Error "could not delete" with Composer on Vagrant

Question

I have a Vagrant running Linux and I'm trying to install Symfony.

After the command composer create-project symfony/framework-standard-edition ./ "2.5.*" I have the error :

[RuntimeException]
  Could not delete ./.git/objects/pack/tmp_idx_llwUKb:

If I try to composer update another project, I always have this kind of error Could not delete

Any ideas?

Edit: For a simple sudo composer update -vvv on another project:

  - Installing sonata-project/admin-bundle (dev-master 8a022aa)
Failed to download sonata-project/admin-bundle from source: Could not delete /vagrant/crm_neo/vendor/sonata-project/admin-bundle/.git/objects/pack/tmp_idx_hchQhc:
Now trying to download from dist
  - Installing sonata-project/admin-bundle (dev-master 8a022aa)

Failed: [RuntimeException] Could not delete /vagrant/crm_neo/vendor/sonata-project/admin-bundle/.git/objects/pack/tmp_idx_hchQhc:



  [RuntimeException]
  Could not delete /vagrant/crm_neo/vendor/sonata-project/admin-bundle/.git/o
  bjects/pack/tmp_idx_hchQhc:



Exception trace:
 () at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Util/Filesystem.php:193
 Composer\Util\Filesystem->unlink() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Util/Filesystem.php:151
 Composer\Util\Filesystem->removeDirectoryPhp() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Util/Filesystem.php:129
 Composer\Util\Filesystem->removeDirectory() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Util/Filesystem.php:35
 Composer\Util\Filesystem->remove() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Util/Filesystem.php:80
 Composer\Util\Filesystem->emptyDirectory() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Downloader/FileDownloader.php:108
 Composer\Downloader\FileDownloader->doDownload() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Downloader/FileDownloader.php:89
 Composer\Downloader\FileDownloader->download() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Downloader/ArchiveDownloader.php:35
 Composer\Downloader\ArchiveDownloader->download() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Downloader/DownloadManager.php:201
 Composer\Downloader\DownloadManager->download() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Installer/LibraryInstaller.php:156
 Composer\Installer\LibraryInstaller->installCode() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Installer/LibraryInstaller.php:87
 Composer\Installer\LibraryInstaller->install() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Installer/InstallationManager.php:152
 Composer\Installer\InstallationManager->install() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Installer/InstallationManager.php:139
 Composer\Installer\InstallationManager->execute() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Installer.php:548
 Composer\Installer->doInstall() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Installer.php:217
 Composer\Installer->run() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Command/UpdateCommand.php:128
 Composer\Command\UpdateCommand->execute() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/vendor/symfony/console/Symfony/Component/Console/Command/Command.php:252
 Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command->run() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/vendor/symfony/console/Symfony/Component/Console/Application.php:889
 Symfony\Component\Console\Application->doRunCommand() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/vendor/symfony/console/Symfony/Component/Console/Application.php:193
 Symfony\Component\Console\Application->doRun() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Console/Application.php:135
 Composer\Console\Application->doRun() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/vendor/symfony/console/Symfony/Component/Console/Application.php:124
 Symfony\Component\Console\Application->run() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/src/Composer/Console/Application.php:84
 Composer\Console\Application->run() at phar:///usr/local/bin/composer/bin/composer:43
 require() at /usr/local/bin/composer:15

Scrabble

Can you append -vvv to that composer command and update the question with the output ? – Unfetter

Answer 1

It happened once to me and it turns out that I was hitting composer's timeout.

You could take the following measures to gain some speed:

1. Increase composer process-timeout (default 300) (not really needed if the following settings will help you gain speed, but can't hurt)
2. Set dist as preferred install type.
3. Enable https protocol for github, which is faster.

