can't "cargo clean" after running "cargo test" (permission denied)

[matthiaskrgr]

cargo 1.36.0-nightly (759b6161a 2019-05-06)
release: 1.36.0
commit-hash: 759b6161a328db1d4863139e90875308ecd25a75
commit-date: 2019-05-06

repro:

git clone https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo
cd cargo
git checkout 414c1eb4d5142716ca461a2814ad9e3d4bdbeca6
cargo test --release
cargo clean 

cargo clean fails with:

error: could not remove build directory

Caused by:
  failed to remove file `/home/matthias/vcs/github/cargo/target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/config`

Caused by:
  Permission denied (os error 13)

[matthiaskrgr]

I can't even rm -rf target o.O

rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/config': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/credentials': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/.package-cache': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/objects/info': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/objects/pack/pack-0b90bbf1f43cc1666839974020faf8a4ff52665d.idx': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/objects/pack/pack-0b90bbf1f43cc1666839974020faf8a4ff52665d.pack': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/refs/heads': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/refs/tags': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/refs/remotes/origin/master': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/hooks/README.sample': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/info/exclude': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/description': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/config': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/HEAD': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/logs/refs/remotes/origin/master': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.git/FETCH_HEAD': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.last-updated': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/index/-76cbec63376b1d8f/.cache/3/f/foo': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/cache/-76cbec63376b1d8f/foo-0.1.0.crate': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/src/-76cbec63376b1d8f/foo-0.1.0/.cargo-ok': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/src/-76cbec63376b1d8f/foo-0.1.0/Cargo.toml': Permission denied
rm: cannot remove 'target/cit/t1183/home/.cargo/registry/src/-76cbec63376b1d8f/foo-0.1.0/src/lib.rs': Permission denied

[matthiaskrgr]

Looks like this was caused by 414c1eb / #6940

[matthiaskrgr]

I'll see if I can iron out a fix.

[carnoxen]

rust-lang/vscode-rust#630
It's not yet solved.

[muhammad-osaid-tekfocal]

rust-lang/vscode-rust#630
It's not yet solved.

@bors Please reopen this issue. I am on
Windows 10
Rust (rustc 1.49.0 (e1884a8e3 2020-12-29))
VSCode ( 1.53.0 )

Cannot perform a simple cargo clean.

`PS D:\my_app> cargo clean
error: could not remove build directory

Caused by:
failed to remove file D:\my_app\target\rls\debug\deps\libaho_corasick-f8f60bbcd8d855dc.rmeta

Caused by:
Access is denied. (os error 5)`

[Eh2406]

Is the test still running?

[muhammad-osaid-tekfocal]

Is the test still running?

@Eh2406
Which test? I am just running a hello world console app.

[Eh2406]

Sorry for the confusion I read the title too quickly. The common version of this problem that I run into is that I run cargo test in one terminal/editor then do cargo clean. The cleaning fails as (on windows at least) you can't delete a file that is currently being run, and my tests are still running. It can also happen when I am using a program while working on it. Or if Rust-analyzer is using files while I am trying to clean them.

If your issue is "can't clean a file while a running program is using it" then I don't think there is anything cargo can do to fix that. It is a limitation of the operating system. If your case is different, as the OPs was here, then please open a new issue with a clear reproducible example. If you are not sure, then there are places to get help diagnosing like users.rust-lang.