How do I debug GitHub Actions matrix builds failing only on arm64?

[maryam1976mma-crypto]

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My workflow runs fine on ubuntu-latest (amd64) but fails on ubuntu-latest with runner: self-hosted arm64 for a Node.js app. Getting 'node: not found' despite setup-node step. Matrix config issue or runner setup?

[NotDizzyButFizzy]

Your self-hosted arm64 runner likely lacks Node.js ARM64 binaries in PATH, or setup-node downloads a corrupted/incompatible version (common ELF errors on arm64). Add architecture: 'arm64' explicitly to setup-node@v4 step, and debug with run: which node; node --version; ls -la $(which node) right after setup.

Quick Fixes:

Use uses: actions/setup-node@v4 with node-version: '20' (stable ARM support), architecture: 'arm64', cache: 'npm'

Verify runner: SSH in, run uname -m (should be aarch64), install Node manually via nvm or nodesource repo if needed

Matrix tweak: matrix: { runner: ['ubuntu-latest', 'self-hosted-arm64'] }, runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}

If ELF/corrupt: Pin older Node (18.x) or use hosted ubuntu-24.04 arm64 preview runners instead

Runner logs + env: NODE_DEBUG: 'all' in step will pinpoint PATH/PATH issues.