~/.composer/config.json

{
    "config": {
        "process-timeout":      600,
        "preferred-install":    "dist",
        "github-protocols":     ["https"]
    }
}

If you still have problems after that, you can also clear composer's cache:

rm -rf ~/.composer/cache

Unfetter

Yes i cleared the cache. I added these lines on my config.json in my symfony folder – Sagitta

Do you run composer as vagrant user ? And if not, what permissions that user has for /vagrant directory ? – Unfetter

I'm on SSH with the default vagrant user – Sagitta

Try to git clone a repository which fails to install under composer. At least you can identify the source of the problem: git or composer – Unfetter

If I git clone github.com/sonata-project/SonataAdminBundle i have the same error : fatal: fsync error on '/vagrant/SonataAdminBundle/.git/objects/pack/tmp_idx_gOBF8b': Permission denied fatal: index-pack failed – Sagitta

So is git or something related. Try to update git if you did not already did that ; try with sudo and you could rephrase your question and tag it as git. Maybe someone had encountered this problem before and can help you. – Unfetter

Solution worked for me, in a vagrant machine, using vagrant user via ssh. Not only the limit is higher, but the speed has increased a lot. Thanks! – Microanalysis

Config update worked for me too. I was getting an issue with deleting a simpletest cache file when working with Laravel. Thanks! – Disaccharide

I tried all this but was unlucky - I could not get it to work. Instead I re-ran composer update as root and it worked. My 'web' user should have had all the permissions so I could not see why it didn't work with that, though. – Drusie

Indeed, in my case it was a timeout problem ! Increase it worked like a charm for me ! – Beautician

Answer 2

I was trying to update project dependencies (using composer update) during a Laravel Framework upgrade exercise in my local Homestead environment (having run vagrant ssh to login as the default "vagrant" user) and none of the previous answers in this thread made any difference to the...

Could not delete /home/vagrant/projects/projectname/vendor/kylekatarnls/update-helper/src/UpdateHelper

...error message I repeatedly encountered.

The only thing that worked for me was to include a composer option as follows:

composer update --no-plugins

Plugins are used to alter or extend the functionality of Composer. The above command disables all installed plugins. Unfortunately, I'm not clear as to why this command worked for me, as I certainly haven't written any plugins myself. All I can conclude is that there was an erroneous Composer plugin installed that was causing this issue.

Alteration

This did not work for me (also on Laravel Homestead). Plus, it would be helpful to explain what --no-plugins does and what that would sacrifice. But it didn't work. – Quinlan

This worked for me, but it then skipped some required packages (cakephp 4.x). When I use --prefer-source it installs all, but it's slow as f... – Augustusaugy

I had this problem with TYPO3 v9.5. This option solved it. Thanks! – Cook

for Laravel Homestead, use NFS... it will solve the issue... take a look medium.com/@dogcomp/ec996f9a2cb6 at 4.2 for how to configure NFS. – Maxon

Thank you, my issue was fixed with composer update --no-plugins – Salzhauer

Answer 3

TL;DR Switch to Docker. It is the industry standard.

I came across this issue and spent quite some time doing research. I've tried every possible option to fix it but none of them worked for me. For me, the bug occurred on GNU/Linux host with Vagrant and VirtualBox provider.

It turns out it's a VirtualBox bug related to the file system layer and race conditions when creating/deleting files. It occurs only for VirtualBox shared folders, not for regular ones. The sad part is that it seems like it's not going to be fixed any time soon.

Some guys reported that they were able to solve the problem using the following tricks:

• Downgrading to VirtualBox version 6.0.4.
• Using nfs or rsync instead of shared folders.
• Patching composer to add some pauses after certain operations.
• Disabling plugin usage with --no-plugins option.

But all of this seemed dirty to me. I personally was able to use a workaround suggested on GitHub which is to configure composer to install packages from sources. That's a simple and kind of clean trick which should not have significant negative side effects on your workflow. Try putting the following config into your ~/.config/composer/config.json. Or instead you can edit your composer.json accordingly depending on your needs. Keep in mind that composer.json will override your global config.

{
    "config": {
        "preferred-install": "source"
    }
}

Modernize

This answer should have more votes. I too have had the issue before but completely forgot about it until you mentioned a VirtualBox bug - then it all came flooding back. Good news though! Looks like 5 days ago somebody was assigned to said bug, so hopefully there could be a more permanent fix in sight. – Determinant

While your "config" option was indeed the working solution for me, I cannot in good conscience upvote this answer because of it's weird TL;DR of "Duh, switch to Docker!" mentality. Sometimes vagrant machines can be complicated and do not have a Docker equivalent. What's weirder is that beyond the headline, you actually don't mention Docker in the answer at all! EDIT: I upvoted the answer anyways because it DID fix the issue, but the headline has no place here imo. – Thrown

Answer 4

Just got the same issue.

