Installing node modules in Openshift Python gear - node.js

I have a Python application in Openshift, with Python 3.3 and PostgreSQL cartridges. The Python cartridge is running Django 1.8, based off the template on the Website.
Recently, I started using Gulp to automate my build, and while it's worked great on my local machine, I can't figure out what to do to use it in Openshift. I have django-gulp installed so it just runs whenever I use runserver, but the Openshift server obviously doesn't have gulp or any plugins installed, so that won't do anything. I don't know how to install them on the server, though.
Including a package.json does nothing. I've tested it and it works fine if I go with a node cartridge, but I've got a Python one.
Since npm is on the server, I tried SSHing and running npm install manually, but it threw up a permission denied error.

So, after trying to work this out for a while, I've finally figured out a solution. This is a bit convoluted, but it does work:
Install your own Node and npm. The version included in Openshift is hopelessly outdated and doesn't really work. SSH into your server and install a local version in your dependencies folder. cd $OPENSHIFT_HOMEDIR/app_root/dependencies; wget https://nodejs.org/dist/v6.3.0/node-v6.3.0-linux-x64.tar.xz; tar xf node-v6.3.0-linux-x64.tar.xz; rm node-v6.3.0-linux-x64.tar.xz Install the dev version. DO NOT install the stable version as that'll burn through your inodes like nothing else.
Change your PATH to include the the new node version export PATH="$OPENSHIFT_HOMEDIR/app_root/dependencies/node_modules/.bin/:$OPENSHIFT_HOMEDIR/app_root/dependencies/node/bin/:$PATH" Environment variables get reset whenever you disconnect from the server. You can change them permanently with rhc env set, but as this is only used before deployment, I recommend sticking this in the /.openshift/action_hooks/pre_build.
You also need to change the NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG variable. export NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG=$OPENSHIFT_HOMEDIR/app-root/build-dependencies/.npmrc. Once again, I recommend doing this in the pre_build hook.
At this point, you can change the cache without getting a permission denied error. npm config set cache "$OPENSHIFT_HOMEDIR/app_root/dependencies/.npm
You can now finally use npm install! Install the packages you need. Use the --prefix flag to install to the node_modules folder.
However, to use gulp, you need to have a gulp module installed in the place you're calling from, so npm install gulp WITHOUT the prefix flag.
You can now call gulp! However, your gulpfile will not not find the modules unless you edit your gulpfile to link to the dependencies folder you have set up. So instead of require('gulp-cssnano'), you'd have require([OPENSHIFT_HOMEDIR]/app_root/dependencies/node_modules/gulp-cssnano). I keep a separate gulpfile for Openshift to maintain my sanity.
Call gulp with your new gulpfile in pre_build.

Related

How to run npm webpack vue project on both Windows and Mac?

I took a Vue 2 online course and it did show (but didn't really explain) how to install node.js, npm and vue. Currently using vue-cli to set up my project using vue init webpack-simple. Problem is I have a Windows desktop and a Mac laptop. I'm using Box cloud on both but I need to have 2 separate folders for the same project. Basically, project-1-windows and project-1-mac.
I can't run npm run dev on the project-1-mac while on Windows 10 and vice versa. The only way I know to run both is to delete the node_modules folder and run npm install. However it takes a while for the files to download. Is there an easier way to do this?
It looks like you want either GitHub/BitBucket/friends or (for much more complex set-ups) Docker.
I will explain only the first (easier) option. To set-up docker, you rather go to its docks.
So, for GitHub/BitBucket/friends way, you need some one-time set-up (you have to do all of this in terminal of your machine. I don't go too deep into details because you may find corresponding docks for each thing easily by googling it).
Install git if needed on both machines. On mac, you just run git --version in terminal. It'll either show the version of installed git or will ask if you want to install git together with other developer tools.
Install brew on Mac, install any of these on Windows. These are just package managers. Use them to install nvm.
Install nvm (it's node version manager, arguably the most convenient way to manage node.js installations) on both machines.
Use nvm to install node.js (npm comes bundled with it) on both machines. That's it! One-time set-up done. Run node -v && npm -v to check that both are installed.
Now, to start each project you would do the following:
Create a repo (which is like a folder but on GitHub/BitBucket server) that you may freely access from any device that has internet connection.
Start project on any of your machines with something like npm init or vue init webpack-simple or whatever you feel comfortable with.
Run git init
When you do changes, commit & push them into your online repo.
Avoid committing files that might be auto-regenerated, they simply don't worth storing.
You may use any npm commands.
When you want to continue working on another machine, simply git clone your existing repo, run npm install and you are done.
Commit changes if needed.
git pull changes to another device if needed

Installation of vue-cli : how does it work?

I'm very new to Node Package Manager and also Vue, and I'm trying to understand what exactly is going on with using the Vue CLI.
The vue.js website has this as instructions for running the official Vue CLI:
I have a few questions about this:
Does npm install --global vue-cli need to be executed only once on a machine, or once on a directory, or once per new project you're starting? In other words, once it's on your computer, is that the last time you need to run that command, or do you need to execute this command every single new project you start?
Once a new project is initiated, are local copies of the newest version of vue (and vue-router, if selected) installed?
If I finish this project and want to deploy it, how do I then port this over to a production server?
Once in a machine, except for the rare cases where one is isolating one's npm install (such as by using nodeenv or inside a container); that's what the global option is for.
After running npm install, yes.
Running npm run build and copying the contents of the resulting dist directory to the production machine (often within a /var/www directory or similar). This can be automated further in many ways.

