Change error "The system cannot find the file specified" to "Cannot find Node executable" for clarity

[tjaartvanderWalt]

I have followed this tutorial on getting angular and ASP.NET Core running together. The initial build worked fine but after updating angular packages I am receiving the following error on startup of the application(I also had to reinstall nodejs in the process, not sure if this is related):

The error is on the following line of code:

app.UseWebpackDevMiddleware(new WebpackDevMiddlewareOptions {
    HotModuleReplacement = true
});

System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The system cannot find the file specified at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartCore(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start() at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) at Microsoft.AspNetCore.NodeServices.HostingModels.OutOfProcessNodeInstance.LaunchNodeProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) at Microsoft.AspNetCore.NodeServices.HostingModels.OutOfProcessNodeInstance..ctor(String entryPointScript, String projectPath, String[] watchFileExtensions, String commandLineArguments, ILogger nodeOutputLogger, IDictionary2 environmentVars, Int32 invocationTimeoutMilliseconds, Boolean launchWithDebugging, Int32 debuggingPort) at Microsoft.AspNetCore.NodeServices.HostingModels.HttpNodeInstance..ctor(String projectPath, String[] watchFileExtensions, ILogger nodeInstanceOutputLogger, IDictionary2 environmentVars, Int32 invocationTimeoutMilliseconds, Boolean launchWithDebugging, Int32 debuggingPort, Int32 port) at Microsoft.AspNetCore.NodeServices.NodeServicesFactory.CreateNodeInstance(NodeServicesOptions options) at Microsoft.AspNetCore.NodeServices.NodeServicesFactory.<>c__DisplayClass0_0.b__0() at Microsoft.AspNetCore.NodeServices.NodeServicesImpl.CreateNewNodeInstance() at Microsoft.AspNetCore.NodeServices.NodeServicesImpl.GetOrCreateCurrentNodeInstance() at Microsoft.AspNetCore.NodeServices.NodeServicesImpl.d__10`1.MoveNext()}

Is there any way of getting more information from this error?

I have also asked the question on Stackoverflow

[LovedByTheLord]

It looks like it is unable to find node.exe. I saw the same error after installing Node for the first time. It was because installing Node modified the system Path and the new Path wasn't getting picked up by IIS. I had to reboot my server and it was then able to find the node exe.

[tjaartvanderWalt]

Thanks after I restarted my PC all worked again.

Minimal reproduction of the problem with instructions:

1. Backup your node.exe file located in C:\Program Files\nodejs
2. Delete your node.exe file located in C:\Program Files\nodejs
3. Run your ASP.NET Core application
4. Expect the following error in Startup.cs

An exception of type 'System.AggregateException' occurred in System.Private.CoreLib.ni.dll but was not handled in user code
Additional information: One or more errors occurred.

@SteveSandersonMS Can we please update the error to say something like:

Node.exe could not be found. Please make sure you have node.js installed.

[SteveSandersonMS]

Yep, will change that error message. Thanks for reporting it!