Amazon Elastic Beanstalk node and npm non-standard install locations

Question

Amazon Beanstalk installs node and npm into really obscure places - and I'm not sure they won't change if EB decides to use a newer version of node, which would cause my application to break.

These are the locations for node and npm:

/opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-v0.8.24-linux-x64/bin/node
/opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-v0.8.24-linux-x64/bin/npm

I'm worried about the 0.8.24 part changing and I'd rather not grep for things in cron or monit scripts when trying to find something that is normally just /usr/bin/XXX.

how do I get a consistent filepath for these executables? and why does EB do this?

for reference, I tried setting the NodeVersion option in an .ebextensions/app.config, it had no effect on the install location.

I'm assuming those locations aren't in PATH? – Timothy Strimple Aug 13 '13 at 16:33 — Timothy Strimple, Aug 13 '13 at 16:33
yes, that is correct, they are not – dubeegee Aug 14 '13 at 08:21 — dubeegee, Aug 14 '13 at 08:21

score 62 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 25 '13 at 17:09

62

You can add the most recent node and npm binaries to $PATH with a command like this:

PATH=$PATH:`ls -td /opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-* | head -1`/bin

I couldn't figure out how to prevent beanstalk commands from resetting the $PATH back again.

If you are so inclined you can probably create a symlink with a command similar to the above and use that as your reference point in cron scripts etc.

Agreed, it is very very annoying.

answered Sep 25 '13 at 17:09

Peter Johnson

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14

1

Or just use the `$NODE_HOME` environment variable as suggested in dorianm's answer – spuder Feb 12 '18 at 22:27
sudo ln -sf `ls -td /opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-* | head -1`/bin/node /bin/node – Adiii Feb 21 '19 at 06:57

asaf am · Answer 2 · 2015-08-17T12:54:04.017

31

Following Peter Johnson & Greg Tatum replies I created a symlink to the latest node executable:

container_commands:
  01_node_binary:
    command: "ln -sf `ls -td /opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-* | head -1`/bin/node /bin/node"

I find the latest version of the node install binary
Out of it I create a symlink in the /bin directory (which is part of the $PATH)

edited Aug 17 '15 at 12:54

answered Jul 26 '15 at 13:13

asaf am

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This script will fail next time when the app is deployed – h-kippo Aug 17 '15 at 12:33
3

Thanks @h-kippo I updated it so it forcefully creates the symlink if it already exists (if this was the problem) – asaf am Aug 17 '15 at 12:55
2

To clarify, this should go in a file like `.ebextensions/nodepath.config`, right? – Eric Aug 02 '16 at 14:57

score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 06 '16 at 20:32

11

We had a similar issue with "node not found", trying to run node in container commands. After running ps aux on the EC2 instance we saw that EB has access to the $NODE_HOME env var:

su -s /bin/sh -c PATH=$PATH:$NODE_HOME/bin $EB_NODE_COMMAND 2>&1 nodejs

This can be used in .ebextensions, e.g.:

container_commands:
  your_node_script:
    command: 'env PATH="$PATH:$NODE_HOME/bin" ./bin/your_node_script'

(thanks to Alan Grow)

answered Oct 06 '16 at 20:32

dorianm

253
2
7

This seems more robust than the accepted answer in that it uses the node version setting rather than just picking the most recently installed version (or whatever arbitrary sort order) – pscl Oct 03 '17 at 23:08
1

`command: 'env PATH="$PATH:$NODE_HOME/bin" sh -c 'npm run build'` works fine. thanks – mpyw Aug 03 '18 at 08:23
1

This does not look like it works for me, as NODE_HOME seems to not be set :( – Pherrymason Aug 28 '18 at 13:52

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered May 07 '15 at 17:01

3

I created the file /.ebextensions/node.config in my project folder to declare my node version and add symlinks to the /bin folder. More information about the .ebextensions folder can be found here: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticbeanstalk/latest/dg/customize-containers-ec2.html

option_settings:
  - option_name: NodeVersion
    value: 0.12.2
files:
  "/bin/node" :
    mode: "755755"
    content: "/opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-v0.12.2-linux-x64/bin/node"
  "/bin/npm" :
    mode: "755755"
    content: "/opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-v0.12.2-linux-x64/bin/npm"

answered May 07 '15 at 17:01

Greg Tatum

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This does allow me to run npm and node from any path when I've ssh'ed into my eb instance, but for some reason the command will never "take" an argument. For example, `npm install` results in just listing all the possible options for npm. – ariestav Mar 31 '16 at 22:08
2

That's because these are evaluated as shell scripts, not symlinks. Try `mode: "100755"` instead. – CherryDT Nov 09 '16 at 17:52
According to the latest docs you have to start with "120xxx" to create a symlink: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/elasticbeanstalk/latest/dg/customize-containers-ec2.html – GoGoris Feb 08 '19 at 09:20

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 06 '18 at 13:30

1

Amazon Elastic Beanstalk

Grand the access to node command

sudo su
vipw
nodejs:x:496:494::/tmp:/bin/bash (":wq" to save changes)
sudo su nodejs
PATH=$PATH:ls -td /opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-* | head -1/bin
node -v (enjoy :)

answered Feb 06 '18 at 13:30

Fupslot

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Stack overflow isn't rendering the back ticks, which are required, (see Peter Johnsons answer) – spuder Feb 12 '18 at 22:22

Amazon Elastic Beanstalk node and npm non-standard install locations

5 Answers5

Amazon Elastic Beanstalk

Grand the access to node command

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