Bower, Grunt on Ubuntu 12.04 - command not found

I've installed bower and grunt on my machine but non of it works. I get :command not found for both.
I've placed paths to bower and grunt in .bash_profile file, like:
export PATH="/home/user/.node/lib/node_modules/grunt-cli/bin:$PATH"
export PATH="/home/user/.node/lib/node_modules/bower/bin:$PATH"
It feels like packages are installed correctly but it can't be found.
Npm and node is located in home/user/.node and home/user/.npm directories is this is the right place for it?
which bower/grunt outputs nothing
Just had to remind myself of this one, to set up environment on a new machine.
As per http://gruntjs.com/getting-started, there are two steps required for installation and use of Grunt.js task runner on a given project:
You should globally install only 'grunt-cli', the Grunt Command Line Interface. This will put the grunt command on your system path. This is achieved by running npm install -g grunt-cli, which may require root privileges depending on your setup.
You should locally install the grunt task runner proper. This is achieved by running npm install, after adding the desired version of Grunt.js to your project's package.json file. This will install the specific version of Grunt.js described in your project's package.json, under the devDependencies section. This is the file used by nodejs to describe project development and deployment dependencies, among other stuff.
I managed to fix it by adding paths to .bashrc file, like:
PATH=$PATH:/home/user/.node/lib/node_modules/grunt-cli/bin
PATH=$PATH:/home/user/.node/lib/node_modules/bower
Reference

Installing npm modules in a VM shared directory and grunt issues

I'm trying to put together a development environment and npm is causing me problems. Here is my scenario:
I have a development machine running Windows and VMWare Player. I have a Ubuntu Server VM (no UI) which is configured with Apache, PHP, NodeJS etc. As the VM has no UI I want to use the host OS for development. I set up a shared directory which in the VM is accessed as /mnt/hgfs/source/<project name>.
The problem comes when I attempt to run npm install within this directory. I see a lot of errors like Error: UNKNOWN, symlink '../requirejs/bin/r.js'. I know that my package.json file is OK because if I copy all files out of the share and into a regular unix directory (/var/www/<project name>) npm install works fine. So npm has a problem installing modules in the shared directory.
I thought I could get around this by installing the node packages globally but, for whatever reason, the GruntJS enthusiasts don't like that and it must be present locally. I then tried to create an npm link from global to local but that just results in a new error: Error: May not delete: /usr/lib/node_modules/grunt. I have full permissions on the /usr/lib/node_modules directory and all sub-directories.
I really don't want to write the entire project using a command-line text editor in the VM but it looks like I cannot have my code-base in a directory available to both the host and guest OS through VMWare.
I would very much appreciate any suggestions on how to either 1) allow npm modules to be installed in my shared directory, 2) run Grunt globally, or 3) solve the npm link error I'm seeing.
EDIT: Shortly after posting this I realised the fundamental issue here - it's not possible to create symbolic links within a VM shared directory when the host OS is Windows. As npm install uses symlinks by default it didn't work, and this is why the accepted solution does work.
Try the following:
npm install --no-bin-links
Grunt should be local since the plugins and gruntfile.js may require a certain version of Grunt in order to run your tasks. If another developer would like to run your tasks, they could just issue an npm install and they are set. (See this for more info.) grunt-cli is global which is used to run the local version of grunt

yeoman permission issue with nodejs and angular

I am trying to start an angular web app with yeoman but I get permission issue when trying to install the new generator. I can bypass and install generator with sudo but then I get the permission errors when running
**yo** angular
I deduce its because its trying to access npm modules that are global which the current user doesnt have permissions for, and I cant run Yo with sudo. I have done a lot of google searches and they all involve some type of hack with the NODE_PATH in the .bashrc or moving the node modules to the home directory. Has anyone found a simple solution for this issue.
Below is my problem in screenshots:
yo installs fine
when i try to install the generator without sudo complains..
install with sudo passes.
then finally when I try to run yo angular it breaks.. I believe its because yo runs as user and I have installed everything with sudo privileges. How can I get past this?
The reason it breaks, I guess, is because the whole directory tree was created as super-user.
The hacks you mentioned about using NODE_PATH and the home directory are not hacks. They exist for this same very reason. To tell node where to look for packages. And .bashrc is the place where you are supposed to change this kind shell variables.
Say you added ~/.node_modules to you NODE_PATH, then you can install all "global" in there. You could also change the permissions on /usr/local. But on linux world that is not recommended.
I also strongly recommend in not using global install with npm. Using -g and npm link is handy when developing but you shouldn't count on them. You can introduce subtle bugs in your code when you forget to add a package on you package.json but it is installed globally.
Instead of installing it globally, you can find all the packages executable on ./node_modules/.bin/ directory.
But lets say you don't want to be typing ./node_modules/.bin/yo all the time, you could create an alias on your .bashrc.
alias yo="$PWD/node_modules/.bin/yo"
and it would work like expected, and if there is no yo package installed, you get an error.

Resources