Random build failures due to fs-extra defect

[oliversalzburg]

Bug Report

Problem

What is expected to happen?

You are able to build your Cordova project reliably.

What does actually happen?

Builds randomly fail with the error Source and destination must not be the same.

Information

The random failures are caused by a defect in fs-extra, which neglects to respect an inode-related issue in Node itself.

Command or Code

Every command that copies files with fs-extra is affected. cordova prepare is most likely to cause this.

Environment, Platform, Device

Windows 10

Version information

Cordova 8.1.2 (cordova-lib@8.1.1)

Checklist

• I searched for existing GitHub issues
• I updated all Cordova tooling to most recent version
• I included all the necessary information above

[Domvel]

Same here:

Error: Source and destination must not be the same.
    at checkPaths (C:\Jenkins\workspace\%PROJECTNAME%\node_modules\fs-extra\lib\copy-sync\copy-sync.js:185:11)
    at Object.copySync (C:\Jenkins\workspace\%PROJECTNAME%\node_modules\fs-extra\lib\copy-sync\copy-sync.js:25:20)
    at updatePathWithStats (C:\Jenkins\workspace\%PROJECTNAME%\node_modules\cordova-common\src\FileUpdater.js:103:24)
    at C:\Jenkins\workspace\%PROJECTNAME%\node_modules\cordova-common\src\FileUpdater.js:298:19
    at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
    at Object.mergeAndUpdateDir (C:\Jenkins\workspace\%PROJECTNAME%\node_modules\cordova-common\src\FileUpdater.js:296:33)
    at updateWww (C:\Jenkins\workspace\%PROJECTNAME%\platforms\android\cordova\lib\prepare.js:157:17)
    at Api.module.exports.prepare (C:\Jenkins\workspace\%PROJECTNAME%\platforms\android\cordova\lib\prepare.js:56:19)
    at Api.prepare (C:\Jenkins\workspace\%PROJECTNAME%\platforms\android\cordova\Api.js:177:45)
    at C:\Jenkins\workspace\%PROJECTNAME%\node_modules\cordova\node_modules\cordova-lib\src\cordova\prepare.js:105:36

Cordova-Android 8.0.0

Ionic:
  ionic (cli):        4.10.1
  ionic framework:    ionic-angular 3.9.2
  @ionic/app-scripts: 3.1.11

Cordova:
  cordova (cli):      8.1.2 (cordova-lib@8.1.1)
  platforms:          "cordova-android": "8.0.0"

System:
  Android SDK Tools:  26.1.1
  NodeJS:             10.15.3
  npm:                6.4.1
  OS:                 Windows 10

I only get this error on my jenkins server. Not on my local pc. But I don't use network paths.

[Domvel]

Any news / workaround / status? This problem is not 100% reproducible, sometimes it works. But "random" is the wrong word. It's about 80-99.9% that the build fails. This means: It's a critical must-fix bug and should get the highest priority.

[oliversalzburg]

@Domvel Other than completely removing fs-extra, there is no way to fix this in Cordova AFAIK. This is unlikely to happen, because there has just been a move to introduce fs-extra into Cordova.

This would need to be fixed upstream, but given the activity in jprichardson/node-fs-extra#657, it appears that this won't happen any time soon.

This is just a huge effin mess and I agree that the builds fail more often than they pass. It is a major defect, but I don't see how to resolve it and it appears to not affect enough people to get enough attention.

I urge you to join the discussion in the upstream ticket, as that seems to be the most promising place to find a solution for this issue.

[Domvel]

@oliversalzburg Thanks for the info. Is fs-extra new in Cordova-Android 8.0.0 or is fs-extra updated? Maybe a downgrade is a good idea? If there is no solution I have to go back to Cordova-Android 7.x.
https://github.com/apache/cordova-common/blob/master/RELEASENOTES.md
CB-14140 Replace shelljs calls with fs-extra & which

I don't quite understand the reason that fs-extra breaks the build. What does the message mean: "Source and destination must not be the same." I see over 2 occurrences in node-fs-extra sources in relation of copy a object. Is this a pseudo-error and could be removed? (copy.js and copy-sync.js in function "checkPaths")

[oliversalzburg]

fs-extra was newly introduced and you can read up about all the details of this error in the upstream tickets. There is no need to repeat all the details here.

