diff --git a/scripts/src/platform-infra-k3s-cluster.ts b/scripts/src/platform-infra-k3s-cluster.ts
index 08847f9e..2fb2b106 100644
--- a/scripts/src/platform-infra-k3s-cluster.ts
+++ b/scripts/src/platform-infra-k3s-cluster.ts
@@ -719,6 +719,34 @@ function runControlPlane(target: K3sClusterTarget, script: string, timeoutMs: nu
 function runWorker(target: K3sClusterTarget, script: string, copyArtifacts: boolean, timeoutMs: number) {
   const encoded = Buffer.from(script, "utf8").toString("base64");
   const keyPath = `${target.worker.stateDir}\\id_ed25519`;
+  if (!copyArtifacts) {
+    const lines = [
+      "$ErrorActionPreference='Stop'",
+      `$key=${psQuote(keyPath)}`,
+      `$guest=${psQuote(`${target.worker.guestUser}@${target.worker.guestAddress}`)}`,
+      `$payload=${psQuote(encoded)}`,
+      "$start=[Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo]::new()",
+      "$start.FileName='ssh.exe'",
+      '$start.Arguments="-i `"$key`" -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new -o ServerAliveInterval=15 $guest `"sudo sh -s`""',
+      "$start.UseShellExecute=$false",
+      "$start.RedirectStandardInput=$true",
+      "$start.RedirectStandardOutput=$true",
+      "$start.RedirectStandardError=$true",
+      "$process=[Diagnostics.Process]::new()",
+      "$process.StartInfo=$start",
+      "if(!$process.Start()){throw 'worker-inline-ssh-start-failed'}",
+      "$stdout=$process.StandardOutput.ReadToEndAsync()",
+      "$stderr=$process.StandardError.ReadToEndAsync()",
+      "$bytes=[Convert]::FromBase64String($payload)",
+      "$process.StandardInput.BaseStream.Write($bytes,0,$bytes.Length)",
+      "$process.StandardInput.Close()",
+      "$process.WaitForExit()",
+      "[Console]::Out.Write($stdout.Result)",
+      "[Console]::Error.Write($stderr.Result)",
+      "exit $process.ExitCode",
+    ];
+    return runCommand(["trans", target.worker.windowsRoute, "ps"], rootPath(), { input: lines.join("\n") + "\n", timeoutMs });
+  }
   const remoteScript = `/tmp/unidesk-k3s-cluster-${target.id}.sh`;
   const lines = [
     "$ErrorActionPreference='Stop'",
@@ -727,16 +755,14 @@ function runWorker(target: K3sClusterTarget, script: string, copyArtifacts: bool
     `$temp=Join-Path $env:TEMP ${psQuote(`unidesk-k3s-cluster-${target.id}.sh`)}`,
     `[IO.File]::WriteAllBytes($temp,[Convert]::FromBase64String(${psQuote(encoded)}))`,
   ];
-  if (copyArtifacts) {
-    lines.push(
-      `$binary=${psQuote(`${target.worker.stateDir}\\k3s`)}`,
-      `$installer=${psQuote(`${target.worker.stateDir}\\install-k3s.sh`)}`,
-      "& scp.exe -i $key -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new $binary \"$($guest):/tmp/k3s\"",
-      "if($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0){throw 'worker-k3s-binary-scp-failed'}",
-      "& scp.exe -i $key -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new $installer \"$($guest):/tmp/install-k3s.sh\"",
-      "if($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0){throw 'worker-k3s-installer-scp-failed'}",
-    );
-  }
+  lines.push(
+    `$binary=${psQuote(`${target.worker.stateDir}\\k3s`)}`,
+    `$installer=${psQuote(`${target.worker.stateDir}\\install-k3s.sh`)}`,
+    "& scp.exe -i $key -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new $binary \"$($guest):/tmp/k3s\"",
+    "if($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0){throw 'worker-k3s-binary-scp-failed'}",
+    "& scp.exe -i $key -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new $installer \"$($guest):/tmp/install-k3s.sh\"",
+    "if($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0){throw 'worker-k3s-installer-scp-failed'}",
+  );
   lines.push(
     `& scp.exe -i $key -o BatchMode=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new $temp "$($guest):${remoteScript}"`,
     "if($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0){throw 'worker-script-scp-failed'}",