Android Package Build Fails with "Exit Status 255 instead of 0. The user-provided path does not exist"

Error Example

> Shell command exited with exit status 255 instead of 0. 
> The user-provided path platforms/android/build/outputs/apk/release/android-release.apk does not exist.

> Shell command exited with exit status 255 instead of 0. 
> The user-provided path platforms/android/build/outputs/apk/debug/android-debug.apk does not exist.

Root Cause

This is a generic error message thrown by the Android Package build process when there is another, more specific problem with building the application. This specific problem has caused the build process to fail at some point, preventing the Android APK file (which is generated in a successful build) from being found.

Solution

There is not a single solution for this error because the error message is generic and can be caused by a number of different issues. 

The first step is to find the specific cause of the failure by scrolling up in the build log.

1. Locate the generic error message:

2. Scroll up in the build log and look for any more specific error messages or failures: