Codex CLI npm self-update hangs on NFS because old running binary remains as `.nfs*`
Open 💬 0 comments Opened Jun 5, 2026 by ronin-gw
What version of Codex CLI is running?
0.137.0
What subscription do you have?
Pro
Which model were you using?
N/A. This happens during CLI startup/update flow, before model use.
What platform is your computer?
Linux 6.12.0-124.55.1.el10_1.x86_64 x86_64 unknown (RockyLinux10)
What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?
iTerm2 & tmux
Codex doctor report
{
"schemaVersion": 1,
"generatedAt": "1780648144s since unix epoch",
"overallStatus": "ok",
"codexVersion": "0.137.0",
"checks": {
"app_server.status": {
"id": "app_server.status",
"category": "app-server",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "background server is not running",
"details": {
"control socket": "/home/andy/.codex/app-server-control/app-server-control.sock",
"daemon state dir": "/home/andy/.codex/app-server-daemon",
"mode": "ephemeral",
"pid file": "/home/andy/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server.pid (missing)",
"settings": "/home/andy/.codex/app-server-daemon/settings.json (missing)",
"status": "not running",
"update-loop pid file": "/home/andy/.codex/app-server-daemon/app-server-updater.pid (missing)"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"auth.credentials": {
"id": "auth.credentials",
"category": "auth",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "auth is configured",
"details": {
"auth file": "/home/andy/.codex/auth.json",
"auth storage mode": "File",
"stored API key": "false",
"stored ChatGPT tokens": "true",
"stored agent identity": "false",
"stored auth mode": "chatgpt"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"config.load": {
"id": "config.load",
"category": "config",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "config loaded",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "/home/andy/.codex",
"config.toml": "/home/andy/.codex/config.toml",
"config.toml parse": "ok",
"cwd": "/home/andy",
"enabled feature flags": "shell_tool, unified_exec, shell_snapshot, terminal_resize_reflow, sqlite, hooks, enable_request_compression, multi_agent, apps, tool_suggest, plugins, in_app_browser, browser_use, browser_use_external, computer_use, plugin_sharing, image_generation, skill_mcp_dependency_install, steer, guardian_approval, goals, collaboration_modes, tool_call_mcp_elicitation, personality, fast_mode, tui_app_server, workspace_dependencies",
"feature flag overrides": "none",
"feature flags enabled": "27",
"legacy feature flag": "collab -> multi_agent",
"log dir": "/home/andy/.codex/log",
"mcp servers": "0",
"model": "gpt-5.5",
"model provider": "openai",
"sqlite home": "/home/andy/.codex"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"git.environment": {
"id": "git.environment",
"category": "git",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "git version 2.47.3",
"details": {
"PATH git #1": "/usr/bin/git",
"PATH git entries": "1",
"git build options": "git version 2.47.3; cpu: x86_64; no commit associated with this build; sizeof-long: 8; sizeof-size_t: 8; shell-path: /bin/sh; libcurl: 8.12.1; OpenSSL: OpenSSL 3.5.1 1 Jul 2025; zlib: 1.3.1.zlib-ng",
"git exec path": "/usr/libexec/git-core",
"git version": "git version 2.47.3",
"repo detected": "false",
"selected git": "/usr/bin/git"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 12
},
"installation": {
"id": "installation",
"category": "install",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "installation looks consistent",
"details": {
"PATH codex #1": "/home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/bin/codex",
"current executable": "/home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
"install context": "npm (package /home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
"managed by bun": "false",
"managed by npm": "true",
"managed package root": "/home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
"npm update target": "/home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 460
},
"mcp.config": {
"id": "mcp.config",
"category": "mcp",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "no MCP servers configured",
"details": {},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"network.env": {
"id": "network.env",
"category": "network",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "network-related environment looks readable",
"details": {
"proxy env vars": "none"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"network.provider_reachability": {
"id": "network.provider_reachability",
"category": "reachability",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "active provider endpoints are reachable over HTTP",
"details": {
"ChatGPT base URL": "https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/ reachable (HTTP 403)",
"reachability mode": "ChatGPT auth"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 62
},
"network.websocket_reachability": {
"id": "network.websocket_reachability",
"category": "websocket",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "Responses WebSocket handshake succeeded",
"details": {
"DNS": "2 IPv4, 2 IPv6, first IPv4",
"auth mode": "chatgpt",
"connect timeout": "15000 ms",
"endpoint": "wss://chatgpt.com/backend-api/<redacted>",
"handshake result": "HTTP 101 Switching Protocols",
"model provider": "openai",
"models etag present": "true",
"provider name": "OpenAI",
"proxy env vars": "none",
"reasoning header": "false",
"server model present": "false",
"supports websockets": "true",
