Can't install with NPM (Workaround: use yarn instead)

[U5B]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

OS/Web Information

• OS: Ubuntu
• code-server --version: 4.4.0
  Running on Raspberry Pi 4 on Ubuntu 20.10

Steps to Reproduce

1. run command sudo npm i -g code-server
2. error appears when installing

Expected

code-server should install and NPM should not log any errors.

Actual

NPM gives an installation error.

Logs

npm ERR! code 1
npm ERR! path /usr/local/lib/node_modules/code-server/node_modules/argon2
npm ERR! command failed
npm ERR! command sh -c node-gyp rebuild
npm ERR! gyp info it worked if it ends with ok
npm ERR! gyp info using node-gyp@9.0.0
npm ERR! gyp info using node@16.15.0 | linux | arm
npm ERR! gyp info find Python using Python version 3.9.7 found at "/usr/bin/python3"
npm ERR! gyp info spawn /usr/bin/python3
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args [
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/gyp/gyp_main.py',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   'binding.gyp',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-f',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   'make',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-I',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/code-server/node_modules/argon2/build/config.gypi',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-I',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/addon.gypi',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-I',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '/root/.cache/node-gyp/16.15.0/include/node/common.gypi',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dlibrary=shared_library',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dvisibility=default',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dnode_root_dir=/root/.cache/node-gyp/16.15.0',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dnode_gyp_dir=/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dnode_lib_file=/root/.cache/node-gyp/16.15.0/<(target_arch)/node.lib',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dmodule_root_dir=/usr/local/lib/node_modules/code-server/node_modules/argon2',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Dnode_engine=v8',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '--depth=.',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '--no-parallel',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '--generator-output',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   'build',
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args   '-Goutput_dir=.'
npm ERR! gyp info spawn args ]
npm ERR! node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:936
npm ERR!   throw err;
npm ERR!   ^
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! Error: Cannot find module 'node-addon-api'
npm ERR! Require stack:
npm ERR! - /usr/local/lib/node_modules/code-server/node_modules/argon2/[eval]
npm ERR!     at Function.Module._resolveFilename (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:933:15)
npm ERR!     at Function.Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:778:27)
npm ERR!     at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1005:19)
npm ERR!     at require (node:internal/modules/cjs/helpers:102:18)
npm ERR!     at [eval]:1:1
npm ERR!     at Script.runInThisContext (node:vm:129:12)
npm ERR!     at Object.runInThisContext (node:vm:305:38)
npm ERR!     at node:internal/process/execution:76:19
npm ERR!     at [eval]-wrapper:6:22
npm ERR!     at evalScript (node:internal/process/execution:75:60) {
npm ERR!   code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
npm ERR!   requireStack: [
npm ERR!     '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/code-server/node_modules/argon2/[eval]'
npm ERR!   ]
npm ERR! }
npm ERR! gyp: Call to 'node -p "require('node-addon-api').include"' returned exit status 1 while in binding.gyp. while trying to load binding.gyp
npm ERR! gyp ERR! configure error 
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack Error: `gyp` failed with exit code: 1
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.onCpExit (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/lib/configure.js:261:16)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:527:28)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack     at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:291:12)
npm ERR! gyp ERR! System Linux 5.13.0-1025-raspi
npm ERR! gyp ERR! command "/usr/local/bin/node" "/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js" "rebuild"
npm ERR! gyp ERR! cwd /usr/local/lib/node_modules/code-server/node_modules/argon2
npm ERR! gyp ERR! node -v v16.15.0
npm ERR! gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v9.0.0
npm ERR! gyp ERR! not ok

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     /root/.npm/_logs/2022-05-06T21_41_52_086Z-debug-0.log

Screenshot/Video

No response

Does this issue happen in VS Code?

• I cannot reproduce this in VS Code.

Are you accessing code-server over HTTPS?

• I am using HTTPS.

Notes

Node Version: 16.15.0
NPM Version: 8.5.5
Running on a Raspberry Pi 4

[U5B]

Installing yarn via npm install -g yarn and running sudo yarn global add code-server works however.

[jsjoeio]

Interesting! I wonder why it works with yarn and not npm? Any ideas by chance @edvincent ?

[edvincent]

I wonder why it works with yarn and not npm

Because yarn doesn't respect ANY lockfiles when installing something globally (and anyway when running yarn publish, files like yarn.lock get deleted.

Why it started failing now is likely because of the Node 14 => 16 transition... And indirectly the fact that I completely forgot to finish #5071... Which partly was because we were trying to find a "perfect" solution...

I won't get around today, but let me update that PR by tomorrow with something to unblock, and maybe we can iterate through a better solution over PRs.

Maybe we should rename this current issue "Can't install with NPM" (with a workaround being "Use yarn") until then?

And a new PR linked to this issue would likely be part of the CI workflows doing an "npm install ARTIFACT" - to catch these?

[jsjoeio]

Ah right @edvincent! Haha no worries at all. There has certainly been a lot of back and forth. I'll keep an eye on your PR.

[whschultz]

I was able to get it to build on a Raspberry Pi 4 using the latest npm@^6. I had problems with npm@8.

[Atralupus]

I had the same problem, but I solved it using yarn too.

https://coder.com/docs/code-server/latest/install#raspberry-pi
Would you link this issue to the document above?🙏

[jsjoeio]

I think #5071 should resolve this.

PRs welcome to make any doc changes 🙏🏼

[Atralupus]

I think #5071 should resolve this.

PRs welcome to make any doc changes 🙏🏼

Thank you and I did request the PR