Fix failing node deployments on AWS Elastic Beanstalk

README.md

Fix failing node deployments on AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Elastic beanstalk runs npm install with a system user that has no homedir. During the npm install step, it's expecting a $HOME env variable for the npm cache (which doesn't exist). add this file to your project's .ebextensions directory to have it use root's homedir as a temporary path.

This workaround was provided by AWS support, but it doesn't appear to be documented anywhere. Determining root cause on this was a massive pain in the ass. Sharing this so others don't need to feel the pain.

fixnpm.config

files: 
  "/tmp/fixnpm.sh": 
      mode: "000755"
      owner: root
      group: root
      content: |
        #!/bin/bash
        
        FILE="/etc/hook-modified"
        
        if [ ! -f "$FILE" ]
        
        then
        sed -i 's/function error_exit/export HOME=\/root\n\nfunction error_exit/' /opt/elasticbeanstalk/hooks/appdeploy/pre/50npm.sh
        touch $FILE
        
        exit 0
        
        else
        
        exit 0
        
        fi
      
    
commands:
  fixnpm:
    command: "sh /tmp/fixnpm.sh"