shell does not render certain characters correctly during ssh to remote hosts #555

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opened 2026-01-30 21:55:12 +00:00 by claunia · 1 comment
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Originally created by @gaia on GitHub (Feb 7, 2019).

  • Your Windows build number: 17763.253

  • What you're doing and what's happening: shell does not render certain characters correctly during ssh to specific hosts

  • What's wrong / what should be happening instead: proper rendering

I have Ubuntu 18.04.1 installed via the Microsoft Store. I already tried uninstalling entirely and reinstalling, using the default .bashrc

When I SSH into a specific Bionic machine, the output of some commands shows random squares instead of characters

nano:
image

man:
image

Now of course one would think the problem is in the remote machine. But

  • This remote machine renders fine on Mac
  • This remote machine renders fine via Putty
  • This remote machine renders fine on Native Ubuntu
  • And I can SSH into countless other machines (Bionic and Xenial) from WSL and the issue does not occur.

The problem doesn't happen in normal shell operation, vim or vi. AFAIK I only see the problem in nano and man, from my WSL install, to this specific remote host (additionally, if I ssh into a remote host that works fine, then from this remote host ssh into the host with rendering problems, the problem is there).

I can't go to askubuntu and get help because the problem only occurs when logging in from WSL. And I understand it is easy to blame this specific remote host for the problem, but I am at my wit's end here. This specific host with the problem is the most important one for my job.

There has to be some specific setting on the remote host that only messes up WSL.

Local ENV

$ printenv
LS_COLORS=no=00:fi=00:di=36:ln=35:pi=30;44:so=35;44:do=35;44:bd=33;44:cd=37;44:or=05;37;41:mi=05;37;41:ex=01;31:*.cmd=01;31:*.exe=01;31:*.com=01;31:*.bat=01;31:*.reg=01;31:*.app=01;31:*.txt=32:*.org=32:*.md=32:*.mkd=32:*.h=32:*.hpp=32:*.c=32:*.C=32:*.cc=32:*.cpp=32:*.cxx=32:*.objc=32:*.cl=32:*.sh=32:*.bash=32:*.csh=32:*.zsh=32:*.el=32:*.vim=32:*.java=32:*.pl=32:*.pm=32:*.py=32:*.rb=32:*.hs=32:*.php=32:*.htm=32:*.html=32:*.shtml=32:*.erb=32:*.haml=32:*.xml=32:*.rdf=32:*.css=32:*.sass=32:*.scss=32:*.less=32:*.js=32:*.coffee=32:*.man=32:*.0=32:*.1=32:*.2=32:*.3=32:*.4=32:*.5=32:*.6=32:*.7=32:*.8=32:*.9=32:*.l=32:*.n=32:*.p=32:*.pod=32:*.tex=32:*.go=32:*.sql=32:*.csv=32:*.sv=32:*.svh=32:*.v=32:*.vh=32:*.vhd=32:*.bmp=33:*.cgm=33:*.dl=33:*.dvi=33:*.emf=33:*.eps=33:*.gif=33:*.jpeg=33:*.jpg=33:*.JPG=33:*.mng=33:*.pbm=33:*.pcx=33:*.pdf=33:*.pgm=33:*.png=33:*.PNG=33:*.ppm=33:*.pps=33:*.ppsx=33:*.ps=33:*.svg=33:*.svgz=33:*.tga=33:*.tif=33:*.tiff=33:*.xbm=33:*.xcf=33:*.xpm=33:*.xwd=33:*.xwd=33:*.yuv=33:*.aac=33:*.au=33:*.flac=33:*.m4a=33:*.mid=33:*.midi=33:*.mka=33:*.mp3=33:*.mpa=33:*.mpeg=33:*.mpg=33:*.ogg=33:*.opus=33:*.ra=33:*.wav=33:*.anx=33:*.asf=33:*.avi=33:*.axv=33:*.flc=33:*.fli=33:*.flv=33:*.gl=33:*.m2v=33:*.m4v=33:*.mkv=33:*.mov=33:*.MOV=33:*.mp4=33:*.mp4v=33:*.mpeg=33:*.mpg=33:*.nuv=33:*.ogm=33:*.ogv=33:*.ogx=33:*.qt=33:*.rm=33:*.rmvb=33:*.swf=33:*.vob=33:*.webm=33:*.wmv=33:*.doc=31:*.docx=31:*.rtf=31:*.odt=31:*.dot=31:*.dotx=31:*.ott=31:*.xls=31:*.xlsx=31:*.ods=31:*.ots=31:*.ppt=31:*.pptx=31:*.odp=31:*.otp=31:*.fla=31:*.psd=31:*.7z=1;35:*.apk=1;35:*.arj=1;35:*.bin=1;35:*.bz=1;35:*.bz2=1;35:*.cab=1;35:*.deb=1;35:*.dmg=1;35:*.gem=1;35:*.gz=1;35:*.iso=1;35:*.jar=1;35:*.msi=1;35:*.rar=1;35:*.rpm=1;35:*.tar=1;35:*.tbz=1;35:*.tbz2=1;35:*.tgz=1;35:*.tx=1;35:*.war=1;35:*.xpi=1;35:*.xz=1;35:*.z=1;35:*.Z=1;35:*.zip=1;35:*.ANSI-30-black=30:*.ANSI-01;30-brblack=01;30:*.ANSI-31-red=31:*.ANSI-01;31-brred=01;31:*.ANSI-32-green=32:*.ANSI-01;32-brgreen=01;32:*.ANSI-33-yellow=33:*.ANSI-01;33-bryellow=01;33:*.ANSI-34-blue=34:*.ANSI-01;34-brblue=01;34:*.ANSI-35-magenta=35:*.ANSI-01;35-brmagenta=01;35:*.ANSI-36-cyan=36:*.ANSI-01;36-brcyan=01;36:*.ANSI-37-white=37:*.ANSI-01;37-brwhite=01;37:*.log=01;32:*~=01;32:*#=01;32:*.bak=01;36:*.BAK=01;36:*.old=01;36:*.OLD=01;36:*.org_archive=01;36:*.off=01;36:*.OFF=01;36:*.dist=01;36:*.DIST=01;36:*.orig=01;36:*.ORIG=01;36:*.swp=01;36:*.swo=01;36:*,v=01;36:*.gpg=34:*.gpg=34:*.pgp=34:*.asc=34:*.3des=34:*.aes=34:*.enc=34:*.sqlite=34:
HOSTTYPE=x86_64
LESSCLOSE=/usr/bin/lesspipe %s %s
LANG=C.UTF-8
USER=bashuser
PWD=/home/bashuser
HOME=/home/bashuser
NAME=Ceres
XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/local/share:/usr/share:/var/lib/snapd/desktop
SHELL=/bin/bash
TERM=xterm-256color
SHLVL=1
LOGNAME=bashuser
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin
WSLENV=
LESSOPEN=| /usr/bin/lesspipe %s
_=/usr/bin/printenv

