[Linux] In-app update fails under the systemd service: openfox: not found (PATH)

[Folzo74]

Description

When OpenFox runs as a systemd service (installed via openfox service install), clicking Update in the UI fails with:

/bin/sh: 1: openfox: not found

The UI then suggests running openfox update manually in a terminal, which only works if that terminal's PATH contains ~/.local/bin (and nvm).

Reproduction

1. Install OpenFox with npm, Node managed by nvm.
2. openfox service install (creates a system user service, ExecStart=~/.local/bin/openfox).
3. Start the service and click Update in the UI.

Result: Update Failed with /bin/sh: 1: openfox: not found.

Root cause

The update endpoint runs spawn("openfox update", { shell: true }), inheriting the service's environment. A systemd service gets a minimal PATH that contains neither ~/.local/bin (where the launcher is installed by openfox install) nor the nvm node/npm directories, so openfox cannot be resolved.

There is a second failure behind the first: even if the launcher were found, openfox update runs npm install -g openfox@latest. The npm resolved from the service PATH is the system npm (node v22, global prefix /usr, not writable by the user), so the global install would fail with EACCES.

This is a self-inflicted defect: the app installs a service whose PATH cannot run the app's own update mechanism.

Observed workaround

A systemd drop-in prepending the launcher dir (and/or stable node/npm symlinks into ~/.local/bin) to the service PATH:

[Service]
Environment="PATH=/home/<user>/.local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/snap/bin"

followed by systemctl daemon-reload && systemctl restart openfox.

Proposed fix

The update mechanism should not depend on PATH:

• Spawn the update with the already-resolved executables, e.g. spawn(process.execPath, [process.argv[1], "update"]) — this is always the running node + the running CLI, regardless of PATH, and also guarantees npm resolves against the correct global prefix.
• Or: have openfox service install write an Environment="PATH=..." line into the generated unit that includes the launcher directory and the node/npm directory actually in use.

Environment

• OpenFox 2.0.101 (still present in 2.0.127)
• Linux + systemd, Node installed via nvm