adb.exe is left running in the background (npm install -g expo-cli fails with "EPERM: operation not permitted, unlink '...\adb.exe')

[cory-baker]

Description

I receive an error when running npm install -g expo-cli

Expected Behavior

For there not to be an error

Observed Behavior

npm ERR! path C:\Users\Cory\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\expo-cli\node_modules\.xdl.DELETE\binaries\windows\adb\adb.exe
npm ERR! code EPERM
npm ERR! errno -4048
npm ERR! syscall unlink
npm ERR! Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, unlink 'C:\Users\Cory\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\expo-cli\node_modules\.xdl.DELETE\binaries\windows\adb\adb.exe'
npm ERR!  { [Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, unlink 'C:\Users\Cory\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\expo-cli\node_modules\.xdl.DELETE\binaries\windows\adb\adb.exe']
npm ERR!   cause:
npm ERR!    { Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, unlink 'C:\Users\Cory\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\expo-cli\node_modules\.xdl.DELETE\binaries\windows\adb\adb.exe'
npm ERR!      errno: -4048,
npm ERR!      code: 'EPERM',
npm ERR!      syscall: 'unlink',
npm ERR!      path:
npm ERR!       'C:\\Users\\Cory\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\expo-cli\\node_modules\\.xdl.DELETE\\binaries\\windows\\adb\\adb.exe' },
npm ERR!   stack:
npm ERR!    'Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, unlink \'C:\\Users\\Cory\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\expo-cli\\node_modules\\.xdl.DELETE\\binaries\\windows\\adb\\adb.exe\'',
npm ERR!   errno: -4048,
npm ERR!   code: 'EPERM',
npm ERR!   syscall: 'unlink',
npm ERR!   path:
npm ERR!    'C:\\Users\\Cory\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\expo-cli\\node_modules\\.xdl.DELETE\\binaries\\windows\\adb\\adb.exe',
npm ERR!   parent: 'expo-cli' }
npm ERR!
npm ERR! The operation was rejected by your operating system.
npm ERR! It's possible that the file was already in use (by a text editor or antivirus),
npm ERR! or that you lack permissions to access it.
npm ERR!
npm ERR! If you believe this might be a permissions issue, please double-check the
npm ERR! permissions of the file and its containing directories, or try running
npm ERR! the command again as root/Administrator (though this is not recommended).

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     C:\Users\Cory\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_logs\2018-12-30T20_05_51_538Z-debug.log

Environment

cant run because expo-cli will not install

[S00161418]

I am getting the same error. I tried updating node and npm and then running as administrator but the error still appears.

[IrregularShed]

This has caught me out as well. It looks like if you've run expo on Windows it leaves its adb.exe running in the background, presumably until you reboot. As a result, when you try and update expo-cli, there's processes locking you out. I figured this out through trial and error, so there's a step I'm listing that you probably don't need to do.

• Open Task Manager - right-click on the task bar and select it, or from the screen when you Ctrl-Alt-Delete. If you have the standard Task Manager, click to expand More details. (If you're using something like Process Explorer, you're probably comfortable finding your own way.)
• In the Background processes click on adb.exe (32 bit) (or, presumably, something similar). Click End task or press Delete to kill the process. This should unlock the problematic files.
• This is probably not necessary - I deleted the folder that contained the files that caused the error in the first place, .xdl-DELETE. (I would expect npm to do it for me but I was testing my hypothesis 😉.) Remember to close any command prompts or Explorer windows afterwards, because otherwise you'll be locking the expo-cli folder. (I'd left an Explorer window open in that folder which is why I mention it 🤦‍♂️.)
• Run npm i -g expo-cli to update. You'll have time to make a cup of tea while it's going, so I suggest doing that.

That's exactly what I did, and now I'm up to date.

[cory-baker]

Will try this when I get home, thanks.

[Silva-Amon]

This has caught me out as well. It looks like if you've run expo on Windows it leaves its adb.exe running in the background, presumably until you reboot. As a result, when you try and update expo-cli, there's processes locking you out. I figured this out through trial and error, so there's a step I'm listing that you probably don't need to do.

• Open Task Manager - right-click on the task bar and select it, or from the screen when you Ctrl-Alt-Delete. If you have the standard Task Manager, click to expand More details. (If you're using something like Process Explorer, you're probably comfortable finding your own way.)
• In the Background processes click on adb.exe (32 bit) (or, presumably, something similar). Click End task or press Delete to kill the process. This should unlock the problematic files.
• This is probably not necessary - I deleted the folder that contained the files that caused the error in the first place, .xdl-DELETE. (I would expect npm to do it for me but I was testing my hypothesis 😉.) Remember to close any command prompts or Explorer windows afterwards, because otherwise you'll be locking the expo-cli folder. (I'd left an Explorer window open in that folder which is why I mention it 🤦‍♂️.)
• Run npm i -g expo-cli to update. You'll have time to make a cup of tea while it's going, so I suggest doing that.

That's exactly what I did, and now I'm up to date.

Thank you so much! It worked fine for me.

[AppleMango23]

ya the solution work perfectly tq!!

[mekwall]

This is a duplicate of #175. The above is merely a workaround. Expo CLI should make sure to kill the running adb process when itself exists.

[digicoparis]

This is a duplicate of #175. The above is merely a workaround. Expo CLI should make sure to kill the running adb process when itself exists.

I agree, it's not super handy to have to kill the process on Windows before updating. It took me a while to find solution here, thanks to @IrregularShed.

Until I understood it was not about file permission on Windows 10 (I was running as administrator or root if you like), I was a bit lost. You just have to kill adb.exe process in task runner before updating expo-cli.

[humandevs]

In my case, this issue appears to have only shown up when trying to uninstall exp-cli. Installing it (in order to update) completed without errors, but the old version was still being used somehow (confirmed with 'expo -V'). I had to kill adb.exe, then remove expo-cli, then install expo-cli (and note the old version was still installed and being used by running 'expo -V', even though the new version installed without errors), then re-remove expo-cli, then re-re-install expo-cli.