Remote ENV

$ printenv
LS_COLORS=rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:mi=00:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.arc=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lha=01;31:*.lz4=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.tlz=01;31:*.txz=01;31:*.tzo=01;31:*.t7z=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.lrz=01;31:*.lz=01;31:*.lzo=01;31:*.xz=01;31:*.zst=01;31:*.tzst=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.war=01;31:*.ear=01;31:*.sar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.alz=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.cab=01;31:*.wim=01;31:*.swm=01;31:*.dwm=01;31:*.esd=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.mjpg=01;35:*.mjpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.svgz=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.webm=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.flv=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.cgm=01;35:*.emf=01;35:*.ogv=01;35:*.ogx=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.m4a=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:*.oga=00;36:*.opus=00;36:*.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:
SSH_CONNECTION=-----------------------------
LESSCLOSE=/usr/bin/lesspipe %s %s
LANG=C.UTF-8
OLDPWD=/home/ubuntu
XDG_SESSION_ID=2482
USER=ubuntu
PWD=/
HOME=/home/ubuntu
SSH_CLIENT=-----------------------------
XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/local/share:/usr/share:/var/lib/snapd/desktop
SSH_TTY=/dev/pts/0
MAIL=/var/mail/ubuntu
TERM=linux
SHELL=/bin/bash
SHLVL=1
LOGNAME=ubuntu
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/ubuntu/.composer/vendor/bin:/etc/scripts
HISTFILESIZE=50000
LESSOPEN=| /usr/bin/lesspipe %s
_=/usr/bin/printenv

