gleam-lang/gleam

`gleam build` doesn't have permission to link `priv` on Windows

Open

#3,015 opened on Apr 20, 2024

View on GitHub
 (8 comments) (3 reactions) (0 assignees)Rust (21,417 stars) (960 forks)batch import
good first issuehelp wantedhigh priority

Description

On Windows running gleam build on a project with a priv directory will error. This seems to be caused by a Windows-specific symlink behaviour. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2016/12/02/symlinks-windows-10/

You can enable "Developer Mode", which will grant the symlink permission. image If there's no easy way to fix this, then printing out a warning to enable this setting would probably be okay.

Using Gleam v1.1.0

Reproducing:

gleam new project_name
cd project_name
mkdir priv
gleam build

> gleam build
Downloading packages
 Downloaded 2 packages in 0.02s
  Compiling gleam_stdlib
  Compiling gleeunit
  Compiling project_name
error: File IO failure

An error occurred while trying to link this file:

    C:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\project_name\build\dev\erlang\project_name\priv

The error message from the file IO library was:

    A required privilege is not held by the client. (os error 1314)

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rust
Domain
build systemdeveloper experience
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Rust programmingWindows symlinksGleam basics
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Investigate the file linking code in the Gleam build system, likely in Rust source files related to building and symlinks. Look at how the symlink is created for the `priv` directory and handle the specific Windows error (os error 1314). Consider printing a warning message suggesting enabling Developer Mode on Windows instead of crashing. Review the issue comments for any additional insights from maintainers.