Unicode characters from a Windows console are not displayed correctly in Bamboo build logs

Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.

Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.

*Except Fisheye and Crucible

Problem

Unicode characters (such as Korean characters) from a Windows console (e.g. cmd.exe or Powershell script output from a Script Task) don't display correctly. They display as question marks or other unknown characters instead even after setting the Bamboo (or remote agent) JVM to UTF-8 encoding:

Diagnosis

Environment

  • Windows

Workaround

  1. Ensure that the Bamboo (or remote agent that the build is running on) JVM has been correctly set to UTF-8 by following the instructions in the below knowledge-base article:

    1. How to change the wrong encoding in Bamboo that is causing crashes or characters to display incorrectly

  2. Set either the codepage for cmd.exe or the OutputEncoding for Powershell to Unicode before running further commands. E.g.

    1. cmd.exe

      1 2 chcp 65001 dir

    2. Powershell

      1 2 [Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8 dir
Updated on April 8, 2025
Platform
Data Center only
Product
Bamboo Data Center
On this pageProblemDiagnosisWorkaround

Still need help?

The Atlassian Community is here for you.
Ask the Community