Remote

$ uname -a
Linux aws-app-1 4.15.0-1032-aws #34-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 17 15:18:09 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Originally created by @gaia on GitHub (Feb 7, 2019). * Your Windows build number: 17763.253 * What you're doing and what's happening: shell does not render certain characters correctly during ssh to specific hosts * What's wrong / what should be happening instead: proper rendering I have Ubuntu 18.04.1 installed via the Microsoft Store. I already tried uninstalling entirely and reinstalling, using the default .bashrc **When I SSH into a specific Bionic machine,** the output of some commands shows random squares instead of characters nano: ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/87547/52439432-58a0ad00-2ad0-11e9-8f06-f7ace06da11d.png) man: ![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/87547/52440041-fa74c980-2ad1-11e9-9f4e-747914df59e9.png) Now of course **one would think the problem is in the remote machine**. But - This remote machine renders fine on Mac - This remote machine renders fine via Putty - This remote machine renders fine on Native Ubuntu - And **I can SSH into countless other machines (Bionic and Xenial) from WSL and the issue does not occur.** The problem doesn't happen in normal shell operation, `vim `or `vi`. AFAIK I only see the problem in `nano `and `man`, from my WSL install, to this specific remote host (additionally, if I ssh into a remote host that works fine, then from this remote host ssh into the host with rendering problems, the problem is there). I can't go to askubuntu and get help because the problem only occurs when logging in from WSL. And I understand it is easy to blame this specific remote host for the problem, but I am at my wit's end here. This specific host with the problem is the most important one for my job. **There has to be some specific setting on the remote host that only messes up WSL.** Local ENV ``` $ printenv LS_COLORS=no=00:fi=00:di=36:ln=35:pi=30;44:so=35;44:do=35;44:bd=33;44:cd=37;44:or=05;37;41:mi=05;37;41:ex=01;31:*.cmd=01;31:*.exe=01;31:*.com=01;31:*.bat=01;31:*.reg=01;31:*.app=01;31:*.txt=32:*.org=32:*.md=32:*.mkd=32:*.h=32:*.hpp=32:*.c=32:*.C=32:*.cc=32:*.cpp=32:*.cxx=32:*.objc=32:*.cl=32:*.sh=32:*.bash=32:*.csh=32:*.zsh=32:*.el=32:*.vim=32:*.java=32:*.pl=32:*.pm=32:*.py=32:*.rb=32:*.hs=32:*.php=32:*.htm=32:*.html=32:*.shtml=32:*.erb=32:*.haml=32:*.xml=32:*.rdf=32:*.css=32:*.sass=32:*.scss=32:*.less=32:*.js=32:*.coffee=32:*.man=32:*.0=32:*.1=32:*.2=32:*.3=32:*.4=32:*.5=32:*.6=32:*.7=32:*.8=32:*.9=32:*.l=32:*.n=32:*.p=32:*.pod=32:*.tex=32:*.go=32:*.sql=32:*.csv=32:*.sv=32:*.svh=32:*.v=32:*.vh=32:*.vhd=32:*.bmp=33:*.cgm=33:*.dl=33:*.dvi=33:*.emf=33:*.eps=33:*.gif=33:*.jpeg=33:*.jpg=33:*.JPG=33:*.mng=33:*.pbm=33:*.pcx=33:*.pdf=33:*.pgm=33:*.png=33:*.PNG=33:*.ppm=33:*.pps=33:*.ppsx=33:*.ps=33:*.svg=33:*.svgz=33:*.tga=33:*.tif=33:*.tiff=33:*.xbm=33:*.xcf=33:*.xpm=33:*.xwd=33:*.xwd=33:*.yuv=33:*.aac=33:*.au=33:*.flac=33:*.m4a=33:*.mid=33:*.midi=33:*.mka=33:*.mp3=33:*.mpa=33:*.mpeg=33:*.mpg=33:*.ogg=33:*.opus=33:*.ra=33:*.wav=33:*.anx=33:*.asf=33:*.avi=33:*.axv=33:*.flc=33:*.fli=33:*.flv=33:*.gl=33:*.m2v=33:*.m4v=33:*.mkv=33:*.mov=33:*.MOV=33:*.mp4=33:*.mp4v=33:*.mpeg=33:*.mpg=33:*.nuv=33:*.ogm=33:*.ogv=33:*.ogx=33:*.qt=33:*.rm=33:*.rmvb=33:*.swf=33:*.vob=33:*.webm=33:*.wmv=33:*.doc=31:*.docx=31:*.rtf=31:*.odt=31:*.dot=31:*.dotx=31:*.ott=31:*.xls=31:*.xlsx=31:*.ods=31:*.ots=31:*.ppt=31:*.pptx=31:*.odp=31:*.otp=31:*.fla=31:*.psd=31:*.7z=1;35:*.apk=1;35:*.arj=1;35:*.bin=1;35:*.bz=1;35:*.bz2=1;35:*.cab=1;35:*.deb=1;35:*.dmg=1;35:*.gem=1;35:*.gz=1;35:*.iso=1;35:*.jar=1;35:*.msi=1;35:*.rar=1;35:*.rpm=1;35:*.tar=1;35:*.tbz=1;35:*.tbz2=1;35:*.tgz=1;35:*.tx=1;35:*.war=1;35:*.xpi=1;35:*.xz=1;35:*.z=1;35:*.Z=1;35:*.zip=1;35:*.ANSI-30-black=30:*.ANSI-01;30-brblack=01;30:*.ANSI-31-red=31:*.ANSI-01;31-brred=01;31:*.ANSI-32-green=32:*.ANSI-01;32-brgreen=01;32:*.ANSI-33-yellow=33:*.ANSI-01;33-bryellow=01;33:*.ANSI-34-blue=34:*.ANSI-01;34-brblue=01;34:*.ANSI-35-magenta=35:*.ANSI-01;35-brmagenta=01;35:*.ANSI-36-cyan=36:*.ANSI-01;36-brcyan=01;36:*.ANSI-37-white=37:*.ANSI-01;37-brwhite=01;37:*.log=01;32:*~=01;32:*#=01;32:*.bak=01;36:*.BAK=01;36:*.old=01;36:*.OLD=01;36:*.org_archive=01;36:*.off=01;36:*.OFF=01;36:*.dist=01;36:*.DIST=01;36:*.orig=01;36:*.ORIG=01;36:*.swp=01;36:*.swo=01;36:*,v=01;36:*.gpg=34:*.gpg=34:*.pgp=34:*.asc=34:*.3des=34:*.aes=34:*.enc=34:*.sqlite=34: HOSTTYPE=x86_64 LESSCLOSE=/usr/bin/lesspipe %s %s LANG=C.UTF-8 USER=bashuser PWD=/home/bashuser HOME=/home/bashuser NAME=Ceres XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/local/share:/usr/share:/var/lib/snapd/desktop SHELL=/bin/bash TERM=xterm-256color SHLVL=1 LOGNAME=bashuser PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin WSLENV= LESSOPEN=| /usr/bin/lesspipe %s _=/usr/bin/printenv ``` Remote ENV ``` $ printenv LS_COLORS=rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:mi=00:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.arc=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lha=01;31:*.lz4=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.tlz=01;31:*.txz=01;31:*.tzo=01;31:*.t7z=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.lrz=01;31:*.lz=01;31:*.lzo=01;31:*.xz=01;31:*.zst=01;31:*.tzst=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.war=01;31:*.ear=01;31:*.sar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.alz=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.cab=01;31:*.wim=01;31:*.swm=01;31:*.dwm=01;31:*.esd=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.mjpg=01;35:*.mjpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.svgz=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.webm=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.flv=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.cgm=01;35:*.emf=01;35:*.ogv=01;35:*.ogx=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.m4a=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:*.oga=00;36:*.opus=00;36:*.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36: SSH_CONNECTION=----------------------------- LESSCLOSE=/usr/bin/lesspipe %s %s LANG=C.UTF-8 OLDPWD=/home/ubuntu XDG_SESSION_ID=2482 USER=ubuntu PWD=/ HOME=/home/ubuntu SSH_CLIENT=----------------------------- XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/local/share:/usr/share:/var/lib/snapd/desktop SSH_TTY=/dev/pts/0 MAIL=/var/mail/ubuntu TERM=linux SHELL=/bin/bash SHLVL=1 LOGNAME=ubuntu XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000 PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/ubuntu/.composer/vendor/bin:/etc/scripts HISTFILESIZE=50000 LESSOPEN=| /usr/bin/lesspipe %s _=/usr/bin/printenv ``` Remote ``` $ uname -a Linux aws-app-1 4.15.0-1032-aws #34-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 17 15:18:09 UTC 2019 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux ```
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@gaia commented on GitHub (Feb 7, 2019):

For future reference... It was the export TERM=linux in the remote .bashrc!

@gaia commented on GitHub (Feb 7, 2019): For future reference... It was the `export TERM=linux` in the remote .bashrc!
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Reference: starred/terminal#555