Node.js module for Puppet

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Setup - The basics of getting started with nodejs
   • Beginning with nodejs - Installation
3. Usage
4. Npm packages
5. Parameters
6. Limitations - OS compatibility, etc.
   • Module dependencies
7. Development

Overview

The nodejs module installs the Node.js package, (global) npm package provider and configures global npm configuration settings. A defined type nodejs::npm is used for the local installation of npm packages.

By default this module installs packages from the NodeSource repository on Debian and RedHat platforms. The NodeSource Node.js package includes the npm binary, which makes a separate npm package unnecessary.

On SUSE, ArchLinux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Gentoo, native packages are used. On Darwin, the MacPorts package is used. On Windows the packages are installed via Chocolatey.

Setup

What nodejs affects

• the Node.js package
• the npm package (if it exists as a separate package)
• the global npmrc file ($PREFIX/etc/npmrc)
• globally installed npm packages
• local npm packages installed in user-specified directories

Beginning with nodejs

To install Node.js and npm (using the NodeSource repository if possible):

class { 'nodejs': }

The default version installed is currently 12.x.

If you wish to install a Node.js 13.x release from the NodeSource repository rather than 12.x on Debian/RHEL platforms:

class { 'nodejs':
  repo_url_suffix => '13.x',
}

See the repo_url_suffix parameter entry below for possible values.

Usage

When a separate npm package exists (natively or via EPEL) the Node.js development package also needs to be installed as it is a dependency for npm.

Install Node.js and npm using the native packages provided by the distribution:

class { '::nodejs':
  manage_package_repo       => false,
  nodejs_dev_package_ensure => 'present',
  npm_package_ensure        => 'present',
}

Install Node.js and npm using the packages from EPEL:

class { '::nodejs':
  nodejs_dev_package_ensure => 'present',
  npm_package_ensure        => 'present',
  repo_class                => '::epel',
}

Upgrades

The parameter nodejs_package_ensure defaults to present. Changing the repo_url_suffix will not result in a new version being installed. Changing the nodejs_package_ensure parameter should provide the desired effect.

For example:

# Upgrade from nodejs 5.x to 6.x
class { 'nodejs':
    repo_url_suffix       => '6.x',
    nodejs_package_ensure => '6.12.2',
  }

Forcing the installation of NodeSource packages over native packages

When the native package version and NodeSource version are the same, you may need to use repo_pin or repo_priority (depending on your operating system). This ensures that the version in the NodeSource repository takes precedence when Puppet invokes Apt/Yum.

npm packages

Two types of npm packages are supported:

• npm global packages are supported via the npm provider for the puppet package type.
• npm local packages are supported via the Puppet defined type nodejs::npm.

For more information regarding global vs local installation see the nodejs blog

npm global packages

The npm package provider is an extension of the Puppet package type which supports versionable and upgradeable. The package provider only handles global installation:

For example:

package { 'express':
  ensure   => 'present',
  provider => 'npm',
}

package { 'mime':
  ensure   => '1.2.4',
  provider => 'npm',
}

npm local packages

nodejs::npm is used for the local installation of npm packages. It attempts to support all of the npm install <package> combinations shown in the npm install docs except version ranges. The title simply must be a unique, arbitrary value.

• If using packages directly off the npm registry, the package parameter is the name of the package as published on the npm registry.
• If using scopes, the package parameter needs to be specified as '@scope_name/package_name'.
• If using a local tarball path, remote tarball URL, local folder, git remote URL or GitHubUser/GitRepo as the source of the package, this location needs to be specified as the source parameter and the package parameter just needs to be a unique, descriptive name for the package that is being installed.
• If using tags, the tag can be specified with the ensure parameter, and the package parameter needs to be match the name of the package in the npm registry.
• Package versions are specified with the ensure parameter, which defaults to present.
• Install options and uninstall options are also supported, and need to be specified as an array.
• The user parameter is provided should you wish to run npm install or npm rm as a specific user.
• If you want to use a package.json supplied by a module to install dependencies (e.g. if you have a NodeJS server app), set the parameter use_package_json to true. The package name is then only used for the resource name. source parameter is ignored.

nodejs::npm parameters:

• ensure: present (default), absent, latest, tag or version number.
• source: package source (defaults to a reserved value 'registry')
• target: where to install the package
• install_options: option flags invoked during installation such as --link (optional).
• uninstall_options: option flags invoked during removal (optional).
• npm_path: defaults to the value listed in nodejs::params
• user: defaults to undef
• use_package_json: read and install modules listed in package.json in target dir and install those in subdirectory node_modules (defaults to false)

