element-desktop creates /tmp/.org.chromium.Chromium.xxxxxx files when started, which are not deleted upon exit

[PF4Public]

Description

Every time I start element-desktop there are /tmp/.org.chromium.Chromium.xxxxxx created and not deleted afterwards.

Steps to reproduce

• Start element-desktop
• Quit element-desktop
• See the contents of a /tmp folder

Electron always creates 2 files with ever changing names, but I suppose that they are essentially the same files every start, so I inspected them in a hex editor and to me it looks like electron unpacks keytar and seshat node modules. I also inspected the files generated during the build of element-desktop and only the gifwrap resides in app.asar.unpacked/node_modules/ everything else seems to be packed into app.asar. I also compare this to vscode, which keeps all the native modules outside app.asar. Could it be, that those modules should also be unpacked? And my suspicion is that if they are not, electron needs to unpack them every time it starts. Therefore I'm filling a bug here as it could be an issue with element-desktop build system. It could also happen to be electron issue. Anyway it would be nice not to generate extra temporary files.

Logs being sent: no

Version information

• Platform: desktop

For the desktop app:

• OS: Gentoo Linux
• Version: v1.7.26

Related issues I could find, but they didn't help solve this issue: zulip/zulip-desktop#601 electron/electron#16097

[PF4Public]

I have rebuilt element-desktop without native modules and no more /tmp/.org.chromium.Chromium.xxxxxx. This makes it clear, that it definitely has something to do with how element handles (packages) native modules.

[kittykat]

@PF4Public I cannot reproduce this on Arch - my /tmp/.org.chromium.Chromium.xxxxxx do get cleared. I will update this comment later to confirm what triggers the clearing.

FYI, I am using
Electron v14.0.1 / Chromium v93.0.4577.63 / Node v14.17.0
Element version: 1.8.5 / Olm version: 3.2.3

[PF4Public]

@kittykat Did you find the trigger?

I've just rebuilt element from develop and the issue still persists.
BTW, I'm using electron-13.5.0

Version von Element: 1.9.0
Version von Olm: 3.2.3

[kittykat]

@PF4Public They clear with time for me. The files that were added on Friday when I used Element were still there yesterday and are gone today.

Please try with a newer Electron and I will try with a newer Element, but I suspect this may be a platform or setup issue rather than a bug in Element.

[PF4Public]

@PF4Public They clear with time for me.

but I suspect this may be a platform or setup issue rather than a bug in Element

If some script on your platform is clearing leftovers of Element (by cleaning /tmp or something like that) it does not automatically fix a bug in Element. Why does vscode with the same version of Electron not leave unpacked modules behind, even though it does use native modules?

Like I've already stated:

This makes it clear, that it definitely has something to do with how element handles (packages) native modules.

[PF4Public]

Just FYI
I've rebuilt element with electron-16:

# ps ax | grep element
13968 ?        SLsl   0:18 /usr/lib64/electron-16/electron --enable-crashpad /usr/lib64/element-desktop/app.asar

And as expected element still leaves two binaries in /tmp upon exit because those binaries are still packed into app.asar:

 * Searching for element-desktop ...
 * Contents of net-im/element-desktop-9999:
/usr
/usr/lib64
/usr/lib64/element-desktop
/usr/lib64/element-desktop/app.asar
/usr/lib64/element-desktop/img
/usr/lib64/element-desktop/img/element.ico
/usr/lib64/element-desktop/img/element.png
/usr/lib64/element-desktop/webapp -> ../../share/element-web
/usr/share
/usr/share/applications
/usr/share/applications/electron-16-element-desktop.desktop

[G2G2G2G]

ty electron (I use arch btw)

[PF4Public]

Still the same with electron-18

[G2G2G2G]

I mounted /tmp to a ramfs and bought another stick of ram just for element

[PF4Public]

Enough! I've submitted a PR.

@G2G2G2G it would be awesome if you could try building that PR and testing whether it solves the issue.

PS: It does for me. I no longer see those files.

[G2G2G2G]

I build this https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/element-desktop-nightly-bin I avoid electron & npm like the plague. (the dev packages)
IDK where to add your thing, I see it's just 1 line..
nothing is in the build dir, I think cuz this AUR uses the .deb package

I believe in your pull request though

[PF4Public]

I think cuz this AUR uses the .deb package

Yep, with pre-built packages you have to wait for the next release.

[G2G2G2G]

yea been watching it past week, looks great