The Google App Engine Runtime could not be extracted

Error

The Google App Engine Runtime could not be extracted (perhaps
you are running the Launcher from the dmg? If so, drag copy the Launcher
to your local disk first.) GoogleAppEngineLauncher.app may not work correctly.

I got hit by this error today, as I was trying to install Google App Engine on my iMac.

I found the solution here.

Their explanation is this:

I tracked it to the stage that it couldn’t extract /Applications/GoogleAppEngineLauncher.app/Contents/Resources/GoogleAppEngine- default.bundle/Contents/Resources/google_appengine.zip since that lowest Resources directory was owned by root. Unzipping it as root by hand didn’t work either – but – changing the Resources dir (again – the lowest level one here) to give all users write access solved the issue for me. A hack, but at least I can work today ;)

It seems to me that it’s just a permissions problem. So it’s not too much of a hack to simply give yourself permission to do it :)

As easy as Macs are supposed to be, I find myself doing this kind of procedure quite often. Here’s what you do:

First, make sure GAE is copied to the Applications folder.

Right-click the icon and choose Show Package Contents.

Open Contents and then Resources. Right-click GoogleAppEngine-default.bundle and choose Show Package Contents. Open Contents. Right-click Resources and choose Get Info.

Click the lock at the bottom right and enter your admin password. Change it so that you have Read & Write access.

Re-run GAE!