Tools: polymer init hangs in windows 10 env

[kambeena]

I have created myapp directory and executed polymer init after installing cli. Selected " polymer-3-starter-kit - A Polymer 3.x starter application template, with navigation and "PRPL pattern" loading". It hangs after output
info: [init] Running template polymer-3-starter-kit...

Env
node v10.9.0
npm 6.2.0
Windows 10 pro.

[sebs]

Is there no integration build?

[AmetAlvirde]

I'm having the exact same problem, but:

node v11.2.0
npm 6.4.1

@kambeena were you able to solve it? If so, can you tell me how? Thank you so much

[mattlohkamp]

same here:

node v10.13.0
npm 6.4.1

PS C:\Work\polymer3> polymer init
'uname' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
? Which starter template would you like to use? polymer-3-application
info: Running template polymer-3-application...

... and it's been sitting seemingly doing nothing for fifteen minutes now. is uname a red herring?

[AmetAlvirde]

Solved. it was needed to enable W10 developer mode and install the Linux subsystem, follow these instructions:
https://polymer-library.polymer-project.org/3.0/docs/tools/polymer-cli#windows-10
and in step 7, you need to follow the provided url, install a distribution and you will be ready to go.

[mattlohkamp]

Seems like they should be first, since they're required in the current/latest version of windows - but yeah, you're right, that's the thing I missed - works perfectly once you've gone through those extra steps! Thanks!

[kambeena]

Thanks Amet. I solved problem by installing and using cygwin.

[anushagadepalli]

Hi @AmetAlvirde, is there a workaround to install pre-requisites for polymer without Bash on the Windows Subsystem for Linux?

[sashafirsov]

Most of Polymer developer on Windows have GIT installed. Which enables "git bash here" in Explorer menu. The polymer init xxxx in git bash shell works just fine.

[AmetAlvirde]

@anushagadepalli appearently @sashafirsov has the solution for you.

[sebs]

Hi @AmetAlvirde, is there a workaround to install pre-requisites for polymer without Bash on the Windows Subsystem for Linux?

I would think everything installs fine, just using power shell. Since this does not seem to be checked in CI on polymers side (no ci build aiming at windows as far as I know of), thing in windows will work or not, depending on luck ;) Get the linux subsystem installed. or develop in a docker image

[jsilvermist]

I've always been using git bash and never had to switch to the Ubuntu subsystem except for when using the modulizer.

[a-keramat]

Most of Polymer developer on Windows have GIT installed. Which enables "git bash here" in Explorer menu. The polymer init xxxx in git bash shell works just fine.

thanks @sashafirsov , this worked for me just fine

I had a similar issue that polymer-cli 1.3 couldn't complete and didn't seem to do anything after running

polymer init
no matter choosing which of options

windows10 #powershell #polymer2

[anushagadepalli]

Thank you @sashafirsov. Using git bash shell is working fine for me.

[AmetAlvirde]

I used Ubuntu subsystem, because that's what the official documentation suggests since Polymer 2: https://polymer-library.polymer-project.org/2.0/docs/tools/polymer-cli but I'm really glad to see that it works just fine using git-bash, as it removes friction from setup to actually developing web components. Still prefer to be able to run Polymer in whatever terminal emulator I choose to.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

[codingmikesh]

polymer init polymer-3-starter-kit:app in the git bash here works fine for me. Thanks a lot ....

[devdnn]

Same here, polymer init works only with bash. It doesn't work with powershell, cmd or even a bash inside cmder.

[chisholmd]

So....the official solution for running polymer 3 in windows is to actually to run it in Linux on windows? Is that for real?

[phidias51]

Does it work with gitbash or cygwin?

[chisholmd]

Well I am heading down that road now. But I am not a linux user, nor a bash user so I have to spend some time becoming familiar. I have been developing Polymer apps for a couple of years now, super bummer to be thrown this curve ball on this recent version. Especially over what appears to be simply scripting issues in the CLI. I mean...why doesn't someone just you know... "fix" it?

[chisholmd]

I am trying my best to follow the instructions on
https://polymer-library.polymer-project.org/3.0/docs/tools/polymer-cli#windows-10

[chisholmd]

Here are my comments that are meant to be constructive for improving the win-10 instructions at the link above.

Step 5: "Run the command "enable-WindowsOptionalFeature...."
Done and rebooted.
Step 6: "open a Bash prompt"
From where? Using start search, all that appears is git-bash. Is that what I should run? or am I supposed to run it from somewhere else?

