getNodeJsLocation fails with java.io.IOException: failed to create directory C:\Program Files\eclipse\rcp-2024-12\.node\node-v22.11.0-win-x64

[xcheffo]

I see no way to override the paths where the embedded NodeJS is extracted. I see it's possible to specify path to a local installation of NodeJS and that the embedder is generally able to pick up a good preinstalled version of NodeJS if it fails to extract its own, but still I'd like to be able to use the embedded on Windows.

More details:
I am developing an Eclipse RCP application which needs to launch own NodeJS server. My Eclipse version is rcp-2024-12 installed in Program Files on Windows. Both Eclipse and the RCP application are run using Eclipse Adoptium jdk-21.0.6.7-hotspot. The embedder plugin is org.eclipse.platform_4.34.0_100354427_win32_win32_x86_64\plugins\org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.embedder.node_1.0.7.202411181924.jar

When using the wildweb developer node embedder on Windows, I get the following exception:
java.io.IOException: failed to create directory C:\Program Files\eclipse\rcp-2024-12.node\node-v22.11.0-win-x64
at org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.embedder.node.CompressUtils.extractArchive(CompressUtils.java:81)
at org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.embedder.node.CompressUtils.unarchive(CompressUtils.java:52)
at org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.embedder.node.NodeJSManager.getNodeJsLocation(NodeJSManager.java:84)
at my.own.code
........

I did a bit of testing and indeed
var directory = new File("C:\\Program Files\\eclipse\\rcp-2024-12\\.node"); System.out.println(directory.exists() && directory.isDirectory() && directory.canWrite() && directory.canExecute());
returns true when run with the same user and permissions as the application.

The permissions for the .node directory are shown on the screenshot below:

[mickaelistria]

While this is not a solution, a workaround is documented in https://github.com/eclipse-wildwebdeveloper/wildwebdeveloper/blob/6884f7c1fa9f33d1ee2bf0d1b6e10bea4cafdf73/TIPS_and_FAQ.md#use-embedded-nodejs : you can install node wherever you want and pass the location with the system property so it will use your installation instead of attempting to create a new one.

[xcheffo]

Thank you for the quick response, that's the path we were hoping to avoid.

[dinkoivanov-gepard]

Hi @mickaelistria, we ended up patching the org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.embedder.node.NodeJSManager.probeDirectoryForInstallation method, by changing

directory.canWrite()

to

Files.isWritable(directory.toPath())

Looks like Java IO File cannot reliably determine if a folder is writable and Java NIO API is recommended. There's an Oracle JDK issue here: https://bugs.openjdk.org/browse/JDK-8148211.

Best Regards,
Dinko

[mickaelistria]

Thanks for the report! If you're willing to submit a PR to Wild Web Developer proposing that change, it would be welcome.

[xcheffo]

@dinkoivanov-gepard @mickaelistria
Thank you for looking into this issue. Can we also have a system property for where the node distribution is extracted to? Maybe NodeJSManager.getOrderedInstallationLocations returns this preconfigured directory first in its result array.

[mickaelistria]

Can we also have a system property for where the node distribution is extracted to?

Maybe we could have a behavior that if the directory pointed by org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.nodeJSLocation is non-existent or empty; then node is extracted in there?

[xcheffo]

So node locating policy is: 1. If property org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.nodeJSLocation is set and points to an nonempty directory, use node in this directory. 2. If org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.nodeJSLocation is set configured and points to an empty writable directory or nonexistent writable directory, then extract internal node there. 3. if org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.nodeJSLocation is not set, try extracting internal to the first writable directory: Platform.getInstallLocation(), Platform.getUserLocation() or Platform.getStateLocation(Activator.getDefault().getBundle())) 4. If all of the above fail, ask the OS and hope for the best, writing at least an error log message. Love it. Best regards Stefan

…

On Mon, 24 Mar 2025 at 14:03, Mickael Istria ***@***.***> wrote: Can we also have a system property for where the node distribution is extracted to? Maybe we could have a behavior that if the directory pointed by org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.nodeJSLocation is non-existent or empty; then node is extracted in there? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1816 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALCEVKZMM3T7CN5QJ3BAPJL2V7YBNAVCNFSM6AAAAABZE2ZHQGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDONBXHA4TOMRWGI> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.*** com> [image: mickaelistria]*mickaelistria* left a comment (eclipse-wildwebdeveloper/wildwebdeveloper#1816) <#1816 (comment)> Can we also have a system property for where the node distribution is extracted to? Maybe we could have a behavior that if the directory pointed by org.eclipse.wildwebdeveloper.nodeJSLocation is non-existent or empty; then node is extracted in there? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1816 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALCEVKZMM3T7CN5QJ3BAPJL2V7YBNAVCNFSM6AAAAABZE2ZHQGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDONBXHA4TOMRWGI> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.*** com>