Appx extension fails when DSC_RESOURCE_PATH is set

[ThomasNieto]

Prerequisites

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Summary

By setting $env:DSC_RESOURCE_PATH to a value it seems as though DSC no longer looks in the PATH envvar to for the extensions to find their required executables.

Steps to reproduce

$env:DSC_RESOURCE_PATH = "C:\dsc"
dsc resource list
2026-07-16T07:06:57.049078Z  WARN Extension 'Microsoft.Windows.Appx/Discover' failed to discover resources: Command: Operation Executable 'powershell' not found with working directory 'C:\dsc' for executable 'powershell.exe'

Expected behavior

Appx is able to find powershell

Actual behavior

Appx can't find powershell

Error details

Environment data

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.6.3
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.6.3
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.26200
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.4
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Version

dsc 3.3.0-preview.2

Visuals

No response

[SteveL-MSFT]

Have new DSC_RESTRICTED_PATH env var that has the current behavior and change DSC_RESOURCE_PATH to only for manifest discovery. Discussed with internal partner, they are not dependent on DSC_RESOURCE_PATH currently, so making this change.