Bazelisk: error during the fetch of repository 'google_bazel_common'

I’m trying to build Closure-Compiler v20201006 using Bazelisk under Windows 7 x64.

I get the following error:

A:\Desktop\closure-compiler-20201006> ..\bazelisk build //:compiler_unshaded_deploy.jar
Loading:
Loading: 0 packages loaded
INFO: Call stack for the definition of repository 'google_bazel_common' which is a git_repository (rule definition at C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git.bzl:195:18):
 - <builtin>
 - A:/desktop/closure-compiler-20201006/WORKSPACE.bazel:5:1
ERROR: An error occurred during the fetch of repository 'google_bazel_common':
   Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git.bzl", line 177
                _clone_or_update(ctx)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git.bzl", line 36, in _clone_or_update
                git_repo(ctx, directory)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git_worker.bzl", line 91, in git_repo
                _update(ctx, git_repo)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git_worker.bzl", line 101, in _update
                init(ctx, git_repo)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git_worker.bzl", line 115, in init
                _error(ctx.name, cl, st.stderr)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git_worker.bzl", line 181, in _error
                fail(<1 more arguments>)
error running 'git init C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/google_bazel_common' while working with @google_bazel_common:
java.io.IOException: ERROR: src/main/native/windows/process.cc(199): CreateProcessW("git" init C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/google_bazel_common): The system cannot find the file specified.
 (error: 2)
ERROR: no such package '@google_bazel_common//': Traceback (most recent call last):
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git.bzl", line 177
                _clone_or_update(ctx)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git.bzl", line 36, in _clone_or_update
                git_repo(ctx, directory)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git_worker.bzl", line 91, in git_repo
                _update(ctx, git_repo)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git_worker.bzl", line 101, in _update
                init(ctx, git_repo)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git_worker.bzl", line 115, in init
                _error(ctx.name, cl, st.stderr)
        File "C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/bazel_tools/tools/build_defs/repo/git_worker.bzl", line 181, in _error
                fail(<1 more arguments>)
error running 'git init C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/google_bazel_common' while working with @google_bazel_common:
java.io.IOException: ERROR: src/main/native/windows/process.cc(199): CreateProcessW("git" init C:/users/administrator/_bazel_<user>/zflckzzj/external/google_bazel_common): The system cannot find the file specified.
 (error: 2)
INFO: Elapsed time: 0.542s
INFO: 0 processes.
FAILED: Build did NOT complete successfully (0 packages loaded)
FAILED: Build did NOT complete successfully (0 packages loaded)

I’m not certain who is to blame here. Is it Closure Compiler’s fault? Is it Bazelisk’s fault? Is it Bazel’s fault?

The output of bazelisk version is:

Bazelisk version: v1.7.4
Build label: 2.2.0
Build target: bazel-out/x64_windows-opt/bin/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/bazel/BazelServer_deploy.jar
Build time: Tue Mar 3 09:28:29 2020 (1583227709)
Build timestamp: 1583227709
Build timestamp as int: 1583227709

[Getfree]

I found a linux-compatible zip.exe here: http://stahlworks.com/dev/index.php?tool=zipunzip I added it to the PATH and now the build process completed successfully.

Where I work they use a custom version of Closure Compiler that was built from version 20190121. There are several bugs in that version that have been fixed in these two years, so I needed to rebuild that custom Closure Compiler using the latest version as a base.

Bottom line, the missing prerequisites are:

• Git
• MSYS2
• A zip command-line executable (compatible with the one in linux)

It will help others if you specify them in the build instructions. Thanks for your help.

[Getfree]

I remember I did open the project in vscode, but my debugging consisted of simple log lines to a text file. i.e. I didn’t use breakpoints, step by step or anything like that.