Windows %PATH% shows as linux path, not windows path?

[brwilkinson]

Description

I am wondering what is the source of this difference below?

I see a related discussion:

• Windows Container: Path variables inside the container started by `nerdctl run` is not set properly. #2285

containerd --version
containerd github.com/containerd/containerd v1.7.5 fe457eb99ac0e27b3ce638175ef8e68a7d2bc373

nerdctl version
time="2023-09-09T13:18:19-07:00" level=warning msg="unable to determine buildctl version: exec: \"buildctl\": executable file not found in %PATH%"
time="2023-09-09T13:18:19-07:00" level=warning msg="unable to determine runc version: exec: \"runc\": executable file not found in %PATH%"
Client:
 Version:       v1.5.0
 OS/Arch:       windows/amd64
 Git commit:    b33a58f288bc42351404a016e694190b897cd252
 buildctl:
  Version:

Server:
 containerd:
  Version:      v1.7.5
  GitCommit:    fe457eb99ac0e27b3ce638175ef8e68a7d2bc373
 runc:
  Version:

cni version 0.3.0

Steps to reproduce the issue

nerdctl run --rm mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:lts-nanoserver-ltsc2022 cmd /c "echo %path%"
> /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin

docker run --rm mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:lts-nanoserver-ltsc2022 cmd /c "echo %path%"
> C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;;C:\Program Files\PowerShell;

Describe the results you received and expected

Docker shows the correct windows path, however nerdctl shows the linux path ?

What version of nerdctl are you using?

Version: v1.7.5

Are you using a variant of nerdctl? (e.g., Rancher Desktop)

None

Host information

nerdctl info
Client:
Namespace: default
Debug Mode: false

Server:
Server Version: v1.7.5
Storage Driver: windows
Logging Driver: json-file
Cgroup Driver:
Cgroup Version:
Plugins:
Log: fluentd journald json-file syslog
Storage: windows-lcow windows
Security Options:
Kernel Version:
Operating System:
OSType: windows
Architecture:
CPUs: 0
Total Memory: 0B
Name: BRW-SB3
ID: fe8b756d-59de-46e4-bdc6-e56d63c158c5

[brwilkinson]

not sure if this is helpful, however ...

docker inspect 570f5c4f678f
[
    {
        "Id": "sha256:570f5c4f678f5dfb03807894dcc696382a5ac9db713705bb436c903b8574601a",
        "RepoTags": [
            "mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:lts-nanoserver-ltsc2022"
        ],
        "RepoDigests": [
            "mcr.microsoft.com/powershell@sha256:5e0222bb80f4cc5b63fc0eb51ca16001a141575d7b2253e32ed5ffb029c536d3"
        ],
        "Parent": "",
        "Comment": "",
        "Created": "2023-07-13T18:32:08.5185745Z",
        "Container": "ce5af146daa5d4e567070277fee5a74b5e17e9025b144b5e268e72a9449f0117",
        "ContainerConfig": {
            "Hostname": "ce5af146daa5",
            "Domainname": "",
            "User": "ContainerUser",
            "AttachStdin": false,
            "AttachStdout": false,
            "AttachStderr": false,
            "Tty": false,
            "OpenStdin": false,
            "StdinOnce": false,
            "Env": [
                "ProgramFiles=C:\\Program Files",
                "PSModuleAnalysisCachePath=C:\\Users\\Public\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\Windows\\PowerShell\\docker\\ModuleAnalysisCache",
                "PSCORE=\\PowerShell\\pwsh.exe",
                "WindowsPATH=C:\\Windows\\system32;C:\\Windows",
                "POWERSHELL_DISTRIBUTION_CHANNEL=PSDocker-NanoServer-ltsc2022",
                "POWERSHELL_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT=0"
            ],
            "Cmd": [
                "cmd",
                "/S",
                "/C",
                "#(nop) ",
                "CMD [\"pwsh.exe\"]"
            ],
            "Image": "sha256:2f9ca742140ef8085256cda281477c61dfdc7ac0982ea7639ed5dd19795214b4",
            "Volumes": null,
            "WorkingDir": "",
            "Entrypoint": null,
            "OnBuild": null,
            "Labels": {}
        },
        "DockerVersion": "20.10.15+azure",
        "Author": "",
        "Config": {
            "Hostname": "",
            "Domainname": "",
            "User": "ContainerUser",
            "AttachStdin": false,
            "AttachStdout": false,
            "AttachStderr": false,
            "Tty": false,
            "OpenStdin": false,
            "StdinOnce": false,
            "Env": [
                "ProgramFiles=C:\\Program Files",
                "PSModuleAnalysisCachePath=C:\\Users\\Public\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\Windows\\PowerShell\\docker\\ModuleAnalysisCache",
                "PSCORE=\\PowerShell\\pwsh.exe",
                "WindowsPATH=C:\\Windows\\system32;C:\\Windows",
                "POWERSHELL_DISTRIBUTION_CHANNEL=PSDocker-NanoServer-ltsc2022",
                "POWERSHELL_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT=0"
            ],
            "Cmd": [
                "pwsh.exe"
            ],
            "Image": "sha256:2f9ca742140ef8085256cda281477c61dfdc7ac0982ea7639ed5dd19795214b4",
            "Volumes": null,
            "WorkingDir": "",
            "Entrypoint": null,
            "OnBuild": null,
            "Labels": null
        },
        "Architecture": "amd64",
        "Os": "windows",
        "OsVersion": "10.0.20348.1850",
        "Size": 561631538,
        "VirtualSize": 561631538,
        "GraphDriver": {
            "Data": {
                "dir": "C:\\ProgramData\\Docker\\windowsfilter\\89d9b262e9234514035e027490e48fffda67baad9138f86fe894890c2d804ab4"
            },
            "Name": "windowsfilter"
        },
        "RootFS": {
            "Type": "layers",
            "Layers": [
                "sha256:765c01b50936296499b458db80437b4f0c7d0216038c7d759d8741e7b509817a",
                "sha256:fa9662a9b6052f44b955a33fc3b88f98eed57c5a32f2326aea76e31e0c1b8a00",
                "sha256:17fecc8860e0ad25fc46408dd70f83e7cd9ac2d2b38067e1218115e90ce92d84",
                "sha256:146c63fb0f78c24787c2c43d00d031b54ed8c1b4196a409ccc7d5fd8c3431dc4",
                "sha256:97e9e225a31aff1afa9b184d8314859f0d008994d0978de385add7ce7a6e43cb",
                "sha256:b228a9de938a0c9026a7a19782c006062784754133c30a4edbedd25199a6362c",
                "sha256:f1909cad41aea8bf0571b57aa08f54e8e32fba1b36bdf9f67cacf1c260140636",
                "sha256:3bc4e6efd83306e643f92187c511bbb63b0de391c24b3dd65312d12291cc7bbe",
                "sha256:459d86538d500e284cf08721906c175dd59e63169c2c09afd1a191d59db7d6a5"
            ]
        },
        "Metadata": {
            "LastTagTime": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"
        }
    }
]

