Node.JS: execFile ENOENT

Question

I've tried to execute *.exe file, but got:

exec error: { Error: spawn ${__dirname}/install.exe ENOENT

Code:

var execFile = require('child_process').execFile
execFile('${__dirname}/install.exe', function(error, stderr) {
   console.log('stderr: ', __dirname);
   if (error !== null) {
       console.log('exec error: ', error);
   }
  });

Also tried: '${__dirname}\\install.exe' , './install.exe' , 'D:\\install.exe'

Answer 1

@FelixKling has the right advice; variables don't work unless you create your string with back-ticks. Additionally, it's a good idea to use the path module to resolve file paths:

var path = require('path');
var execFile = require('child_process').execFile;

var exePath = path.resolve(__dirname, './install.exe');
execFile(exePath, function(error, stderr) {
   console.log('stderr: ', __dirname);
   if (error !== null) {
       console.log('exec error: ', error);
   }
});

Edit :

This is for your original question, about ENOENT ; for your second about UNKNOWN errors, the cause can vary. It sounds like it might be a permissions issue since the executable needs to elevate to administrator permissions.