Docker image in Pipelines doesn't install Packages

Chadd Portwine

Please see my question on StackOverflow. I have a fix, but I don't feel I have an answer regarding using Docker with Bitbucket Pipelines.

Bitbucket Pipelines from Docker Image has Missing NPM Modules

I am not sure why my Docker Image seems to be ignored. After Bitbucket Pipeline completes, using:

image:

  name: my/dockerimage

I can `ls` into node_modules on bitbucket pipelines and see missing packages (compared to what is installed when I run the docker image locally). My npm build step in BitPipes doesn't work with my docker image due to missing packages (see StackOverflow link above).

Why doesn't the Docker Image I use to build locally work in Bitbucket Pipeline? My fix requires that I use bitbucket_pipeline.yml to execute npm installs (instead of using the docker image to npm install). I am not sure how I have misused docker, or misunderstood its place in BitPipes.

davina

Hi @Chadd Portwine,

Testing locally

I suggest you run your custom image locally before trying it in Pipelines to ensure it works as expected

To answer your question, when you build and push your docker image, it creates layers using what's specified in your Dockerfile. Since you don't add your package.json, npm doesn't know what to install. So your Dockerfile should look like

FROM node:8.10.0

# Add this line
COPY package.json package.json

# Current commands
RUN npm install
RUN npm install -g firebase-tools

Then when you run your image, you can see it has installed correctly

$ docker run -it --entrypoint /bin/sh test-image 
# ls
bin ... node_modules ... package-lock.json package.json ... var

$ which firebase
# /usr/local/bin/firebase

In Pipelines

It's important to note, the commands in the Dockerfile are not a simple substitute of the script commands in your bitbucket-pipelines.yml file.

Now, if you now use this image above in Pipelines, you can run these commands

- step:
    script:
      - which firebase
      - cd /
      - ls

You should see that firebase has been installed correctly and that there is a node_modules directory at root, which is the working directory. This should still work for your application since the way npm works is it traverses up until it finds a node_modules directory.

This is different to when you have npm install commands in your bitbucket-pipelines.yml file because the working directory is /opt/atlassian/pipelines/agent/build, instead of root, so the node_modules are installed under /build.

Hope this helps!