[f5cs]

Have an other solutions to replace the node-fs-extra?

[oliversalzburg]

@f5cs We've been using a postinstall hook to monkey-patch the fs-extra dependency after installation on Windows.

[dimitriscsd]

fs-extra are about to release version 8 which apparently has a workaround for this issue.

Will you guys use that once it's out?

[oliversalzburg]

@dimitriscsd With "we", I didn't mean Cordova, I meant our company :D But I'm sure Cordova will be updated to use the latest version of fs-extra. Feel free to open a PR when the update is available to help speed up the process.

[dimitriscsd]

@oliversalzburg understood. My "you guys" was more towards cordova devs than you specifically :)

Thanks for your hook workaround suggestion though. I might have to give that a shot if this takes too long.

Do you mind sharing more info on it?

[oliversalzburg]

This is the hook file itself:

#!/usr/bin/env node

"use strict";

const fs   = require( "fs" );
const path = require( "path" );
const os   = require( "os" );

if( os.platform() !== "win32" ) {
	console.log( "fs-extra doesn't need to be patched on non-Windows OS. Skipping." );
	process.exit( 0 );
}

function copyFile( source, target, cb ) {
	let cbCalled = false;

	const reader = fs.createReadStream( source );
	const writer = fs.createWriteStream( target );

	reader.on( "error", error => done( error ) );
	writer.on( "error", error => done( error ) );
	writer.on( "close", () => done() );

	reader.pipe( writer );

	function done( error ) {
		if( !cbCalled ) {
			cb( error );
			cbCalled = true;
		}
	}
}

const copyFrom     = path.resolve( __dirname, "fs-extra-patch/copy.js" );
const copyTo       = path.resolve( __dirname, "../node_modules/fs-extra/lib/", "copy/copy.js" );
const copySyncFrom = path.resolve( __dirname, "fs-extra-patch/copy-sync.js" );
const copySyncTo   = path.resolve( __dirname, "../node_modules/fs-extra/lib/", "copy-sync/copy-sync.js" );

console.log( `Copying '${copyFrom}' to '${copyTo}'.` );
copyFile( copyFrom, copyTo, Function.prototype );
console.log( `Copying '${copySyncFrom}' to '${copySyncTo}'.` );
copyFile( copySyncFrom, copySyncTo, Function.prototype );

Relative to it, there is a folder named fs-extra-patch, which contains the two patched files. You're going to want to change the checkPaths method to remove the broken check. For copy-sync, it should look like:

function checkPaths( src, dest ) {
	try {
		return fs.statSync( dest );
	} catch( err ) {
		if( err.code === "ENOENT" ) {
			return notExist;
		}
		throw err;
	}
}

Hope it helps.

[dpogue]

fs-extra are about to release version 8 which apparently has a workaround for this issue.

Will you guys use that once it's out?

If/when there is a version released with a fix, we'll see if we can pull it in without it being a breaking change (which pretty much just means, it needs to support node 6).

[brody4hire]

fs-extra are about to release version 8 which apparently has a workaround for this issue.

jprichardson/node-fs-extra#667

[...]
it needs to support node 6

jprichardson/node-fs-extra#667 seems to keep Node.js 6 support in package.json: [1]

and tested green so far on AppVeyor: [2]

I would personally favor incorporating this update in a minor release due to what I think are some non-trivial changes in jprichardson/node-fs-extra#667

[1] https://github.com/jprichardson/node-fs-extra/blob/bb30e7f1758c0388a8e4cddb48752e83bcb85e8b/package.json#L5-L7

[2] https://github.com/jprichardson/node-fs-extra/blob/bb30e7f1758c0388a8e4cddb48752e83bcb85e8b/appveyor.yml#L5

[Domvel]

@dpogue Why is node 6 required? Why not just update and use the latest. e.g. 10.x (LTS). I just wondering.
But if I understand it correctly, there is a fallback. It uses node 10 features like biginteger, but falls back to number if not node 10.x. (correct me if I'm wrong.)

[brody4hire]

Why is node 6 required?

According to semver rules, we cannot drop Node.js 6 support without making another major release.