"wire API": "responses"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 578
},
"runtime.provenance": {
"id": "runtime.provenance",
"category": "runtime",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "running npm on linux-x86_64",
"details": {
"commit": "unknown",
"current executable": "/home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/codex",
"install method": "npm (package /home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl, bin /home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin, resources /home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-resources, path /home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path)",
"platform": "linux-x86_64",
"version": "0.137.0"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"runtime.search": {
"id": "runtime.search",
"category": "search",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "search is OK (bundled)",
"details": {
"search command": "/home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/codex-path/rg",
"search command readiness": "file exists",
"search provider": "bundled"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"sandbox.helpers": {
"id": "sandbox.helpers",
"category": "sandbox",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "sandbox configuration is readable",
"details": {
"approval policy": "OnRequest",
"codex-linux-sandbox helper": "/home/andy/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0nuAMbL/codex-linux-sandbox",
"execve wrapper helper": "/home/andy/.codex/tmp/arg0/codex-arg0nuAMbL/codex-execve-wrapper",
"filesystem sandbox": "restricted",
"network sandbox": "restricted"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"state.paths": {
"id": "state.paths",
"category": "state",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "state paths and databases are inspectable",
"details": {
"CODEX_HOME": "/home/andy/.codex (dir)",
"active rollout files": "82 files, 114184411 total bytes, 1392492 average bytes",
"archived rollout files": "0 files, 0 total bytes, 0 average bytes",
"goals DB": "/home/andy/.codex/goals_1.sqlite (file)",
"goals DB integrity": "ok",
"log DB": "/home/andy/.codex/logs_2.sqlite (file)",
"log DB integrity": "ok",
"log dir": "/home/andy/.codex/log (dir)",
"memories DB": "/home/andy/.codex/memories_1.sqlite (file)",
"memories DB integrity": "ok",
"sqlite home": "/home/andy/.codex (dir)",
"state DB": "/home/andy/.codex/state_5.sqlite (file)",
"state DB integrity": "ok"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 689
},
"state.rollout_db_parity": {
"id": "state.rollout_db_parity",
"category": "threads",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "rollout files and state DB thread inventory agree",
"details": {
"default model provider": "openai",
"rollout DB active files": "82",
"rollout DB active rows": "82",
"rollout DB archive mismatches": "0",
"rollout DB archived files": "0",
"rollout DB archived rows": "0",
"rollout DB duplicate DB paths": "0",
"rollout DB duplicate rollout thread ids": "0",
"rollout DB malformed file names": "0",
"rollout DB missing active rows": "0",
"rollout DB missing archived rows": "0",
"rollout DB model providers": "openai=82",
"rollout DB rows": "82",
"rollout DB scan cap reached": "false",
"rollout DB scan errors": "0",
"rollout DB sources": "cli=82",
"rollout DB stale rows": "0"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 9581
},
"system.environment": {
"id": "system.environment",
"category": "system",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "OS language en-US",
"details": {
"LANG": "en_US.UTF-8",
"os": "Rocky Linux 10.1.0 [64-bit]",
"os language": "en-US",
"os type": "Rocky Linux",
"os version": "10.1.0"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 2
},
"terminal.env": {
"id": "terminal.env",
"category": "terminal",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "terminal metadata was detected",
"details": {
"SSH_CLIENT": "present",
"SSH_CONNECTION": "present",
"SSH_TTY": "present",
"TERM": "xterm-256color",
"color output": "enabled",
"effective locale": "en_US.UTF-8",
"multiplexer": "tmux next-3.4",
"stderr is terminal": "true",
"stdin is terminal": "true",
"stdout is terminal": "true",
"terminal": "unknown",
"terminal size": "158x72",
"tmux allow-passthrough": "off",
"tmux client termname": "xterm-256color",
"tmux extended-keys": "off",
"tmux focus-events": "off",
"tmux set-clipboard": "external",
"tmux xterm-keys": "on"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 14
},
"terminal.title": {
"id": "terminal.title",
"category": "title",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "terminal title default",
"details": {
"terminal title activity": "true",
"terminal title items": "activity, project-name",
"terminal title project source": "cwd",
"terminal title project value": "andy",
"terminal title source": "default"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 0
},
"updates.status": {
"id": "updates.status",
"category": "updates",
"status": "ok",
"summary": "update configuration is locally consistent",
"details": {
"cached latest version": "0.137.0",
"check for update on startup": "true",
"last checked at": "2026-06-05T04:21:53.415885169Z",
"latest version": "0.137.0",
"latest version status": "current version is not older",
"npm update target": "/home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/codex",
"update action": "npm install -g @openai/codex",
"version cache": "/home/andy/.codex/version.json"
},
"remediation": null,
"durationMs": 308
}
}
}What issue are you seeing?
