Error starting node on Ubuntu Subsystem for Windows

post by GGolov on Jan 21, 2020

Hi everybody,

I’ve followed command by command the following instructions:

https://developer.algorand.org/docs/installing-ubuntu;

to install Algorand on Ubuntu Subsystem for Windows.

It went all smooth until I have tried to start the node with:

goal node start -d data

because with

./goal node start -d data

it says

-bash: ./goal: No such file or directory

Anyway, running that command, instead of starting the node it says:

error creating file for capturing stderr: open data/algod-err.log: no such file or directory
error creating file for capturing stdout: open data/algod-out.log: no such file or directory
Algorand node failed to start: node exited before we could contact it

Even with sudo it says the same. How can it be fixed?

post by Tim on Jan 21, 2020

Caveat - I don’t use windows, but, can you try using a full path to the data directory in the command i.e. goal node start -d /var/lib/algorand.

Note - In the older style of shell script installs, the data directory is created beneath the algorand directory (/var/lib/algorand/data), in the newer apt packages style the default data directory is the same (/var/lib/algorand).

post by GGolov on Jan 21, 2020

I’ve tried your command with all the paths you’ve mentioned, nothing worked.

I’ve even tried to create those two files in these paths. nothing.

post by Tim on Jan 21, 2020

I went ahead and ran through the install on a copy of Windows and it did work when I used both the full path and sudo to run the start command sudo goal node start -d /var/lib/algorand.

However, this has the consequence of creating all the ledger/log/algod files under root. I’m not sure if the Algorand team has a better suggestion for running under the Windows sub-system (@tsachi).

Depending on your needs @GGolov you might find the Docker sandbox project Algorand released to be superior or try running under a Vagrant VM.

post by GGolov on Jan 21, 2020

Yep, I forget to try with sudo those commands. Thanks.

post by tsachi on Jan 21, 2020

Our current priorities are around making a deployable(s) that works natively under Ubuntu 18, Ubuntu 16, Centos/Redhad 7-8, Raspabian/32 and MacOS.

We have not experimented with Ubuntu Subsystem for Windows yet. If you’d like to continue using Windows as you’re primary operating system, you could either -

1. Use an Ubuntu Virtual Machine.
2. Use a docker container.
3. Try to follow @Tim notes above. It sounds like it should be “doable”, but I have yet to try it myself.

Good luck!