PermissionError on Windows when running tests with AiiDA configuration

[SatyajitRedekar]

Describe the bug

When running tests on Windows, I encounter PermissionError and FileNotFoundError related to AiiDA's configuration file. This happens during the _atomic_write operation in aiida.manage.configuration.config.

Steps to reproduce

Set up a Python environment on Windows.

Install AiiDA and its dependencies.

Run tests using pytest tests/test_tasks.py -v.

Observe the following errors:

PermissionError: [WinError 32] The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

Expected behavior

Tests should run without file permission errors.

Actual Behavior

Tests fail with PermissionError and FileNotFoundError.

Environment

• Operating System: Windows 10/11

• Python Version: 3.12.0

• AiiDA Version: 2.x.x

• pytest Version: 7.4.4

Additional context

The issue occurs specifically on Windows due to file locking behavior.

Temporarily disabling antivirus or running as Administrator resolves the issue, but this is not a permanent fix.

A workaround is to patch the _atomic_write method, but this should be addressed in the core library.

Proposed Solution

Consider using a different file-writing strategy for Windows, such as os.replace instead of os.rename, or adding retry logic for file operations.

[khsrali]

Thanks @SatyajitRedekar for sharing the issue you are experiencing.

Consider using a different file-writing strategy for Windows, such as os.replace instead of os.rename, or adding retry logic for file operations.

As far as I know we don't support Windows, officially.
However, usually Windows fans open PRs to make AiiDA compatible with it. see here for example: #6715

If it doesn't go in opposite direction of our development, we usually accept and merge.
If you already have a solution you may open a PR on it so that we could have a look and review it.

P.S. I'm removing bug label, and replace with feature requests.