Error: spawn cmd.exe ENOENT using WSL since 9.0.0

[simakas]

Is this a bug report?

Yes

Did you try recovering your dependencies?

Yes

Which terms did you search for in User Guide?

cmd event.js ENOENT

Environment

OS: Linux 4.4 Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS (Bionic Beaver)
CPU: (12) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8850H CPU @ 2.60GHz
Binaries:
Node: 8.11.4 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v8.11.4/bin/node
Yarn: 1.15.2 - ~/.yarn/bin/yarn
npm: 5.6.0 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v8.11.4/bin/npm
Browsers:
Chrome: Not Found
Firefox: 64.0
npmPackages:
react: 16.8.6
react-dom: 16.8.6
react-scripts: 3.0.1
npmGlobalPackages:
create-react-app: Not Found

Steps to Reproduce

0. react-dev-utils v 8.0.0
1. Upgrade to v.9.0.0
2. yarn install
3. yarn start
4. events.js:183
   throw er; // Unhandled 'error' event
   ^
   Error: spawn cmd.exe ENOENT

Expected Behavior

app should start using v 9.0.0

Actual Behavior

Reproducible Demo

Simply run Ubuntu or other distro on Windows WSL, upgrade to 9.0.0, same is valid for any project I tried using v9.0.0.

[mrmckeb]

Hi @simakas, this looks to be related to this issue: #7094 (comment)

Can you see if that resolves it for you, and if so, please close this off.

[cheshrkat]

@mrmckeb I've hit this issue as well; tried the path fix mentioned in that comment and it didn't resolve the problem. No change to steps or symptom/error message.

My environment info, for reference:

System:
OS: Linux 4.4 Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS (Bionic Beaver)
CPU: (8) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz
Binaries:
Node: 10.15.3 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v10.15.3/bin/node
Yarn: 1.16.0 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v10.15.3/bin/yarn
npm: 6.4.1 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v10.15.3/bin/npm
Browsers:
Chrome: Not Found
Firefox: Not Found
npmPackages:
react: ^16.8.6 => 16.8.6
react-dom: ^16.8.6 => 16.8.6
react-scripts: 3.0.1 => 3.0.1
npmGlobalPackages:
create-react-app: Not Found

[cheshrkat]

Update - tried adding the WSL path to System32 and although it's a pretty shonky workaround it does stop the crash:

export PATH=$PATH:/mnt/c/Windows/System32

What's strange is that I'm pretty sure CRA used to work without that path set, which suggests something changed in the way it detects the environment and launches the app in browser (perhaps it was providing the path). While this workaround seems to work, I'd be a bit wary of relying on it; plus it's not particularly uncommon for WSL users to remove windows locations from their PATH.

[mrmckeb]

Thanks for the update @cheshrkat... it is a strange issue. And you're right, I ran on WSL for two years with no issue.

I'm not sure what (if anything) changed recently, but as I'm currently on a Mac (employers choice) I can't troubleshoot.

If you do find a cause on our side, feel free to raise a PR. In the meantime I'll close this off and people will hopefully find it in search if they have this issue.

[hristov296]

Having the same issue with react-scripts ver 3.0.1. Rollback to 2.1.8 does not have the issue. I tried the suggestions of adding C:\Windows\System32 to the PATH, but it didn't work for me. Here is the npm log of the error
https://pastebin.com/YbUEBSPw

[mrmckeb]

@hristov296 can you give output as above? Details of your environment, and versions?

[hristov296]

Environment Info:

System:
OS: Linux 4.4 Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS (Bionic Beaver)
CPU: (8) x64 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU W3565 @ 3.20GHz
Binaries:
Node: 12.5.0 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v12.5.0/bin/node
Yarn: Not Found
npm: 6.9.0 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v12.5.0/bin/npm
Browsers:
Chrome: Not Found
Firefox: Not Found
npmPackages:
react: ^16.8.6 => 16.8.6
react-dom: ^16.8.6 => 16.8.6
react-scripts: ^3.0.1 => 3.0.1
npmGlobalPackages:
create-react-app: Not Found

Windows 10 Operating system -> Installed 'Ubuntu 18.04 LTS' from the store. Been using it for a year. There was no problem 2-3 months ago. Right now if I do just:

• npx create-react-app myapp
• cd myapp
• npm start
  I throws the error.
  Tested on 'react-scripts' ver 3.0.0 and 3.0.1 - there is an error.
  On version '2.1.8' it is working fine.

After some digging, I think it might be related to a newer version of webpack-dev-server

My system variables, for reference.

[bugzpodder]

Need to look into this a bit further, I didn't get any troubles when running npm start using WSL 1 and just regular command prompt on my windows 10 box. I am using a preview build that also supports WSL 2 though..

[atlefren]

Can confirm that this issue occurs on my machine, running react-scripts 3.0.1
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18890.1000]

With NO windows paths set I get the error

events.js:167
      throw er; // Unhandled 'error' event
      ^
Error: spawn cmd.exe ENOENT
    at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:231:19)
    at onErrorNT (internal/child_process.js:406:16)
    at process._tickCallback (internal/process/next_tick.js:63:19)

If I run

export PATH=$PATH:/mnt/c/Windows/System32

Things work as expected.

An older project, using react-scripts 2.1.5 works fine without updating the path.

I agree with @cheshrkat that this is a wonky workaround, and that WSL users does not want to pollute their WSL with windows paths.

I would gladly test further improvements or provide more feedback if needed

[atlefren]

Found another workaround:

This error stems from the fact that CRA tries to open your browser:

In order to skip opening the browser, add

BROWSER=none

to your .env or .env.local file