# Fatal error with Execute shell in project **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask a question\ **Created:** [March 3, 2022, 10:11am UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694 "2022-03-03T10:11:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RachelCohen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9de0a6/32.png) [@RachelCohen](https://community.jenkins.io/u/RachelCohen)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 10:11am UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/1 "2022-03-03T10:11:52Z")
Hey, I have a problem: When I **create a project** and click on **“Build”** and select **Execute shell** and **build the project** - I got an error in the _console output_: ```auto Started by user Rachel Cohen Running as SYSTEM Building in workspace C:\ProgramData\Jenkins\.jenkins\workspace\test_again [test_again] $ sh -xe C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\jenkins1793137690508028130.sh The system cannot find the file specified FATAL: command execution failed java.io.IOException: CreateProcess error=2, The system cannot find the file specified at java.lang.ProcessImpl.create(Native Method) at java.lang.ProcessImpl.(Unknown Source) at java.lang.ProcessImpl.start(Unknown Source) Caused: java.io.IOException: Cannot run program "sh" (in directory "C:\ProgramData\Jenkins\.jenkins\workspace\test_again"): CreateProcess error=2, The system cannot find the file specified at java.lang.ProcessBuilder.start(Unknown Source) at hudson.Proc$LocalProc.(Proc.java:254) at hudson.Proc$LocalProc.(Proc.java:223) at hudson.Launcher$LocalLauncher.launch(Launcher.java:997) at hudson.Launcher$ProcStarter.start(Launcher.java:509) at hudson.tasks.CommandInterpreter.perform(CommandInterpreter.java:144) at hudson.tasks.CommandInterpreter.perform(CommandInterpreter.java:92) at hudson.tasks.BuildStepMonitor$1.perform(BuildStepMonitor.java:20) at hudson.model.AbstractBuild$AbstractBuildExecution.perform(AbstractBuild.java:814) at hudson.model.Build$BuildExecution.build(Build.java:199) at hudson.model.Build$BuildExecution.doRun(Build.java:164) at hudson.model.AbstractBuild$AbstractBuildExecution.run(AbstractBuild.java:522) at hudson.model.Run.execute(Run.java:1896) at hudson.model.FreeStyleBuild.run(FreeStyleBuild.java:44) at hudson.model.ResourceController.execute(ResourceController.java:101) at hudson.model.Executor.run(Executor.java:442) Build step 'Execute shell' marked build as failure Finished: FAILURE ``` **The system cannot find the file specified** **FATAL: command execution failed** If anyone knows what the problem is- it’ll help me a lot thank you! Rachel ---
**Author:** ![StealthDJ](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/stealthdj/32/438_2.png) [@StealthDJ](https://community.jenkins.io/u/StealthDJ)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 10:26am UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/2 "2022-03-03T10:26:04Z")
That looks like you’re trying to run a ‘shell’ step on a windows node, which is unlikely to succeed, unless you have a specific shell executable installed there (in which case, it needs to be in the %PATH% of the node. For windows nodes, you’d generally be looking at running either ‘bat’ or powershell steps for scripts. Tony ---
**Author:** ![RachelCohen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9de0a6/32.png) [@RachelCohen](https://community.jenkins.io/u/RachelCohen)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 7:19am UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/3 "2022-03-07T07:19:51Z")
Thank you - It was help me a lot! ---
**Author:** ![lenemapse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@lenemapse](https://community.jenkins.io/u/lenemapse)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 3:53pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/4 "2023-02-28T15:53:37Z")
It happens because Jenkins is not aware about the shell path. In my case the solution was: In Manage Jenkins → Configure System → Shell, set the shell path as > C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe After doing this change, it works for me. Hope it helps! ---
**Author:** ![TZ123](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/tz123/32/5198_2.png) [@TZ123](https://community.jenkins.io/u/TZ123)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/5 "2023-08-15T00:30:36Z")
Thank you - this is very helpful 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HarshDhanani](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/harshdhanani/32/5390_2.png) [@HarshDhanani](https://community.jenkins.io/u/HarshDhanani)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/6 "2023-09-04T16:26:16Z")
Right, it works for me as well. ---
**Author:** ![H-Ali27](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/h-ali27/32/5925_2.png) [@H-Ali27](https://community.jenkins.io/u/H-Ali27)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/7 "2023-10-24T19:57:02Z")
@lenemapse it worked for me. thank you lenemapse ---
