Buildpack builds for Node cloudevents template fail on second run if no node_modules exist

[jramcast]

We are experiencing this problem with Node.js functions generated from the cloudevents template.

The kn func build command generates a working Node.js image in the first execution. However, in subsequent executions, the build command generates a failing image. When we run the second image with kn func run, we get this error:

Function started on port 8080
⛔ Error: Cannot find module 'cloudevents'
Require stack:
- /workspace/index.js
- /layers/paketo-buildpacks_npm-install/launch-modules/node_modules/faas-js-runtime/bin/cli.js

We also noticed that this problem only happens if we have not previously run npm ci locally, meaning that the node_modules dir does not exist.
In this case, the output of the 2nd time we run kn func build -v got our attention, specially those cached layers:

Paketo NPM Install Buildpack 0.10.1
  Resolving installation process
    Process inputs:
      node_modules      -> "Not found"
      npm-cache         -> "Not found"
      package-lock.json -> "Found"

    Selected NPM build process: 'npm ci'

  Reusing cached layer /layers/paketo-buildpacks_npm-install/build-modules
  Reusing cached layer /layers/paketo-buildpacks_npm-install/launch-modules

However, if we run npm ci before running kn func build, then the selected NPM build process changes to npm rebuild and the generated image works.

Versions

• OpenShift Serverless: 1.23
• kn: v1.2.0
• kn func: v0.24.0

Steps to reproduce

• kn func create -l node -t cloudevents foo
• kn func build -p foo
• kn func run -p foo // Works fine
• Modify index.js
• kn func build -p foo
• kn func run -p foo // Fails

[matejvasek]

/cc @lance

[lance]

This appears to be an issue with the Paketo Node.js builder. I don't know exactly what the problem is at the moment, but I have been able to reproduce it with the following steps.

kn func create -l node -t cloudevents foo
cd foo
pack build --builder gcr.io/paketo-buildpacks/builder:base quay.io/lanceball/foo
docker run --rm -it -p 8080:8080 quay.io/lanceball/foo # works fine
# Modify index.js
pack build --builder gcr.io/paketo-buildpacks/builder:base quay.io/lanceball/foo
docker run --rm -it -p 8080:8080 quay.io/lanceball/foo # Fails with the same error noted above using func

I will keep poking around.

[lance]

I have now reproduced the issue without using func at all. Here is the project

package.json

{
  "name": "bar",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node index.js",
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
  },
  "keywords": [],
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "dependencies": {
    "cloudevents": "^6.0.2"
  }
}

index.js

var http = require('http');
const { CloudEvent } = require('cloudevents');

//create a server object:
http.createServer(function (req, res) {
  res.write('Hello World!');
  res.end();
}).listen(8080);

Create these two files in a directory and run the following steps.

pack build --builder gcr.io/paketo-buildpacks/builder:base quay.io/lanceball/bar
docker run --rm -it -p 8080:8080 quay.io/lanceball/bar # works fine
# Modify index.js
pack build --builder gcr.io/paketo-buildpacks/builder:base quay.io/lanceball/bar
docker run --rm -it -p 8080:8080 quay.io/lanceball/bar # Fails with the same error noted above

[lance]

@jramcast thanks for reporting this issue. I have dug into it a bit and determined that the root cause is a bug in the paketo npm-install buildpack, and have opened an issue there. In the meantime, it seems that the bug only occurs when there is no node_modules folder locally. Perhaps for the time being, you can include an npm ci in your local workflow. Sorry about the inconvenience.

[jramcast]

@lance thanks for the quick response. Yes, installing the dependencies fixed the issue for us.

[salaboy]

@jramcast @lance can we close this issue now ?

[lance]

@salaboy I'd like to keep it open to track as a known issue until the paketobuildpacks/npm-install buildpack provides a fix.

[lance]

A PR has been submitted for a fix of this today paketo-buildpacks/npm-install#393

[lance]

The latest release of the Node.js buildpack from Paketo contains a fix for this. Closing. https://github.com/paketo-buildpacks/nodejs/releases/tag/v0.23.0