Error when installing on Windows

[localpcguy]

I run Windows 10, and I've tried to install both with the standard CMD prompt and with Cmder. I have Clink and GNU for Windows installed, so make tries to run the makefile but it fails. The error message is as follows:

> make run
    File not found - *.scss
    FIND: Parameter format not correct

    module.js:340
        throw err;
        ^

    Error: Cannot find module 'C:\Program'
        at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:338:15)
        at Function.Module._load (module.js:289:25)
        at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:457:10)
        at startup (node.js:138:18)
        at node.js:974:3
    make: *** [node_modules] Error 1

I can (it seems) get a little farther by adding SHELL=C:/Windows/System32/cmd.exe to the beginning of the Makefile, but then the error is:

The system cannot find the path specified.
File not found - *.scss
FIND: Parameter format not correct
! was unexpected at this time.
make: *** [githooks-commit] Error 255

Before I started debugging further into the Makefile, I wanted to find out if it has ever been tested on Windows or if Windows is not a supported system at this time? Or am I just missing something?

[Viper007Bond]

Error: Cannot find module 'C:\Program'

Completely blind guess but that looks like an error that stems from not wrapping paths in quotes. The space in Program Files is likely at fault.

[Tug]

My guess is that shell find at Makefile#L29 won't work on windows because the find command on this platform is not the same.
@localpcguy I don't think it has ever been tested on windows yet! The Makefiles use unix commands mostly so the windows port probably won't be a breeze.

[stephanethomas]

For your information @localpcguy, we have a development environment for Calypso running on Vagrant that will be released soon. That way you won't have to deal with configuration issues such as this one.

[localpcguy]

Yup, I was diving deeper and every time I fixed one line (i.e. adding quotes, fixing other Windows shell related issues), another one would error, so I figured it hadn't been tested on Windows.

I'm assuming Vagrant will spin up a Linux VM for development?

[nb]

@localpcguy exactly.

[alexdresko]

Is there a plan for getting it to work in Windows? Please?

[Viper007Bond]

@alexdresko: The Vagrant setup that @stephanethomas mentioned is so much easier than trying to deal with getting it running natively on Windows, even if there weren't any bugs in our configuration files. You just vagrant up and that's it -- it automatically downloads and installs all of the required dependencies, even checking out Calypso itself. Even if I used Mac OS or Linux instead of Windows on my machines, I'd still go that route personally. It's nice having it self-contained and not worrying about having the right versions of things installed.

The alternative is requiring the installation of Cygwin or whatnot in order to be able to run make and other unix commands. It's a serious pain in the ass. Trust me, I tried before @stephanethomas told me about the Vagrant setup he made. I've been using it for a few months now and it works like a dream.

We're working on releasing it publicly soon.

[localpcguy]

While that is your opinion @Viper007Bond, I believe that if there is a desire to get Calypso widely adopted for open source WordPress, it must work on Windows (and not through a Cygwyn-style workaround or Linux VM). One of the best things about WordPress is that it runs on a variety of OSes, and the core technology (Node) also runs well on Windows as well, so that isn't a barrier. As far as I can tell, the only serious barrier (I haven't done a deep dive) is the installation/build being driven by Make instead of something cross-OS like Gulp or something similar.

[kingofhawks]

Second what @localpcguy need:)

[Viper007Bond]

#100 is related to this -- spaces in the path, i.e. Program Files, breaks the build script.

[alexdresko]

Why are you using make instead of gulp/grunt anyway? If gulp/grunt can do the same thing (which is what I'm wanting to find out), how difficult would it be to switch?

[zhouyongh]

+1 support to use gulp/grunt instead of make.

[Viper007Bond]

It's probably worth opening a new, separate issue stating a case for switching away from make instead of having it being buried in an issue specifically about Windows.

[alexdresko]

@Viper007Bond Done: #1193

[stephanethomas]

I just wanted to let you know that we have released this portable development environment based on Vagrant that simplifies the task of running Calypso on Windows.