"EPERM: operation not allowed" when building Element Desktop

[dtyugaev]

Steps to reproduce

When building Element Desktop on Windows, the error "EPERM: operation not permitted" occurs.

c:\element-web\apps\desktop>pnpm run build
$ nx build --

> nx run element-desktop:"build:ts"
> tsc
> nx run element-desktop:"build:res"
> node scripts/copy-res.ts
> nx run element-desktop:build
> pnpm exec electron-builder

  • electron-builder  version=26.15.3 os=10.0.19045
No VARIANT_PATH specified, using default variant configuration 'element.io\release\build.json':
appId: im.riot.app
name: element-desktop
productName: Element
description: Element: the future of secure communication
protocols: io.element.desktop,element
  • loaded configuration  file=C:\element-web\apps\desktop\electron-builder.ts
  • packageManager not detected by file, falling back to environment detection  resolvedPackageManager=pnpm detected=C:\element-web\apps\desktop
  • executing @electron/rebuild  electronVersion=43.0.0 arch=x64 buildFromSource=false workspaceRoot=C:\element-web\apps\desktop projectDir=./ appDir=./
  • installing native dependencies  arch=x64
  • completed installing native dependencies
  • packaging       platform=win32 arch=x64 electron=43.0.0 appOutDir=dist\win-unpacked
  • downloaded      label=electron progress=100%
  ⨯ EPERM: operation not permitted, rename 'C:\element-web\apps\desktop\dist\win-unpacked.tmp' -> 'C:\element-web\apps\desktop\dist\win-unpacked'  failedTask=build stackTrace=Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, rename 'C:\element-web\apps\desktop\dist\win-unpacked.tmp' -> 'C:\element-web\apps\desktop\dist\win-unpacked'
    at Object.rename (node:internal/fs/promises:785:10)
    at extractArchive (C:\element-web\node_modules\.pnpm\app-builder-lib@26.15.3_dmg_c5739d9600ac3f98a55503c35c5a46a9\node_modules\app-builder-lib\src\util\electronGet.ts:249:5)
    at unpack (C:\element-web\node_modules\.pnpm\app-builder-lib@26.15.3_dmg_c5739d9600ac3f98a55503c35c5a46a9\node_modules\app-builder-lib\src\electron\ElectronFramework.ts:254:5)
    at ElectronFramework.prepareApplicationStageDirectory (C:\element-web\node_modules\.pnpm\app-builder-lib@26.15.3_dmg_c5739d9600ac3f98a55503c35c5a46a9\node_modules\app-builder-lib\src\electron\ElectronFramework.ts:152:27)
    at WinPackager.doPack (C:\element-web\node_modules\.pnpm\app-builder-lib@26.15.3_dmg_c5739d9600ac3f98a55503c35c5a46a9\node_modules\app-builder-lib\src\platformPackager.ts:257:5)
    at WinPackager.pack (C:\element-web\node_modules\.pnpm\app-builder-lib@26.15.3_dmg_c5739d9600ac3f98a55503c35c5a46a9\node_modules\app-builder-lib\src\platformPackager.ts:163:5)
    at Packager.doBuild (C:\element-web\node_modules\.pnpm\app-builder-lib@26.15.3_dmg_c5739d9600ac3f98a55503c35c5a46a9\node_modules\app-builder-lib\src\packager.ts:530:11)
    at executeFinally (C:\element-web\node_modules\.pnpm\builder-util@26.15.3\node_modules\builder-util\src\promise.ts:12:14)
    at Packager.build (C:\element-web\node_modules\.pnpm\app-builder-lib@26.15.3_dmg_c5739d9600ac3f98a55503c35c5a46a9\node_modules\app-builder-lib\src\packager.ts:450:31)
    at executeFinally (C:\element-web\node_modules\.pnpm\builder-util@26.15.3\node_modules\builder-util\src\promise.ts:12:14)

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

 NX   Ran target build for project element-desktop and 2 task(s) they depend on (11s)

   ×  1/3 failed
   √  2/3 succeeded [0 read from cache]

[ELIFECYCLE] Command failed with exit code 1.

Steps to reproduce:

git clone https://github.com/element-hq/element-web.git
cd c:\element-web\apps\desktop\
pnpm install
pnpm run fetch --noverify --cfgdir ""
pnpm run build

here is the full log fulllog.txt

In the resmon, I see that the folder "C:\element-web\apps\desktop\dist\win-unpacked.tmp" is locked by node.exe and NX can't rename it. It looks like that node has locked itself.

p.s. I run all commands as administrator

Outcome

What did you expect?

successful build

What happened instead?

error at the build stage

Operating system

Windows 10

Application version

Element Desktop 1.12.23

How did you install the app?

No response

Homeserver

No response

Will you send logs?

No

[t3chguy]

Electron builder specifically forbids building in system directories, only allowing user & tmp directories - https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/blob/7a0abca14439514fc817da609a169b9973c38864/packages/app-builder-lib/src/asar/asarUtil.ts#L35-L37

In the resmon, I see that the folder "C:\element-web\apps\desktop\dist\win-unpacked.tmp" is locked by node.exe and NX can't rename it. It looks like that node has locked itself.

Nx has nothing to do with the building, it just runs commands for us, electron-builder does the building and you would need to open an issue with them for errors originating from it.

[dtyugaev]

there is the same error in the user's directory

[dtyugaev]

electron-builder team fixed this bug electron-userland/electron-builder#9899
I built the ED with "electron-builder": "26.15.6"
thanks for the help!