The Cypress App could not be downloaded

[Vincent-Lz-Zhang]

The error happens when I try to install Cypress 13.8.1 with npm.

Here is the key npm logs:

862 error Does your workplace require a proxy to be used to access the Internet? If so, you must configure the HTTP_PROXY environment variable before downloading Cypress. Read more: https://on.cypress.io/proxy-configuration

862 error Otherwise, please check network connectivity and try again:

862 error URL: https://download.cypress.io/desktop/13.8.1?platform=win32&arch=x64
862 error Error: self-signed certificate in certificate chain

First thing first, I have run through these posts:

#2610
#8960

And I have also gone through some SOF posts like this one: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57158587/npm-install-error-self-signed-certificate-in-certificate-chain

However, this problem is not really resolved in my case, and although I agree it should have more to do with npm and the security setup of my workplace, I still want to provide the details of my version of this problem and seek some suggestions.

After running the npm install command, I observed a number of things:

1. It successfully download the npm package of Cypress;
2. It failed in downloading the Windows application of Cypress, the binary files from https://download.cypress.io/desktop/13.8.1?platform=win32&arch=x64, and consequently, the folder %LocalAppData%\Cypress\Cache is empty (I will come back shortly)
3. Probably because the Windows application is not installed successfully, the npm rolls back everything, as a result, it removes everything it downloads into ./node_modules/.

Below lists the full log:

843 info run @percy/core@1.3.0 postinstall node_modules/@percy/core node ./post-install

844 info run cypress@13.8.1 postinstall node_modules/cypress node index.js --exec install

845 info run @percy/core@1.3.0 postinstall { code: 0, signal: null }

846 timing build:run:postinstall:node_modules/@percy/core Completed in 231ms

847 info run cypress@13.8.1 postinstall { code: 1, signal: null }

848 warn cleanup Failed to remove some directories [

848 warn cleanup   [

848 warn cleanup     'C:\\myApp\\node_modules',

848 warn cleanup     [Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, rmdir 'C:\myApp\node_modules\rxjs\_esm2015\internal\observable'] {

848 warn cleanup       errno: -4048,

848 warn cleanup       code: 'EPERM',

848 warn cleanup       syscall: 'rmdir',

848 warn cleanup       path: 'C:\\myApp\\node_modules\\rxjs\\_esm2015\\internal\\observable'

848 warn cleanup     }

848 warn cleanup   ],

848 warn cleanup   [

848 warn cleanup     'C:\\myApp\\node_modules\\@percy\\config',

848 warn cleanup     [Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, rmdir 'C:\myApp\node_modules\@percy\config\node_modules\ajv'] {

848 warn cleanup       errno: -4048,

848 warn cleanup       code: 'EPERM',

848 warn cleanup       syscall: 'rmdir',

848 warn cleanup       path: 'C:\\myApp\\node_modules\\@percy\\config\\node_modules\\ajv'

848 warn cleanup     }

848 warn cleanup   ]

848 warn cleanup ]

849 timing reify:rollback:createSparse Completed in 4583ms

850 timing reify:rollback:retireShallow Completed in 0ms

851 timing command:install Completed in 21028ms

852 verbose stack Error: command failed

852 verbose stack     at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\node_modules\@npmcli\promise-spawn\lib\index.js:53:27)

852 verbose stack     at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:518:28)

852 verbose stack     at maybeClose (node:internal/child_process:1105:16)

852 verbose stack     at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:305:5)

853 verbose pkgid cypress@13.8.1

854 verbose cwd C:\myApp

855 verbose Windows_NT 10.0.19045

856 verbose node v20.12.1

857 verbose npm  v10.5.0

858 error code 1

859 error path C:\myApp\node_modules\cypress

860 error command failed

861 error command C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /d /s /c node index.js --exec install

862 error Installing Cypress (version: 13.8.1)

862 error

862 error [STARTED] Task without title.

862 error The Cypress App could not be downloaded.

862 error

862 error Does your workplace require a proxy to be used to access the Internet? If so, you must configure the HTTP_PROXY environment variable before downloading Cypress. Read more: https://on.cypress.io/proxy-configuration

862 error

862 error Otherwise, please check network connectivity and try again:

862 error

862 error ----------

862 error

862 error URL: https://download.cypress.io/desktop/13.8.1?platform=win32&arch=x64

862 error Error: self-signed certificate in certificate chain

862 error

862 error ----------

862 error

862 error Platform: win32-x64 (10.0.19045)

862 error Cypress Version: 13.8.1

863 error [FAILED] The Cypress App could not be downloaded.

863 error [FAILED]

863 error [FAILED] Does your workplace require a proxy to be used to access the Internet? If so, you must configure the HTTP_PROXY environment variable before downloading Cypress. Read more: https://on.cypress.io/proxy-configuration

863 error [FAILED]

863 error [FAILED] Otherwise, please check network connectivity and try again:

863 error [FAILED]

863 error [FAILED] ----------

863 error [FAILED]

863 error [FAILED] URL: https://download.cypress.io/desktop/13.8.1?platform=win32&arch=x64

863 error [FAILED] Error: self-signed certificate in certificate chain

863 error [FAILED]

863 error [FAILED] ----------

863 error [FAILED]

863 error [FAILED] Platform: win32-x64 (10.0.19045)

863 error [FAILED] Cypress Version: 13.8.1

864 verbose exit 1

I tried to set the proxy, and then run the command again. It ran successfully:

C:\myApp>set HTTP_PROXY=http://myproxydomain:8080/

C:\myApp>npm install

added 399 packages, and audited 400 packages in 22s

But it actually just dismissed the error and didn't rollback the files placed under path ./node_modules/, the Windows application was still NOT there, the folder %LocalAppData%\Cypress\Cache is still empty. On the other hand, I'm able to go to https://download.cypress.io/desktop/13.8.1?platform=win32&arch=x64 with Chrome and download it.

In my work environment, there is a tool acting like a proxy and it automatically inject certificates into the network requests, thus it's not supposed to set http proxy explicitly, but it's possible that it's not configurated to work for npm yet, I will find out with the security department. But, putting that aside, I still have a couple of questions:

1. Is the rollback caused by the failed installation of Cypress Windows application?
2. Why the installation of Cypress Windows application still fails when the download error is gone? Given the facts, does the error really indicate what it is supposed to?

Thank you!

[Vincent-Lz-Zhang]

Based on my experiment, just running set NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS="your.pem" will never work. You need to add a system variable for NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS, and reboot the computer.

If you can't make it work, another option is to run:

set NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0