nodejs not working, exec format error

[wangqr]

Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19044.1586]

WSL Version

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

4.4.0-19041-Microsoft

Distro Version

Arch

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

Install nodejs from Archlinux repo with pacman -S nodejs, and run node

Expected Behavior

nodejs starts

Actual Behavior

nodejs does not start. exec format error.

wangqr@ocalhost:~$ node
zsh: exec format error: node

Diagnostic Logs

nodejs can start if we manually invoke ld-linux, although it is already the interpreter in the ELF.

wangqr@ocalhost:~$ /usr/bin/node
zsh: exec format error: /usr/bin/node
wangqr@ocalhost:~$ strace /usr/bin/node
execve("/usr/bin/node", ["/usr/bin/node"], 0x7ffff42aefa0 /* 25 vars */) = -1 ENOEXEC (Exec format error)
strace: exec: Exec format error
+++ exited with 1 +++
wangqr@ocalhost:~$ /lib/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /usr/bin/node
Welcome to Node.js v17.7.1.
Type ".help" for more information.
>
wangqr@ocalhost:~$ /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /usr/bin/node
Welcome to Node.js v17.7.1.
Type ".help" for more information.
>
wangqr@ocalhost:~$ file /usr/bin/node
/usr/bin/node: ELF 64-bit LSB pie executable, x86-64, version 1 (GNU/Linux), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2, BuildID[sha1]=10ec67f51a763d04ac6e1fe305ce214fb40eabda, for GNU/Linux 4.4.0, stripped
wangqr@ocalhost:~$ readelf -h /usr/bin/node
ELF Header:
 Magic: 7f 45 4c 46 02 01 01 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
 Class: ELF64
 Data: 2's complement, little endian
 Version: 1 (current)
 OS/ABI: UNIX - GNU
 ABI Version: 0
 Type: DYN (Position-Independent Executable file)
 Machine: Advanced Micro Devices X86-64
 Version: 0x1
 Entry point address: 0x6aa570
 Start of program headers: 64 (bytes into file)
 Start of section headers: 34087608 (bytes into file)
 Flags: 0x0
 Size of this header: 64 (bytes)
 Size of program headers: 56 (bytes)
 Number of program headers: 16
 Size of section headers: 64 (bytes)
 Number of section headers: 30
 Section header string table index: 29

[elsaco]

wangqr (@wangqr) what is the output of zsh --version?

This is a screenshot of Arch running node in a zsh session:

[wangqr]

It's zsh 5.8.1. Running under bash or strace gives save result though.

wangqr@ocalhost:~$ zsh --version
zsh 5.8.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
wangqr@ocalhost:~$ bash -c /usr/bin/node
bash: line 1: /usr/bin/node: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error

[wangqr]

Some more information:

1. I do find a way to solve the issue:

   • In a docker, downgrade glibc from 2.35 to 2.33 using Archlinux Archive on 2022-02-14
   • Compile nodejs (asp checkout nodejs; cd nodejs/trunk; makepkg)
   • The resulting pkg.tar.zst will work fine on WSL1
   • Note: I built the package in a docker container running on a real archlinux machine. I haven't tried if downgrading glibc on WSL1 works. Because downgrading glibc is likely to break other packages, and fixing glibc issue in WSL1 is difficult.