I see the problem in accessing to some local files. In my case target directory was under "root" and I'm not the root user.

Solution

Change permissions/owner of your files/directory.

1. Redefine owner:

   sudo chown myuser:myuser -R /path/to

2. Maybe there is some lack of permissions for group which you are in.
   So, try to run:

   sudo chmod g+rwX -R /path/to

Or maybe you may run your command with "sudo" if it works for you (not recommended). :)

P.S. Never use 777. It's not secure.

UPD1

Another thing, you may found out useful to solve the root of the cause, to wrap up your composer binary to run it always behalf a certain user.

$ cat /usr/local/bin/composer
#!/bin/bash

# run composer behalf www-data user

set -o pipefail
set -o errexit
set -o nounset
#set -o xtrace

[[ "${DEBUG:-}" = "true" ]] && set -o xtrace || true

composer_debug=$([[ 'true' != "${COMPOSER_DEBUG:-}" ]] || echo '-vvv' )

sudo -u www-data -- /usr/bin/composer ${composer_debug:-} $@

Electrician

sudo composer update worked to me. – Hipster

Answer 5

I had this problem when provisioning the machine, which was bootstrapped to run composer install. I simply exited the VM and ran composer install on the code on my host machine and it worked.

So, if you're facing this problem while running Composer inside the VM, just try running Composer from outside the VM.

Update: As pointed in the comments below, this can pose some problems with different versions of packages being installed owing to the difference in system configurations between the local and Vagrant environments, so exercise appropriate caution while trying this.

Marchand

This might get you going, but doesn't solve the problem. – Reckless

Be careful about this. Depending on for PHP version composer might want to download different packages. So if your vb has different version than your default os version than it might become a problem. – Masao

@MaciejPaprocki I agree and this also renders the whole point of using Vagrant useless, but it's something to do when you have nothing else in sight. – Marchand

@Marchand unfortunately, I've been in similar situation multiple times, however, it would be good to probably add that to your answer as novice users might have a lot of problems after doing that. – Masao

I try run composer under Windows and Vagrant. When i run composer under VM i have similar error with symfony packages. Under windows git bash terminal composer work correctly. Thank you a lot – Nb

Not a satisfactory answer - the entire point of Vagrant is running these kind of commands from within it / not having to worry about the host machine OS or software versions. – Thrown

Answer 6

We're running into issues also. There are several people who seem to have this issue, a fix has not been provided. For more information you can look into github issues of vagrant-winnfsd.

Mauk

Answer 7

Just run

sudo chmod -R 777 /folder/path

This will give you write access to the folder you are running composer in. I know this is an old post but this works so I have to share it.

Holocene

I have the same issue above. This is due to permission problem. After giving write access to my folder, it works fine – Rhinestone

setting folder to 777 is reckless , better 755 – Robomb

Answer 8

for my case, I only used the NFS folders type instead of the shared folders and it works:

folders:
    - map: ~/code/cs-cart-trial
      to: /home/code/cs-cart-trial
      type: "nfs"

Macias

same using NFS to solve the issue, VirtualBox 6.1.18 still having the same issue – Maxon

Answer 9

In my case I was trying composer update but I got

[RuntimeException] Could not delete .../vendor/bin/php-parse:

Despite I'm using Laravel framework, this question was the first link in Google, so I decided to post an answer.

My solution was to grant ownership for vendor: sudo chown -R $USER:www-data vendor/ and
sudo chown -R $USER:www-data composer.json

---

Update: my host OS was Ubuntu 16.04.

Murmansk

I too am using Laravel Homestead vagrant and suddenly started getting problems this morning saying [RuntimeException] Could not delete. Unfortunately your solution didn't change anything for me. – Quinlan

@Quinlan my solution is not universal, in my case the problem was with ownership of composer.json file and vendor. Check your permissions for other folders as well. – Murmansk

This happened to me multiple times yesterday and was temporarily solved by rebooting Windows. My latest guess, though, is that it's related to NetBeans 11.2. I recently upgraded from NetBeans 8.2, and I think 11.2 is much slower and seems to be accessing files more often and must be messing with their permissions. – Quinlan

@Quinlan oh, you're using Windows as host system. I've updated my answer. – Murmansk

Answer 10

Having the same issue for Cakephp 4.2.1

Error:

Could not delete /var/www/vendor/cakephp/plugin-installer/src:

Solution:

Based of https://mcmap.net/q/333485/-error-quot-could-not-delete-quot-with-composer-on-vagrant

After trying out several options mentioned above, for me this was the easiest way to solve it.

composer install --prefer-source

---

The argument --no-plugins worked as well, sort of. It skipped some packages but my localhost seemed to work just fine. This is faster, but it's missing some.

