELL_PATH > from build system in prepare_shell_cmd on Windows, 2012-04-17) explains the > location of the shell depends on git's installation prefix. For the > git-for-windows builds it looks like the shell is always in > "$GIT_EXEC_PATH/../../bin/" but I'm not sure if that is universally true. > > It is possible to work around the bug by doing > > git -c 'alias.run-editor=!$(git var GIT_EDITOR)' run-editor > > but it would be good to fix "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" or at least document > that it is broken on Windows Ugh. This was indeed supposed to work, but I no longer have access to a Windows machine, so we'd need someone who does have one to write up a patch. -- brian m. carlson (they/them or he/him) Toronto, Ontario, CA ``` ## Johannes Schindelin, 2024-07-08 13:08 Subject: Re: BUG: "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" is broken on Windows Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/cbdae028-db3d-b43e-57ef-52182452f49d%40gmx.de In-Reply-To: ``` Hi Phillip & brian, On Mon, 8 Jul 2024, brian m. carlson wrote: > On 2024-07-08 at 10:07:17, Phillip Wood wrote: > > Running "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" on Windows prints "/bin/sh" which is not > > very helpful when the path to the shell is actually > > "C:\Users\gitlab_runner\scoop\apps\mingit-busybox\2.45.2\mingw64\bin\ash.exe" > > > > Support for GIT_SHELL_PATH was added to "git var" in 1e65721227 (var: add > > support for listing the shell, 2023-06-27) with the aim of making it > > possible for external programs to learn the location of the shell used to > > run the command returned by "git var GIT_EDITOR". As the commit message > > notes this is especially helpful on Windows where the shell isn't > > necessarily in $PATH. Unfortunately the implementation simply prints > > SHELL_PATH which is unused on Windows. As 776297548e (Do not use SHELL_PATH > > from build system in prepare_shell_cmd on Windows, 2012-04-17) explains the > > location of the shell depends on git's installation prefix. For the > > git-for-windows builds it looks like the shell is always in > > "$GIT_EXEC_PATH/../../bin/" but I'm not sure if that is universally true. > > > > It is possible to work around the bug by doing > > > > git -c 'alias.run-editor=!$(git var GIT_EDITOR)' run-editor > > > > but it would be good to fix "git var GIT_SHELL_PATH" or at least document > > that it is broken on Windows > > Ugh. This was indeed supposed to work, but I no longer have access to a > Windows machine, so we'd need someone who does have one to write up a > patch. Funnily enough, the test suite specifically tested for the faulty `sh` suffix. Also, pro-tip: With GitHub Actions and https://github.com/mxschmitt/action-tmate you can fix compile errors and other problems directly on the hosted runners, including Windows ones. If you do not have any access to Windows machines anymore, that's how you can gain it back. I use this, too, to ensure that my patches work on macOS as intended, as I do not have access to any other macOS machine. As to the issue at hand, I offer https://lore.kernel.org/git/pull.1760.git.1720443778074.gitgitgadget@gmail.com to address it. Ciao, Johannes ```