When launching Codex CLI, it detects an available update and runs npm install -g @openai/codex, the update appears to hang around this npm progress line:
reify:@openai/codex-linux-x64: http fetch GET 200 https://registry.npmjs.org/@openai/codex/-/codex-0.137.0-linux-x64.tgz ...Investigation suggests the download is not the real hang. The npm debug log shows the package download and unpack/build steps completed:
http fetch GET 200 https://registry.npmjs.org/@openai/codex/-/codex-0.137.0-linux-x64.tgz 2956ms (cache miss)
timing reifyNode:node_modules/@openai/codex/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64 Completed in 2963ms
timing reify:unpack Completed in 2964ms
timing reify:build Completed in 3msHowever, the npm process remains running and never reaches verbose exit 0.
The machine has $HOME on NFSv4 like:
/home/andy nfs-sever.local:/home/andy nfs4 ...The old running Codex binary is renamed by NFS into a .nfs* file while npm is trying to replace/remove it:
/home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/lib/node_modules/@openai/.codex-u8recAzF/node_modules/@openai/codex-linux-x64/vendor/x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/bin/.nfs0000004d856938e8000000b9lsof confirms that the parent Codex process is still executing that .nfs* file:
COMMAND PID FD TYPE NAME
codex 2707460 txt REG .../bin/.nfs0000004d856938e8000000b9Process tree at the time:
node /home/andy/.nvm/versions/node/v16.20.2/bin/codex
└─ codex
└─ npm install @openai/codexSo this looks like a self-update deadlock/cleanup hang on NFS: Codex starts npm to replace itself, npm retires/removes the old package, but the old executable is still held open by the running Codex process, causing NFS to preserve it as .nfs* and npm never finishes cleanup.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Install Codex CLI via npm under an NFS-mounted home directory, for example with nvm:
npm install -g @openai/codex- Ensure the global npm prefix is on NFS:
npm config get prefix
findmnt -T "$(npm config get prefix)"- Start Codex from that npm-installed path:
codex- When Codex detects an update, allow it to run:
npm install -g @openai/codex- Observe that the update can remain stuck even after the tarball fetch and build complete.
- In another shell, inspect:
ps -eo pid,ppid,stat,etime,wchan:32,cmd | grep -E 'codex|npm install'
find ~/.nvm -name '.nfs*' -ls
lsof -p <old-codex-pid>What is the expected behavior?
Codex should not leave npm stuck while updating itself.
Possible expected behaviors:
- Detect that the npm global install path is on NFS and warn the user to update outside the running Codex process.
- Do not self-update in-process when the currently running executable is inside the npm package being replaced.
- Spawn an external updater that waits for the old Codex process to exit before running npm cleanup.
- Prefer a two-phase update flow: download/install new version, exit old process, then complete replacement.
- At minimum, show a clear message explaining that NFS/self-update cleanup is blocked by the still-running old Codex executable.
Additional information
This appears to be a general self-update problem, not a network fetch problem. The misleading visible progress line is the tarball fetch, but the npm log shows that fetch/unpack/build completed.
The key NFS-specific symptom is the .nfs* file. On NFS, deleting an open file causes the client/server to keep a temporary .nfs... name until the last process closes it. Since the old Codex executable is still running, npm cannot fully remove the retired package tree.