So I tried running git-bash as admin and then entered the curl command as listed in the doc. It says NVM is already installed and then spits out a whole slew of errors. Mostly unable to find a profile eg.

Profile not found. Tried ~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile, ~/.zshrc, and ~/.profile.
=> Create one of them and run this script again
Ok I will happily create one just as soon as I figure out what ~ refers to.
..insert muzak here...
Ok So ~ is my home directory, prompt looks like it is there already.. learn to use touch to create file...curse a bunch at someone forcing me to learn VIM for no good frigging reason so that I can add line about NV to bash profiles script.....
Running curl command again to install node I guess...
receive message again that NVM is already installed. but then throws a bunch of errors.
...I have a sneaky suspicion that because I already use NPM in windows, that the linux subsystem is getting confused and thinks its installed...but really its only installed for windows...not lss.

So....this is pointless. There is only one inescapable truth here:
POLYMER 3 CLI DOES NOT WORK ON WINDOWS

It works on linux, so if you installed linux within windows then you can use it.

I have been a big fan of polymer from v1 and convinced my client to switch to it for their front end development. Now we are expecting to produce our new apps in Polymer 3 ...but I guess we have to do it without the CLI. Big bummer.

[chisholmd]

So instead of running nvm, I just ran "npm install node" which just worked. After that created a directory and tried "polymer init" which worked. So at least I am able to function at a minimum level.

...just another day lost to fighting with tools. :(

[chisholmd]

Just had a another very sad thought. I am mostly writing polymer front ends that accompany this enterprise java app. All the code I submit gets built as a part of the build process for the whole app.

The repository and the entire build process live in windows. They spin up a windows VM, deploy from the repo and run their build scripts. So....I am either going to have to submit the 'built' polymer app, or their build process is going to have to include steps to set up lss and bash?

This is veering into the ridicules. Please can't someone provide a Polymer 3 CLI that runs natively in windows? Why change now?

[sashafirsov]

@chisholmd , There is an industry trends we can not beat. Moving to linux/unix is one of those. Instead of trying to keep multy-platform capabilities many select the most promising/beneficial environment and let adapters care of compatibility. GIT cli has chosen this way, I do not see why not to benefit from what is given and spend less effort on compatibility freeing the resources to productive side? I doubt there is any windows developer environment without git cli, meaning without git bash. Unless you are in so strict corporate environment where development in general almost impossible. I propose to close this ticket/thread as the way around has been given, and it is applicable in most environments. Better to publish the recommendation in docs on cli.

[chisholmd]

Its a pity. Isn't this near the last version of this poly fill? Is Polymer 4 even contemplated? I get that these are free tools and on that account I have no cause to complain. But to drop support so suddenly and so unconsciously is a real probably for a bunch of us that came along for the ride.

Just having bash on your development machine is only a small apart of the equation. There are organisations that now need to develop a new batch of skills, not in polymer, but in a new environment just to support this tool. It would probably be better for our organisation to just forgo the benefits of the CLI and to just write our own deployment script. A shame to lose the benefits of the advanced build features, but better then having to ask our dev ops team to add a linux subsystem to their build process.

[bforrester722]

The only way I could get it to work was by using Git Bash instead of cmd. Hope this helps

[dhanyn10]

polymer works fine, you just need to reinstall git bash, and set the configuration
use git from git bash only
now im using win10, git 2.26.1

[ArchanaShahRS]

Hi ,
I am trying with polymer 3.0 and was having same issue of polymer init gets stuck when used with command prompt.

Simple solution is , install git bash to your machine.

1. Go to folder where you would like to create polymer application
2. Right click , select Git bash
3. Run polymer init in the Git bash
4. Provide answer to simple question.

And you are ready to go :)

Thanks to @sashafirsov it worked.

[nithin2889]

Opening Git Bash inside VSCode did not work for me strangely. However, when I opened the Git Bash terminal outside the VSCode and tried polymer init xxxx worked for me. Hope this helps.

[ujjaval77]

Can anyone resolve my issue related to polymer initialization? I have installed all the necessary tools required to run polymer3.0
Node V- 12.18.3
Git V- 2.28.0.windows.1

Polymer- 1.9.11
After referring to the official website and following the pre-requisites before installing node and polymer... I had Install bower and changed my machine from normal mode to developer mode along with the changes in the "Turn Windows On & off" box for Windows Subsystem Linux. Now everything looks fine but while running polymer in the Git bash prompt... It gets stuck in loading the page after asking for a brief description of the application...
If anyone finds a soln to this issue or faced the same issue and got out with a soln pls do share with me your soln.