App doesn't launch when building with electron-builder 26.0.14

[quanglam2807]

We're experiencing an issue where one of our apps fails to launch when built with electron-builder@26.0.14. It works fine with versions 26.0.13 and 26.0.12.

Download links for the affected builds:

• macOS (Universal): https://cdn-2.webcatalog.io/webcatalog/WebCatalog-66.0.0-universal.dmg
• Windows: https://cdn-2.webcatalog.io/webcatalog/WebCatalog%20Setup%2066.0.0.exe
• Linux (x64): https://cdn-2.webcatalog.io/webcatalog/WebCatalog-66.0.0.AppImage
• Linux (arm64): https://cdn-2.webcatalog.io/webcatalog/WebCatalog-66.0.0-arm64.AppImage

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any useful logs during startup to help with debugging.

One possible cause might be this recent change:

chore(asar): use streaming to electron/asar to avoid writing extra temp app to disk by @mmaietta
#8995

Though I’m not certain it’s the root of the issue. Please let me know how I can help further.

[beyondkmp]

@mmaietta It seems indeed related to your modification. #8995

node:fs:562
  return binding.open(
                 ^

Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'C:\Users\payne\AppData\Local\Programs\@webcatalogdesktop\resources\app.asar.unpacked\build\electron-main\images\icon-linux.png'

[mmaietta]

I'll look at this asap. @quanglam2807 do you have a minimum repro repo I can use to debug locally with?

[quanglam2807]

@beyondkmp Thanks a ton—that was super helpful! I somehow missed that error.

@mmaietta I’ll try to put together a minimal repro repo if I get a chance. It seems like the app is trying to load icon-linux.png from app.asar.unpacked, but the file is actually inside app.asar:

if (process.platform === 'linux') {
  winOpts.icon = path.resolve(__dirname, 'images', 'icon-linux.png');
}

[mmaietta]

Oh interesting. I think this might solve it then?

electron-builder/packages/app-builder-lib/src/asar/asarUtil.ts

Line 102 in c83f765

while (superDir !== ".") {

Change to

while (superDir.includes(path.sep))

Can you try that in your project by editing the file at node_modules/app-builder-lib/out/asar/asarUtil.js

[quanglam2807]

Thanks, @mmaietta. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to fix it.

Our build config.

 asar: true,
asarUnpack: [
  'build/**/default-app-icon.png',
  'build/**/Shortcut.exe',
  'build/forked/**',
  'build/electron-main/vbs/**/*',
],
files: ['build/**/*'],
directories: {
  buildResources: 'build-resources',
},

The icon-linux.png file is in build

[quanglam2807]

I think it's caused by this line:

electron-builder/packages/app-builder-lib/src/asar/asarUtil.ts

Line 77 in c83f765

const isFileUnpacked = this.config.unpackPattern?.(file, stat) ?? false

asar: true,
asarUnpack: [
  'build/**/default-app-icon.png',
  'build/**/Shortcut.exe',
  'build/forked/**',
  'build/electron-main/vbs/**/*',
],
files: ['build/**/*'],
directories: {
  buildResources: 'build-resources',
},

In my config, I only want to unpack default-app-icon.png, which is located at build/electron-main/images/default-app-icon.png. But the glob build/**/default-app-icon.png matches the file and causes the parent directory build/electron-main/images to be marked as unpacked.

Because icon-linux.png is also inside build/electron-main/images, it gets marked as unpacked incorrectly.
Debug log output:

@webcatalog/desktop:release: isFileUnpacked build/electron-main/images true
@webcatalog/desktop:release: isFileUnpacked build/electron-main true
@webcatalog/desktop:release: isFileUnpacked build/electron-main/images/default-app-icon.png true
@webcatalog/desktop:release: isFileUnpacked build/forked true
@webcatalog/desktop:release: isFileUnpacked build/forked/install-app-forked.js true
@webcatalog/desktop:release: isFileUnpacked build/forked true
@webcatalog/desktop:release: isFileUnpacked build/forked/install-app-forked.js.LICENSE.txt true
@webcatalog/desktop:release: isFileUnpacked build/forked true
@webcatalog/desktop:release: isFileUnpacked build/forked/install-app-forked.js.map true
...

[mmaietta]

That line has actually always existed. I think the issue here is this assumed logic

electron-builder/packages/app-builder-lib/src/asar/asarUtil.ts

Lines 99 to 115 in c83f765

	private processParentDirectories(isUnpacked: (path: string) => boolean, destination: string, results: AsarStreamType[]) {
	// process parent directories
	let superDir = path.dirname(path.normalize(destination))
	while (superDir !== ".") {
	const dir: AsarDirectory = {
	type: "directory",
	path: superDir,
	unpacked: isUnpacked(superDir),
	}
	// add to results if not already present
	if (!results.some(r => r.path === dir.path)) {
	results.push(dir)
	}
	superDir = path.dirname(superDir)
	}
	}

I'm investigating this today, my apologies for the delay

[mmaietta]

@quanglam2807 can you try removing this line from node_modules/app-builder-lib/out/asar/asarUtil.js?

electron-builder/packages/app-builder-lib/src/asar/asarUtil.ts

Line 81 in c83f765

this.processParentDirectories(isUnpacked, destination, results)

[bennyschmidt]

It's due to this: #9124

Electron by way of ASAR deletes all your files when you package it and no config I have tried allows you to preserve them. It's the worst thing about this library by far