Node.js web service fails deploy because node modules are not installed

Question

It seems the deployment of my production app (with a pro instance) does not successfully complete the npm ci command, according to the following error logs :

[2022-02-09 15:17:46] => Building app
[2022-02-09 15:17:46] 
[2022-02-09 15:17:46] ---> Node.js Buildpack
[2022-02-09 15:17:46] ---> Installing toolbox
[2022-02-09 15:17:46] ---> - jq
[2022-02-09 15:17:47] ---> - yj
[2022-02-09 15:17:47] ---> Getting Node version
[2022-02-09 15:17:47] ---> Resolving Node version
[2022-02-09 15:17:50] ---> Downloading and extracting Node v16.13.2
[2022-02-09 15:18:05] ---> Parsing package.json
[2022-02-09 15:18:06] ---> No file to start server
[2022-02-09 15:18:06] ---> either use 'docker run' to start container or add index.js or server.js
[2022-02-09 15:18:06] Project contains package-lock.json, using npm
[2022-02-09 15:18:06] Using npm v8.1.2. To configure a different version of npm, set the engines.npm property in package.json.
[2022-02-09 15:18:06]   See https://do.co/apps-buildpack-node for further instructions.
[2022-02-09 15:18:06] Installing node_modules using npm (from package-lock.json)
[2022-02-09 15:18:07] Running npm ci
[2022-02-09 15:18:07] 
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] 
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] > nesspay-backend@0.1.0 postinstall
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] > patch-package
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] 
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] sh: 1: patch-package: not found
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm notice 
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm notice New minor version of npm available! 8.1.2 -> 8.4.1
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm notice Changelog: <https://github.com/npm/cli/releases/tag/v8.4.1>
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm notice Run `npm install -g npm@8.4.1` to update!
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm notice 
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm ERR! code 127
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm ERR! path /workspace
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm ERR! command failed
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm ERR! command sh -c patch-package
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] 
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] npm ERR!     /home/apps/.npm/_logs/2022-02-09T15_18_35_748Z-debug.log
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] 
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] unable to invoke layer creator
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] installing node_modules: exit status 127
[2022-02-09 15:18:35] ERROR: failed to build: exit status 1

It is super weird as I have the exact same configuration except for the type of database and instance size for a testing environment, which does not have this install node modules issue.

Bobby · Answer

Hi there,

The error log you provided indicates that the patch-package command is not found during the postinstall script execution in your package.json. This typically happens when patch-package is not installed or not correctly referenced in your dependencies.

Here are steps to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

Make sure that patch-package is listed in your package.json under dependencies or devDependencies. It should look something like this:
```
"dependencies": {
  "patch-package": "^6.4.7"
}
```
If you have an .npmrc file in your project, make sure it’s not configured in a way that would prevent the installation of patch-package.
Sometimes, old build caches can cause issues. You can try redeploying with a cleared build cache on the DigitalOcean App Platform to ensure that it’s not a caching issue.
Your postinstall script in package.json should correctly invoke patch-package. It typically looks like this:
```
"scripts": {
  "postinstall": "patch-package"
}
```
Try running npm ci locally in your project directory to see if the postinstall script executes successfully. If it fails locally as well, then there’s likely an issue with how your project is configured.
Ensure that the Node.js version and npm version are consistent between your local environment, testing environment, and production environment. Use the engines field in package.json to specify the Node.js version:
```
"engines": {
  "node": "18.x"
}
```

Since you mentioned that a testing environment works fine, compare the configuration and package.json of both environments to spot any discrepancies. And also review the full deployment logs to check if there are any other errors or warnings that might provide more context about the issue.

Best,

Bobby

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Node.js web service fails deploy because node modules are not installed

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