[brwilkinson]

nerdctl inspect 5e0222bb80f4
[
    {
        "Id": "sha256:570f5c4f678f5dfb03807894dcc696382a5ac9db713705bb436c903b8574601a",
        "RepoTags": [
            "mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:lts-nanoserver-ltsc2022"
        ],
        "RepoDigests": [
            "mcr.microsoft.com/powershell@sha256:5e0222bb80f4cc5b63fc0eb51ca16001a141575d7b2253e32ed5ffb029c536d3"
        ],
        "Comment": "",
        "Created": "2023-07-13T18:32:08.5185745Z",
        "Author": "",
        "Config": {
            "User": "ContainerUser",
            "AttachStdin": false,
            "Env": [
                "ProgramFiles=C:\\Program Files",
                "PSModuleAnalysisCachePath=C:\\Users\\Public\\AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\Windows\\PowerShell\\docker\\ModuleAnalysisCache",
                "PSCORE=\\PowerShell\\pwsh.exe",
                "WindowsPATH=C:\\Windows\\system32;C:\\Windows",
                "POWERSHELL_DISTRIBUTION_CHANNEL=PSDocker-NanoServer-ltsc2022",
                "POWERSHELL_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT=0"
            ],
            "Cmd": [
                "pwsh.exe"
            ]
        },
        "Architecture": "amd64",
        "Os": "windows",
        "Size": 1186816416,
        "RootFS": {
            "Type": "layers",
            "Layers": [
                "sha256:765c01b50936296499b458db80437b4f0c7d0216038c7d759d8741e7b509817a",
                "sha256:fa9662a9b6052f44b955a33fc3b88f98eed57c5a32f2326aea76e31e0c1b8a00",
                "sha256:17fecc8860e0ad25fc46408dd70f83e7cd9ac2d2b38067e1218115e90ce92d84",
                "sha256:146c63fb0f78c24787c2c43d00d031b54ed8c1b4196a409ccc7d5fd8c3431dc4",
                "sha256:97e9e225a31aff1afa9b184d8314859f0d008994d0978de385add7ce7a6e43cb",
                "sha256:b228a9de938a0c9026a7a19782c006062784754133c30a4edbedd25199a6362c",
                "sha256:f1909cad41aea8bf0571b57aa08f54e8e32fba1b36bdf9f67cacf1c260140636",
                "sha256:3bc4e6efd83306e643f92187c511bbb63b0de391c24b3dd65312d12291cc7bbe",
                "sha256:459d86538d500e284cf08721906c175dd59e63169c2c09afd1a191d59db7d6a5"
            ]
        },
        "Metadata": {
            "LastTagTime": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"
        }
    }
]

[iankingori]

This bug is caused by a containerd bug here which only has default for unix env:

func WithDefaultPathEnv(_ context.Context, _ Client, _ *containers.Container, s *Spec) error {
        s.Process.Env = replaceOrAppendEnvValues(s.Process.Env, defaultUnixEnv)
	return nil
}

We are using the function here to set environment variables and end up overwriting the default windows path. I believe Windows Containers have a default path already configured at bootup so solution here might be to have WithDefaultPathEnv function do nothing for Windows?

[CharityKathure]

Containerd issue resolved by this PR: containerd/containerd#9118.

cc @iankingori @brwilkinson

[iankingori]

The fix for this was backported into Containerd 1.7.11 and 1.6.26. I've confirmed the bug no longer repros on the latest release of nerdctl