**Author:** ![Bouba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@Bouba](https://community.jenkins.io/u/Bouba)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 12:17pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/8 "2023-11-08T12:17:04Z")
it worked fine.Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![MarkEWaite](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/markewaite/32/20_2.png) [@MarkEWaite](https://community.jenkins.io/u/MarkEWaite)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 12:19pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/9 "2023-11-08T12:19:28Z")
Changing `Execute shell` to use the Windows command processor seems counter-intuitive to me. Wouldn’t it be better to use the “Execute batch command” step instead of “Execute shell”? The “Execute shell” step is generally used for programs that are POSIX compatible shells. ---
**Author:** ![soumyaswain9658](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/soumyaswain9658/32/6921_2.png) [@soumyaswain9658](https://community.jenkins.io/u/soumyaswain9658)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2024, 5:08am UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/10 "2024-02-03T05:08:18Z")
Hi if you use in jenkin in window platfrom then use on below // To run Maven on a Windows agent, use bat “mvn -Dmaven.test.failure.ignore=true clean package” ---
**Author:** ![Afor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Afor](https://community.jenkins.io/u/Afor)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/11 "2024-04-01T14:47:58Z")
This worked for me. I was skeptical about adding the SSH plugin due to issues relating to ‘CSRF vulnerability and missing permission checks in SSH Plugin allow capturing credentials’ and ‘Missing permission check in SSH Plugin allows enumerating credentials IDs’ ---
**Author:** ![MarkEWaite](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/markewaite/32/20_2.png) [@MarkEWaite](https://community.jenkins.io/u/MarkEWaite)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/12 "2024-04-01T15:17:39Z")
> [@Afor](#): > > I was skeptical about adding the SSH plugin I agree that it is wise to be skeptical about adding the [ssh plugin](https://plugins.jenkins.io/ssh/) due to known security vulnerabilities ([SECURITY-2093](https://www.jenkins.io/security/advisory/2022-05-17/#SECURITY-2093) and [SECURITY-2315](https://www.jenkins.io/security/advisory/2022-05-17/#SECURITY-2315)). As far as I know, there is nothing in the ssh plugin that will allow a shell step (“sh”) to run on Windows computers. I’m surprised that installing the ssh plugin made any change to how Pipeline steps execute on Windows agents. Windows agents almost always use “bat” and “powershell” steps to perform their operations. Some users may have found ways to configure their Windows computers to also include a program that is compatible with “sh” and runs on Windows, but that is not the typical way that Windows agents are used. ---
**Author:** ![Afor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Afor](https://community.jenkins.io/u/Afor)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/13 "2024-04-01T15:57:14Z")
Thank you so much. Your comments was very useful ---
**Author:** ![vinayvmathad](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/vinayvmathad/32/8459_2.png) [@vinayvmathad](https://community.jenkins.io/u/vinayvmathad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/14 "2024-05-31T15:16:27Z")
after making this changes i am able to execute but i am not able to see what i am printing in executable shell ![Screenshot 2024-05-31 204602](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/jenkins/original/2X/7/7f39c88546b466e31641cfc0c662cb6b646692b2.png) ---
**Author:** ![vinayvmathad](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/vinayvmathad/32/8459_2.png) [@vinayvmathad](https://community.jenkins.io/u/vinayvmathad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/15 "2024-05-31T15:19:05Z")
![Screenshot 2024-05-31 204736](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/jenkins/original/2X/c/ca31f54cdbef21969d96ba5c78f5c9adbda85ea2.png) I can see only success. But where can i see “Hi jenkins” note ---
**Author:** ![MarkEWaite](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/markewaite/32/20_2.png) [@MarkEWaite](https://community.jenkins.io/u/MarkEWaite)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 11:57pm UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/16 "2024-05-31T23:57:37Z")
> [@vinayvmathad](#): > > i am not able to see what i am printing in executable shell Please stop trying to use “Execute shell” on a Windows agent. “Execute shell” is used for Unix agents like Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Solaris. Please use the `bat` or `powershell` steps on Windows agents. ---
**Author:** ![vinayvmathad](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.jenkins.io/vinayvmathad/32/8459_2.png) [@vinayvmathad](https://community.jenkins.io/u/vinayvmathad)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2024, 6:34am UTC](https://community.jenkins.io/t/fatal-error-with-execute-shell-in-project/1694/17 "2024-06-03T06:34:04Z")
Thanks for the information