The term 'C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\ssh.exe' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.

Steps to reproduce

Seems only ssh.exe and wsl.exe will have this weird problem. Even I use a full path like C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\ssh.exe wont fix the problem. See following screenshots.

Expected behavior

With Windows PowerShell, everything works as expected.

Actual behavior

With PowerShell Core

Environment data

Installed with PowerShell-7.0.0-rc.2-win-x64.msix

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.0.0-rc.2
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.0.0-rc.2
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.19041
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

[mklement0]

I see: I’m starting to suspect that it is PowerShell that has been installed as a 32-bit version, which would explain the symptom, given that 32-bit processes have their own, independent C:\Windows\System32 directory that shadows the one that 64-bit processes see.

Try:

# This would only work from a 32-bit PowerShell instance.
# Access the 64-bit C:\Windows\System32 directory.
Get-Item -Force C:\Windows\SysNative\OpenSSH\ssh.exe

A quick test to determine whether your PowerShell session is 32-bit is to examine $env:ProgramFiles: if it contains C:\Program Files (x86) instead of C:\Program Files, you’re running a 32-bit session.

[cloudhan]

@mklement0 Great thanks for the help, problem resolved after I reinstalled x64 version. Seems I make some mistake and install x86 version, and I can confirm that with my command history. Also thanks for pointing out the interesting SysNative directory.