Mix local.hex does nothing, can't install or run phx.new

ericwilhite · January 23, 2020, 8:56pm

I installed Elixir + Erlang on a fresh Windows 10 machine.

When I run mix local.hex I get absolutely no feedback.

Following the rest of the Phoenix install info like grabbing phx_new fails I’m assuming because mix local.hex is failing.

Any ideas as to what’s happening? I’m stumped. Adding a screenshot below to show elixir -v and mix -v along with the no feedback commands I ran.

(As NobbZ pointed out I also ran the wrong command for phoenix… phx_new vs phx.new. But the primary issue of mix local.hex failing is still the root of it all I think)

NobbZ · January 23, 2020, 9:13pm

mix local.hex should print some output and ask you something like “are you sure you want to install URL”. Please try mix local.hex --force instead.

mix archive.install has a --force option as well.

Another thing is, the mix task to create a new phoenix project is phx.new, not phx_new (a dot, not an underscore) so the command you’d need to run is mix phx.new.

Ans as you are on windows… Please check your firewall…

ericwilhite · January 23, 2020, 9:22pm

I gave the --force flag a try and got the same result. No output at all.

I tried CMD & Powershell, in regular and Admin mode, and I completely disabled the firewall settings for Windows Defender to test that out.

I have even done a total uninstall and reinstall of elixir + erlang now to see if that would solve it. But no change.

NobbZ · January 23, 2020, 9:35pm

After you ran those commands, regardless of their output, did mix phx.new hello suceed?

ericwilhite · January 23, 2020, 9:36pm

It does not.

The task “phx.new” could not be found.

jdtig · January 7, 2022, 1:43am

For anyone like me who arrived here googling this problem:

This is apparently a Windows issue with Erlang 22/23 that is fixed in 24. See Jose’s comments here: mix local.hex does nothing in Windows · Issue #9987 · elixir-lang/elixir · GitHub

I couldn’t get the Windows Elixir installer to update from 22. However, I ran “choco install elixir” from Powershell (as admin), which pulled in the latest Erlang.

After that, I could run “mix local.hex” and continue with setting up Phoenix.