Augustusaugy

Answer 11

On AWS I got this error while deploying Yii framework project there was this

/var/app/current/vendor/

folder i deleted everything inside it came back to my document root and ran composer update it fetched all the repos again.

Maeganmaelstrom

Answer 12

In my case , by removing the plugin and re-create the box solve the issue.

Hoo

Answer 13

For me it caused by composer's timeout. I checked my internet speed and found it dropped to 0.7M which is nearly unusable. After I reconnected the wifi and have my internet connection speed back to normal, the errors are gone.

Obadias

Answer 14

This has something do to with the synchronization of the folders between host and guest OSes, the folder might be simply temporarily locked from your host machine.

The solution is simply to delete the offending .git folder from your host OS or reboot the machine and launch composer install again.

Ideally each OS has its own dependencies and different binaries, therefore you should isolate your /vendor folder out from the rsync/vagrant folder share, likewise you would do the same with /node_modules on a Nodejs project.

Anderer

Answer 15

Another thing to check for, Composer needs to run in the context of a directory it has permissions to.

In my case I was trying to issue a create-project command from /var/www, aimed against /var/www/html. /var/www is owned by root, /var/www/html is owned by the same user I executed Composer as (www-data). I got the following error; Could not delete /var/www/html/:

Issued the same Composer command from within /var/www/html itself and it worked perfectly.

Vindicable

Answer 16

To me it helped to install a (new) version via command line from download homepage https://getcomposer.org/download/. I can exclude some file permissions as I was root with chmod +R 0777, though I had virtualbox mounted drive. Anyway since new version worked, would mean it was version, or running a new version via php phar, and the original bin belonged to root

php -r "copy('https://getcomposer.org/installer', 'composer-setup.php');"
php -r "if (hash_file('sha384', 'composer-setup.php') === '48e3236262b34d30969dca3c37281b3b4bbe3221bda826ac6a9a62d6444cdb0dcd0615698a5cbe587c3f0fe57a54d8f5') { echo 'Installer verified'; } else { echo 'Installer corrupt'; unlink('composer-setup.php'); } echo PHP_EOL;"
php composer-setup.php
php -r "unlink('composer-setup.php');"

Skirr

Answer 17

I have solved the problem by creating a mount : In /home/vagrant create a folder named vendor then apply command : mount --bind /home/vagrant/vendor /path/to/source/vendor

Midday

Answer 18

It's a bit unrelated with the question, but in my case with Docker. It was failing because Webpack was watching and it didn't allow other files to be deleted.

It worked when I turned off Webpack.

Tortilla

Answer 19

I had same problems trying composer install

- Installing aws/aws-sdk-php (3.218.3): Extracting archive
Install of aws/aws-sdk-php failed

In Filesystem.php line 330:

  Could not delete /home/vagrant/code/my-project/vendor/composer/cefa44c2/aws-aws-sdk-php-a1bd217/src:

What I did I comment it out

type: "nfs"

from my homestead.yaml

and make a fresh vagrant provision

I'm using Oracle Virtual box 6.1 on Windows 10.

Azarria

Answer 20

Turn of Dropbox or other file sync

Vanadous

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Terrapin

Answer 21

Best hack i found was to replace the unlink commands with the one below. I am running ubuntu.

sudo nano +219 /usr/share/php/Composer/Util/Filesystem.php

exec("sudo rm -rf $path"); return true;

Kismet

Not a good idea: If the problems are permissions, clarify why. Your answer suggests to just circumvent permissions. Messed up permissions are a sign of something wrong elsewhere. – Wicked

Answer 22

For Windows users

Wow, I can't believe how long it took me to realize this, and sadly it has happened multiple times, and I'm finally writing this note so that I and others can quickly recover next time.

1. Just use Windows Explorer to go delete the /vendor/whatever_project_name folder instead of trying to delete it from the Vagrant command line.

2. Then run composer update to reinstall the dependencies.

Quinlan