diff --git a/app/Services/VsphereHostSshService.php b/app/Services/VsphereHostSshService.php
index 8ae1841..4c8eb1e 100644
--- a/app/Services/VsphereHostSshService.php
+++ b/app/Services/VsphereHostSshService.php
@@ -247,14 +247,28 @@ final class VsphereHostSshService
             );
         }
 
-        $output = $client->exec($remoteCmd);
+        $stdout = $client->exec($remoteCmd);
+        $stderr = $client->getStdError();
 
         Log::info('VsphereHostSshService: SSH executed', [
-            'host' => $config['host'],
-            'port' => $config['port'],
+            'host'   => $config['host'],
+            'port'   => $config['port'],
+            'stdout' => trim((string) $stdout),
+            'stderr' => trim((string) $stderr),
         ]);
 
-        return (string) $output;
+        if ($stdout === false) {
+            throw new \RuntimeException(
+                "SSH exec failed on {$config['host']}:{$config['port']}. stderr: " . trim((string) $stderr)
+            );
+        }
+
+        // Windows SSH servers sometimes write script output to stderr instead of stdout
+        if (trim($stdout) === '' && trim((string) $stderr) !== '') {
+            return (string) $stderr;
+        }
+
+        return (string) $stdout;
     }
 
     /**