hcengineering/platform · error · Error

Error cleaning the package install folder (${packageInstallF

Error message

Error cleaning the package install folder (${packageInstallFolder}): ${e}

What it means

_cleanInstallFolder prepares common/temp/install-run-<id> for a fresh install; if a stale install folder exists it moves node_modules into the rush-recycler folder via renameSync. Any filesystem failure during this cleanup (delete/rename of the package install folder) is rethrown wrapped as 'Error cleaning the package install folder (...)'.

Source

Thrown at foundations/core/common/scripts/install-run.js:607

    try {
        const flagFile = path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.resolve(packageInstallFolder, INSTALLED_FLAG_FILENAME);
        _deleteFile(flagFile);
        const packageLockFile = path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.resolve(packageInstallFolder, 'package-lock.json');
        if (lockFilePath) {
            fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.copyFileSync(lockFilePath, packageLockFile);
        }
        else {
            // Not running `npm ci`, so need to cleanup
            _deleteFile(packageLockFile);
            const nodeModulesFolder = path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.resolve(packageInstallFolder, NODE_MODULES_FOLDER_NAME);
            if (fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.existsSync(nodeModulesFolder)) {
                const rushRecyclerFolder = _ensureAndJoinPath(rushTempFolder, 'rush-recycler');
                fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.renameSync(nodeModulesFolder, path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.join(rushRecyclerFolder, `install-run-${Date.now().toString()}`));
            }
        }
    }
    catch (e) {
        throw new Error(`Error cleaning the package install folder (${packageInstallFolder}): ${e}`);
    }
}
function _createPackageJson(packageInstallFolder, name, version) {
    try {
        const packageJsonContents = {
            name: 'ci-rush',
            version: '0.0.0',
            dependencies: {
                [name]: version
            },
            description: "DON'T WARN",
            repository: "DON'T WARN",
            license: 'MIT'
        };
        const packageJsonPath = path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__.join(packageInstallFolder, PACKAGE_JSON_FILENAME);
        fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_1__.writeFileSync(packageJsonPath, JSON.stringify(packageJsonContents, undefined, 2));
    }
    catch (e) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 63e28dc964)

Solutions

Ensure no other process/CI job is using the same checkout; run installs serially or with separate workspaces.
Stop processes holding files open (dev servers, editors, antivirus scans) then delete common/temp manually.
Manually remove common/temp/install-run-* and rush-recycler contents with elevated permissions if needed.
Check filesystem permissions/free space on the volume hosting common/temp.

Example fix

// before (retry on locked folder)
npx install-run-rush.js
// after
rm -rf common/temp/install-run-* common/temp/rush-recycler && npx install-run-rush.js

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const fs = require('fs');
function assertTempWritable(repoRoot) {
  const temp = require('path').join(repoRoot, 'common', 'temp');
  fs.mkdirSync(temp, { recursive: true });
  fs.accessSync(temp, fs.constants.W_OK);
}
assertTempWritable(process.cwd());

Type guard

function isInstallFolderClean(folder) {
  const fs = require('fs');
  return !fs.existsSync(folder); // no stale folder to clean
}

Try / catch

try {
  installAndRun(logger, name, version, bin, args);
} catch (e) {
  if (/Error cleaning the package install folder/.test(e.message)) {
    const fs = require('fs');
    fs.rmSync('common/temp/install-run-*', { recursive: true, force: true });
    return installAndRun(logger, name, version, bin, args); // one clean retry
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Run only one install/bootstrap per checkout at a time
Exclude common/temp from antivirus real-time scanning on CI agents
Verify disk space and write permissions before CI runs
Clean common/temp between pipeline stages

When it happens

Trigger: installAndRun detects an existing/incomplete install folder and tries to remove or rename it, but the OS call fails — e.g. EBUSY/EPERM because files are locked, EACCES from permissions, or ENOTEMPTY on the rename into rush-recycler.

Common situations: Parallel CI jobs sharing the same repo checkout (concurrent installs racing on common/temp); antivirus or a running dev server holding files in node_modules on Windows; read-only or quota-exceeded volumes; leftover root-owned files from a container run.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hcengineering/platform@63e28dc964 (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/386dd8c11dd135fe. Report an issue: GitHub.