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node shell shim missing in Windows installation node, required for WSL #43861

Closed as not planned
Closed as not planned
node shell shim missing in Windows installation node, required for WSL#43861
Labels
feature requestIssues requesting new Node.js features.staleIssues and PRs marked stale due to inactivity and scheduled for automatic closure.windowsIssues and PRs related to the Windows platform.

Description

@hrishikesh-kadam
hrishikesh-kadam
opened on Jul 16, 2022

What is the problem this feature will solve?

In the Windows installation of node, shell shim is missing which points to the node.exe required for using from WSL distros.

WSL Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 
hrk@HRK-HPZBOOK:.../Program Files/nodejs$ pwd
/mnt/c/Program Files/nodejs

hrk@HRK-HPZBOOK:.../Program Files/nodejs$ \ls -alFh
total 62M
dr-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk 4.0K Jul 16 21:18 ./
dr-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk 4.0K Jul 16 16:46 ../
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk  322 Jul 16 20:27 corepack*
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk  218 Jul  8 06:00 corepack.cmd*
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk 3.0K Jul  8 06:00 install_tools.bat*
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk 8.8K Oct 14  2021 node_etw_provider.man*
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk  62M Jul 13 14:32 node.exe*
dr-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk 4.0K Jul 16 16:34 node_modules/
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk  702 Oct 14  2021 nodevars.bat*
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk 1.4K Jul 16 20:27 npm*
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk  483 Jul  7 06:00 npm.cmd*
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk 1.6K Jul 16 20:27 npx*
-r-xr-xr-x 1 hrk hrk  539 Jul  7 06:00 npx.cmd*

hrk@HRK-HPZBOOK:.../Program Files/nodejs$ node --version
-bash: /mnt/c/Program Files/nodejs/node: No such file or directory

hrk@HRK-HPZBOOK:.../Program Files/nodejs$ node.exe --version
v18.6.0

Git Bash can run the node --version command without appending .exe to the node as expected.

Git Bash 
hrkad@HRK-HPZBOOK MINGW64 /c/Program Files/nodejs
$ node --version
v18.6.0

hrkad@HRK-HPZBOOK MINGW64 /c/Program Files/nodejs
$ node.exe --version
v18.6.0

What is the feature you are proposing to solve the problem?

There are two ways to solve this issue.

  1. By creating shell shim node passing arguments to node.exe
WSL Ubuntu 22.04 LTS -> Run as administrator 
hrk@HRK-HPZBOOK:.../Program Files/nodejs$ cat > node <<EOL
#!/bin/sh
node.exe "\$@"
EOL

hrk@HRK-HPZBOOK:.../Program Files/nodejs$ cat node
#!/bin/sh
node.exe "$@"

hrk@HRK-HPZBOOK:.../Program Files/nodejs$ node --version
v18.6.0
  1. By creating a symlink node pointing to node.exe
Command Prompt -> Run as administrator 
C:\Program Files\nodejs>mklink node node.exe
symbolic link created for node <<===>> node.exe

C:\Program Files\nodejs>dir
 Volume in drive C is Windows
 Volume Serial Number is XXXX-XXXX

 Directory of C:\Program Files\nodejs

16/07/2022  09:48 PM    <DIR>          .
16/07/2022  04:46 PM    <DIR>          ..
16/07/2022  08:27 PM               322 corepack
08/07/2022  06:00 AM               218 corepack.cmd
08/07/2022  06:00 AM             3,033 install_tools.bat
16/07/2022  09:48 PM    <SYMLINK>      node [node.exe]
13/07/2022  02:32 PM        64,891,000 node.exe
14/10/2021  12:30 AM               702 nodevars.bat
14/10/2021  12:30 AM             8,997 node_etw_provider.man
16/07/2022  04:34 PM    <DIR>          node_modules
16/07/2022  08:27 PM             1,365 npm
07/07/2022  06:00 AM               483 npm.cmd
16/07/2022  08:27 PM             1,567 npx
07/07/2022  06:00 AM               539 npx.cmd
              11 File(s)     64,908,226 bytes
               3 Dir(s)  252,773,011,456 bytes free
WSL Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 
hrk@HRK-HPZBOOK:.../Program Files/nodejs$ node --version
v18.6.0

What alternatives have you considered?

Installing node natively on WSL obviously solves the issue but it causes double dependencies of the core software and global packages, one on Windows and the other inside WSL.

Activity

  1. hrishikesh-kadam
    added
    feature requestIssues requesting new Node.js features.
    on Jul 16, 2022
  2. MoLow
    added
    windowsIssues and PRs related to the Windows platform.
    on Jul 17, 2022

  3. MoLow commented on Jul 17, 2022

    @MoLow
    MoLow
    on Jul 17, 2022
    Member

    /cc @nodejs/platform-windows

  4. hrishikesh-kadam commented on Jul 17, 2022

    @hrishikesh-kadam
    hrishikesh-kadam
    on Jul 17, 2022
    ContributorAuthor

    @MoLow @nodejs/platform-windows
    I would like to have a contribution for this once #43860 has been taken care of.

  5. targos
    added this to Node.js feature requestson Oct 22, 2022
  6. targos
    moved this to Pending Triage in Node.js feature requestson Oct 22, 2022

  7. github-actions commented on Jan 14, 2023

    @github-actions
    github-actionsbot
    on Jan 14, 2023
    Contributor

    There has been no activity on this feature request for 5 months and it is unlikely to be implemented. It will be closed 6 months after the last non-automated comment.

    For more information on how the project manages feature requests, please consult the feature request management document.

  8. github-actions
    added
    staleIssues and PRs marked stale due to inactivity and scheduled for automatic closure.
    on Jan 14, 2023

  9. github-actions commented on Feb 13, 2023

    @github-actions
    github-actionsbot
    on Feb 13, 2023
    Contributor

    There has been no activity on this feature request and it is being closed. If you feel closing this issue is not the right thing to do, please leave a comment.

    For more information on how the project manages feature requests, please consult the feature request management document.

  10. github-actions
    closed this as not plannedon Feb 13, 2023
  11. targos
    moved this from Pending Triage to Stale in Node.js feature requestson Apr 4, 2023
  12. avivkeller
    removed this from Node.js feature requestson Jun 26, 2024

  13. nadalaba commented on Sep 25, 2025

    @nadalaba
    nadalaba
    on Sep 25, 2025
    Contributor

    @avivkeller Why was this removed from feature requests? It is still needed for running windows node.exe from wsl.
    I'd be happy to resolve conflicts on #43948 if that's the issue

  14. avivkeller commented on Sep 25, 2025

    @avivkeller
    avivkeller
    on Sep 25, 2025
    Member

    This issue stale-ed, and thus, was removed

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