[Windows] `npm run develop` terminates at "Building development bundle" via WSL + Ubuntu

Community
1

Hi! I’m trying to set up layer5 locally on Windows 11 (16GB RAM) to test a UI fix, but keep hitting a wall.

Environment:

  • Windows 11, 16GB RAM
  • WSL2 + Ubuntu
  • Node v18.20.8, npm 10.8.2

What I tried:

  1. Running npm run develop directly on Windows (PowerShell) — process froze silently with BUILD_FULL_SITE=true
  2. Switched to WSL + Ubuntu, copied project to /mnt/c/Users/Owner/layer5, ran sudo npm install --ignore-scripts=false --foreground-scripts to fix sharp Linux binary issues
  3. Ran sudo npm run develop — build progressed all the way through source nodes, schema, createPages, image processing (1046 images), extract queries — then got Terminated right at Building development bundle

Final error:

success Running gatsby-plugin-sharp.IMAGE_PROCESSING jobs - 115.991s - 1046/1046
⠴ Building development bundle
Terminated

Running from /mnt/c/ (Windows filesystem via WSL) seems to be the issue — it’s slow and unstable for the final webpack bundle step. Copying to WSL native filesystem (~/layer5) via rsync or cp also caused issues.

Has anyone successfully set up layer5 on Windows? Is there a recommended approach for WSL + Ubuntu? Any help appreciated!

2

Don’t build the full site. The point of the option to build subsections is exactly to help contributor’s whose machine resources are being wholly consumed.

3

Hi @extra_fair_10 , you can directly build the lite version of the site first.

Also, try using the Ubuntu terminal for better ease of use. Even if you encounter memory issues, I’d suggest switching completely to Linux because WSL + Windows splits your RAM (for example, 8 GB for Windows and 8 GB for WSL), which limits the system’s performance.

But before that, try building the lite version of the site. The command is mentioned in the “README.md”.