Pass real paths when running subprocesses (#1168)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 ## dev
 
+- Delete directories directly instead of spawning rmdir on Windows
+- Fix "Failed to delete" error when using Microsoft Store Python
+- Fix "No pyvenv.cfg file" error when using Microsoft Store Python (#1164)
 - Add `--quiet` and `--verbose` options for the `pipx` subcommands
 - [docs] Add Scoop installation instructions
 - Add ability to install multiple packages at once

src/pipx/util.py

@@ -54,10 +54,7 @@ def rmdir(path: Path, safe_rm: bool = True) -> None:
 
     logger.info(f"removing directory {path}")
     try:
-        if WINDOWS:
-            os.system(f'rmdir /S /Q "{str(path)}"')
-        else:
-            shutil.rmtree(path)
+        shutil.rmtree(path)
     except FileNotFoundError:
         pass
 
@@ -171,6 +168,14 @@ def run_subprocess(
     logger.info(f"running {log_cmd_str}")
     # windows cannot take Path objects, only strings
     cmd_str_list = [str(c) for c in cmd]
+    # Make sure to call the binary using its real path. This matters especially on Windows when using the packaged app
+    # (Microsoft Store) version of Python, which uses path redirection for sandboxing. If the path to the executable is
+    # redirected, the executable can get confused as to which directory it's being run from, leading to problems.
+    # See https://github.com/pypa/pipx/issues/1164
+    # Conversely, if the binary is a symlink, then we should NOT use the real path, as Python expects to receive the
+    # symlink in argv[0] so that it can locate the venv.
+    if not os.path.islink(cmd_str_list[0]):
+        cmd_str_list[0] = os.path.realpath(cmd_str_list[0])
     completed_process = subprocess.run(
         cmd_str_list,
         env=env,