2. Compiling from source on WSL1 with the current glibc 2.35-2 will fail halfway with "Exec format error":

 g++ -o /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/mkcodecache -pthread -rdynamic -m64 -Wl,-z,noexecstack -Wl,--whole-archive /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_snapshot.a -Wl,--no-whole-archive -Wl,-z,relro -Wl,-z,now -Wl,-O1,--sort-common,--as-needed,-z,relro,-z,now -Wl,--start-group /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/mkcodecache/src/node_snapshot_stub.o /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/mkcodecache/src/node_code_cache_stub.o /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/mkcodecache/tools/code_cache/mkcodecache.o /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/mkcodecache/tools/code_cache/cache_builder.o /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/libnode.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/deps/histogram/libhistogram.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/deps/uvwasi/libuvwasi.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_snapshot.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_libplatform.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/deps/llhttp/libllhttp.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_base_without_compiler.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_libbase.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_zlib.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_compiler.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_initializers.a -lz -luv -lbrotlidec -lbrotlienc -lcares -lnghttp2 -lcrypto -lssl -licui18n -licuuc -licudata -ldl -Wl,--end-group
 g++ -o /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/node_mksnapshot -pthread -rdynamic -m64 -Wl,-z,noexecstack -Wl,--whole-archive /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_snapshot.a -Wl,--no-whole-archive -Wl,-z,relro -Wl,-z,now -Wl,-O1,--sort-common,--as-needed,-z,relro,-z,now -Wl,--start-group /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/node_mksnapshot/src/node_snapshot_stub.o /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/node_mksnapshot/src/node_code_cache_stub.o /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/node_mksnapshot/tools/snapshot/node_mksnapshot.o /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/libnode.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/deps/histogram/libhistogram.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/deps/uvwasi/libuvwasi.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_snapshot.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_libplatform.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/deps/llhttp/libllhttp.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_base_without_compiler.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_libbase.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_zlib.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_compiler.a /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj.target/tools/v8_gypfiles/libv8_initializers.a -lz -luv -lbrotlidec -lbrotlienc -lcares -lnghttp2 -lcrypto -lssl -licui18n -licuuc -licudata -ldl -Wl,--end-group
 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/lib.host:/home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/lib.target:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH; cd ../.; mkdir -p /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj/gen; "/home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/mkcodecache" "/home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj/gen/node_code_cache.cc"
 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/lib.host:/home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/lib.target:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH; cd ../.; mkdir -p /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj/gen; "/home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/node_mksnapshot" "/home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj/gen/node_snapshot.cc"
/bin/sh: line 1: /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/mkcodecache: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error
make[1]: *** [node.target.mk:13: /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj/gen/node_code_cache.cc] Error 126
make[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
/bin/sh: line 1: /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/node_mksnapshot: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error
make[1]: *** [node.target.mk:26: /home/wangqr/nodejs/trunk/src/node-17.7.1/out/Release/obj/gen/node_snapshot.cc] Error 126
rm 153bac10d83d38fd810d27369039858f690025da.intermediate 5fb9d05e8e7a809bf286a9a99430b12e50e12e34.intermediate 8c61239488171a14609c6ceaa1326c094866c228.intermediate 04b2e589442e78ea5b814ca0512cab45489617e8.intermediate
make: *** [Makefile:113: node] Error 2
==> ERROR: A failure occurred in build().
 Aborting...

[gavenkoa]

The same problem on Debian:

bash# apt-cache show nodejs
Package: nodejs
Version: 16.13.2+really14.19.1~dfsg-6
Installed-Size: 949
Maintainer: Debian Javascript Maintainers <pkg-javascript-devel@alioth-lists.debian.net>
Architecture: amd64
Replaces: libnode72 (<< 12.22.10~dfsg~), libnode83 (<< 16.13.2+really14.19.1~dfsg~), nodejs-legacy
Provides: node-types-node (= 14.18.12~16.13.2+really14.19.1~dfsg-6)
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.2.5), libnode83 (= 16.13.2+really14.19.1~dfsg-6)

When run:

/usr/bin/node --version
-bash: /usr/bin/node: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error

libc6 is v2.33-7.

bash# strace -f node --version
execve("/usr/bin/node", ["node", "--version"], 0x7fffdc8ab7e0 /* 30 vars */) = -1 ENOEXEC (Exec format error)
strace: exec: Exec format error
+++ exited with 1 +++

WSL 1:

uname -a
Linux msi 4.4.0-19041-Microsoft #1237-Microsoft Sat Sep 11 14:32:00 PST 2021 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[gavenkoa]

As in #5875 following succeeds:

/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /usr/bin/node --version
v14.19.1

[gavenkoa]

Similar symptoms in #5154

[qyb]

the same error: #8219

[srogerf]

Had the same issues and upgrading to WSL 2 worked for me
wsl --set-version <name> 2

Use from
wsl -l -v

I did follow https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-manual#step-3---enable-virtual-machine-feature (and step 4) but node is working for me now. This is with Ubuntu 22.04

[gavenkoa]

Any progress? I upgraded to 21H2:

cmd /c ver
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19044.1826]

but still happens:

# strace -f node --help
execve("/usr/bin/node", ["node", "--help"], 0x7ffff7a99db0 /* 31 vars */) = -1 ENOEXEC (Exec format error)
strace: exec: Exec format error
+++ exited with 1 +++

[gavenkoa]

As a workaround I updated npm tool (actual file is /usr/share/nodejs/npm/bin/npm-cli.js):

#!/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /usr/bin/node
//#!/usr/bin/env node
require('../lib/cli.js')(process)

[gavenkoa]

It is possible to make a workaround for node itself:

sudo mv /usr/bin/node /usr/bin/node-orig
printf '#!/bin/sh\nexec /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 /usr/bin/node-orig "$@"' | sudo tee /usr/bin/node
sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/node

My previous fix for npm won't work with the updated node executable, needs to be reverted.

[andreineculau]

Oleksandr Gavenko (@gavenkoa) my general fix is to run

wsl-fix-exec-format-error $(realpath $(command -v node))

The script is here: https://github.com/ysoftwareab/yplatform/blob/master/bin/wsl-fix-exec-format-error

Based on https://gist.github.com/the-moog/179753aacc52b262d1068878d520e9c9 by Jay (@the-moog) wangqr (@wangqr) 🙌

Running realpath is needed because sometimes (eg homebrew) node in your $PATH is a symlink

PS: I have found that I need to patch gzip as well, not just node, so a generic patch script is really good to have