Windows fails when making a symbolic link, causing the operating system to seize up.

[zhenzhenChange]

pnpm version: v7.29.3

Code to reproduce the issue:

A random working directory:

D:\repositories\workspaces-zhongzhen\control-variates\benchmark-18c2e40f-56c6-48ff-b4cf-dce4067a2941\fixtures\playground\pnpm\package.json

package.json :

{
  "name": "playgrounds",
  "type": "module",
  "private": true,
  "version": "0.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "vite --open",
    "build": "tsc && vite build",
    "preview": "vite preview",
    "preinstall": "npx only-allow pnpm"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "lil-gui": "^0.17.0",
    "mobx": "^6.7.0",
    "mobx-react-lite": "^3.4.0",
    "react": "^18.2.0",
    "react-dom": "^18.2.0",
    "rxjs": "^7.8.0",
    "three": "^0.147.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/react": "^18.0.26",
    "@types/react-dom": "^18.0.10",
    "@types/three": "^0.146.0",
    "@vitejs/plugin-react": "^3.0.1",
    "@vitejs/plugin-react-swc": "^3.0.1",
    "typescript": "^4.9.4",
    "vite": "^4.0.4"
  }
}

Execution of commands:

pnpm i --cache-dir=.pnpm-cache --store-dir=.pnpm-store --ignore-scripts --no-strict-peer-dependencies

Results:

EPERM: operation not permitted, symlink

'D:\repositories\workspaces-zhongzhen\control-variates\benchmark-5f5f12d6-37f0-4ac8-a5ff-42aedde49ad4\fixtures\playground\pnpm\node_modules\.pnpm\registry.npmmirror.com+@babel+helper-module-transforms@7.21.2\node_modules\@babel\helper-module-transforms'

 ->

'D:\repositories\workspaces-zhongzhen\control-variates\benchmark-5f5f12d6-37f0-4ac8-a5ff-42aedde49ad4\fixtures\playground\pnpm\node_modules\.pnpm\node_modules\@babel\helper-module-transforms'

Expected behavior:

Ability to install correctly.

Actual behavior:

Symbolic link failed.

Additional information:

npx envinfo :

  System:
    OS: Windows 10 10.0.19044
    CPU: (12) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10500 CPU @ 3.10GHz
    Memory: 13.66 GB / 23.72 GB
  Binaries:
    Node: 16.18.0 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.EXE

Disk Type: HDD

---

I ran it on another Windows system and had no problems.

So I'm not sure if it's a bug or an OS issue.

More specifically, I have gathered together a range of reasons why this problem has arisen:

• It may be that my disk is corrupted, causing the link to fail.
• Operating system permissions.
• The path is too long, exceeding the 260 characters set by windows MAX_PATH.
  • However, I have removed this restriction and the link still fails (Operation steps).
  • And I had no problem installing it on another computer.

So I am looking for help with:

• What else could be the cause?
• Is it possible to catch these errors internally and not let the system seize up?

Because once this error happens, my disk occupancy reaches 100%, my system gets stuck and I have no choice but to force the shutdown button and restart the computer.

[zhenzhenChange]

Since the problem is probably hardware (disk) related and not 100% reproducible, I can only speculate on the cause of the problem, so I won't provide a reproduction repository.

[zhenzhenChange]

Suddenly a reason occurs to me, is it possible that the anti-virus software is blocking operations on this directory?

[zkochan]

Not sure if it is the same issue but here in this PR to Bit I was also fixing an EPERM error: teambit/bit#7182

[zhenzhenChange]

I'm not sure, my initial guess is that it's a problem under Windows with long paths.

[zhenzhenChange]

I found a similar problem:

$ pnpm env use --global lts

Fetching Node.js 18.16.0 ...
 EPERM  EPERM: operation not permitted, symlink 'C:\Users\zhongzhen\AppData\Local\pnpm\nodejs\18.16.0\node.exe' -> 'C:\Users\zhongzhen\AppData\Local\pnpm\node.exe'

It is the same error, except that it is correctly caught and exits the program without causing the operating system to crash.

@zkochan

[zhenzhenChange]

Oh yes, this problem exists in v8 as well, one could even say it started in v7?

[zkochan]

The pnpm env issue should be fixed in v8.3.0 via #6405