Cannot get UID/GID

[robbyemmert]

I'm getting the following error using node-alpine:10.9.0.

It seems like lots of other people are also having similar issues on a variety of different node versions, but there is currently not an open issue (that I am aware of) representing this issue with recent examples.

For reference, please also see: #3

Here is the error I'm getting:

Error: could not get uid/gid
[ 'nobody', 0 ]

    at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/uid-number/uid-number.js:37:16
    at ChildProcess.exithandler (child_process.js:296:5)
    at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:182:13)
    at maybeClose (internal/child_process.js:961:16)
    at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:250:5)
TypeError: Cannot read property 'get' of undefined
    at errorHandler (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/utils/error-handler.js:205:18)
    at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js:76:20
    at cb (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/npm.js:228:22)
    at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/npm.js:266:24
    at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/config/core.js:83:7
    at Array.forEach (<anonymous>)
    at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/config/core.js:82:13
    at f (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/once/once.js:25:25)
    at afterExtras (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/config/core.js:173:20)
    at Conf.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/config/core.js:231:22)
/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/utils/error-handler.js:205
  if (npm.config.get('json')) {
                 ^

TypeError: Cannot read property 'get' of undefined
    at process.errorHandler (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/utils/error-handler.js:205:18)
    at process.emit (events.js:182:13)
    at process._fatalException (internal/bootstrap/node.js:472:27)

Here is my docker file for reference:

FROM node:10.9.0-alpine

WORKDIR /usr/src/app

# Install app dependencies
# A wildcard is used to ensure both package.json AND package-lock.json are copied
# where available (npm@5+)
COPY package*.json ./

# Install a bunch of junk I need
RUN apk --no-cache add --virtual native-deps g++ gcc libgcc libstdc++ linux-headers make python
# This is the line that fails
RUN npm install --quiet node-gyp -g
# I never make it to here
RUN npm install
RUN apk del native-deps

# If you are building your code for production
# RUN npm install --only=production

# Bundle app source
COPY . .

# Setup the app
RUN npm run build

EXPOSE 1337

CMD [ "npm", "start" ]

[superdevofficial]

Hi !

A workaround, you can add this line to your dockerfile, before invoke npm :
RUN npm config set unsafe-perm true

More details here :
#3

[knoxcard]

Which console are you running this code under: Windows, Windows Bash, or Linux?

[vovimayhem]

@knoxcard That would be Linux plain ol' SH (!# /bin/sh)

We're using Alpine Linux :)

[keblodev]

the issue is still happening.
And apparently it's somehow related to types of instances or their sizes, or location...
running from node:8.4.0-alpine

same exact docker file runs just fine on staging cluster in Taiwan.
but is failing with this error on prod cluster in another asian region.

wish there was at least any explanation to the issue from maintainers

[FewKinG]

npm depending on uid-number requiring using unsafe mode as a workaround for 4+ years, maintainers don't care to even explain. Don't wanna blame anyone (should probably try to fix it myself), but for an open source eco-system this is not a good sign.

[ajutzeler]

I am experiencing the same problem:
Depending on the docker host it works or it fails.

[phillycheeze]

See here for more reference on the issue if you're using the M5 instance types in AWS: https://bitbucket.org/site/master/issues/16846/npm-error-eacces-permission-denied

[isaacs]

This will be addressed in the next release (6.11.0) with better error handling and a more useful error message.

npm version 7 will abandon the "run scripts as nobody" approach entirely. It doesn't provide much security against realistic threat models, and just makes a lot of difficulty for folks.

From the 6.11.0 changelog:

• 8b43c9624
  nodejs/node#28987
  npm.community#6032
  npm.community#6658
  npm.community#6069
  npm.community#9323
  Fix the regression where random config values in a .npmrc file are not
  passed to lifecycle scripts, breaking build processes which rely on them.
  (@isaacs)

[isaacs]

Er, whoops! Wrong changelog entry. I mean this one:

• 769d2e057
  Better error on invalid --user/--group This addresses the issue when
  people fail to install binary packages on Docker and other environments
  where there is no 'nobody' user. (@isaacs)