Quote --ignore-exit-code values so the quarantine pipeline does not shell-split on Unix

[ViktorHofer]

Problem

The scheduled quarantine pipeline (azure-pipelines/quarantine.yml, definition 344) failed on its first real run — build 1445333 — on the Linux and macOS legs with:

error MSB3073: The command "echo ... --ignore-exit-code 8;2 --results-directory ..." exited with code 127.

Root cause

RunQuarantinedTests=true adds --ignore-exit-code 8;2 to the xUnit v3 test command (so a quarantined-only run treats exit code 8 = zero tests ran and 2 = test failures as success — the per-test signal is the published TRX, not the exit code).

Arcade's XUnitV3.Runner.targets assembles the command and runs it via <Exec>, which on non-Windows executes through /bin/sh. The unquoted ; was interpreted by the shell as a command separator, splitting the line into:

1. <runner> ... --ignore-exit-code 8
2. 2 --results-directory ...

The second fragment starts with the token 2, which is not a command, so the step failed with exit code 127 (command not found).

Fix

Quote the value: --ignore-exit-code "8;2". This keeps 8;2 as a single argument on both /bin/sh and cmd. 8;2 is the correct semicolon-separated multi-code syntax for Microsoft.Testing.Platform; only the shell-level quoting was missing.

Verified the parse through /bin/sh:

• unquoted -> 2: command not found
• quoted -> --ignore-exit-code receives a single arg 8;2

Windows was unaffected (cmd does not treat ; as a command separator), but the quoted form is correct on both.

Follow-up to #13915.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Updates unit test runner arguments used by the quarantine pipeline to ensure Unix shells don’t split the --ignore-exit-code value on ;, keeping Linux/macOS quarantine legs from failing when invoked via Arcade’s <Exec>.

Changes:

• Quote the --ignore-exit-code multi-exit-code value as "8;2" when RunQuarantinedTests=true.
• Expand the inline comment explaining why the quoting is required for /bin/sh execution.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/Directory.Build.targets	Quotes the --ignore-exit-code value for quarantined test runs and documents the shell-splitting rationale.

Copilot's findings

• Files reviewed: 1/1 changed files
• Comments generated: 1

[github-actions]

✅ 24/24 dimensions clean — no findings.

Reviewed against all 24 dimensions (backwards compatibility, ChangeWave discipline, performance, test coverage, error messages, logging, string comparison, API surface, target authoring, design, cross-platform correctness, code simplification, concurrency, naming, SDK integration, idiomatic C#, file I/O, documentation, build infrastructure, scope/PR discipline, evaluation model integrity, correctness/edge cases, dependency management, security).

Summary: This is a correct, minimal fix for a real Unix shell-splitting bug in an opt-in CI scenario. The semicolon in 8;2 is a literal character in MSBuild property values and the double quotes are preserved through property expansion into the Exec command string. The added comment is excellent — it documents the "why" and prevents future regressions from well-intentioned quote removal.

Generated by Expert Code Review (on open) for issue #13918 · ● 1.3M