Examples:

Install the express package published on the npm registry to /opt/packages:

nodejs::npm { 'express from the npm registry':
  ensure  => 'present',
  package => 'express',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

or the lazy way:

nodejs::npm { 'express':
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Install the express package as user foo:

nodejs::npm { 'express install as user foo':
  ensure  => 'present',
  package => 'express',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
  user    => 'foo',
}

Install a specific version of express to /opt/packages:

nodejs::npm { 'express version 2.5.9 from the npm registry':
  ensure  => '2.5.9',
  package => 'express',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Install the latest version of express to /opt/packages:

nodejs::npm { 'express latest from the npm registry':
  ensure  => 'latest',
  package => 'express',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Install express from GitHub to /opt/packages:

nodejs::npm { 'express from GitHub':
  ensure  => 'present',
  package => 'express',
  source  => 'strongloop/express',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Install express from a remote git repository to /opt/packages:

nodejs::npm { 'express from a git repository':
  ensure  => 'present',
  package => 'express',
  source  => 'git+https://[email protected]/strongloop/expressjs.git',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Install express from a remote tarball to /opt/packages:

nodejs::npm { 'express from a remote tarball':
  ensure  => 'present',
  package => 'express',
  source  => 'https://server.domain/express.tgz',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Install tagged packages:

nodejs::npm { 'my beta tagged package':
  ensure  => 'beta',
  package => 'mypackage',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Install a package from the registry associated with a specific scope:

nodejs::npm { 'package_name from @scope_name':
  ensure  => 'present',
  package => '@scope_name/package_name',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Install express from a local tarball to /opt/packages:

nodejs::npm { 'express from a local tarball':
  ensure  => 'present',
  package => 'express',
  source  => '/local/repository/npm_packages/express.tgz',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Install express with --save-dev --no-bin-links passed to npm install:

nodejs::npm { 'express with options':
  ensure          => 'present',
  package         => 'express',
  install_options => ['--save-dev', '--no-bin-links'],
  target          => '/opt/packages',
}

Install dependencies from package.json:

nodejs::npm { 'serverapp':
  ensure           => 'present',
  target           => '/opt/serverapp',
  use_package_json => true,
}

Uninstall any versions of express in /opt/packages regardless of source:

nodejs::npm { 'remove all express packages':
  ensure  => 'absent',
  package => 'express',
  target  => '/opt/packages',
}

Uninstall dependencies from package.json:

nodejs::npm { 'serverapp':
  ensure           => 'absent',
  target           => '/opt/serverapp',
  use_package_json => true,
}

nodejs::npm::global_config_entry

nodejs::npm::global_config_entry can be used to set/remove global npm configuration settings.

Note that when specifying a URL, such as registry, NPM will add a trailing slash when it stores the config. You must specify a trailing slash in your URL or the code will not be idempotent.

Examples:

nodejs::npm::global_config_entry { 'proxy':
  ensure => 'present',
  value  => 'http://proxy.company.com:8080/',
}

nodejs::npm::global_config_entry { 'dev':
  ensure => 'present',
  value  => 'true',
}

Delete the key from all configuration files:

nodejs::npm::global_config_entry { 'color':
  ensure => 'absent',
}

If a global_config_entry of proxy or https-proxy is specified, this will be applied before the local installation of npm packages using nodejs::npm.

Parameters

cmd_exe_path

Path to cmd.exe on Windows. Defaults to C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe. You may need to change this parameter for certain versions of Windows Server.

manage_package_repo

Whether to manage an external repository and use it as the source of the Node.js and npm package. Defaults to true.

nodejs_debug_package_ensure

When set to present or a version number, determines whether to install the Node.js package with debugging symbols, if available. Defaults to absent.

nodejs_dev_package_ensure

When set to present or a version number, determines whether to install the development Node.js package, if available. Defaults to absent.

nodejs_package_ensure

When set to present or a version number, determines whether to install the Node.js package. Defaults to present.

npm_package_ensure

When set to present or a version number, determines whether to install the separate npm package. When using the NodeSource repository, the Node.js package includes npm, so this value defaults to absent. This parameter will need to be set to present if you wish to use the native packages or are using the EPEL repository.

npm_path

Path to the npm binary.

npmrc_auth

A string that contains the value for the key _auth that will be set in /root/.npmrc, as this value is not allowed to be set by nodejs::npm::global_config_entry. The default value is undef.

npmrc_config

A hash that contains keys/values that will be set in /root/.npmrc, in the form of key=value. Useful for setting a http-proxy for npm only. The default value is undef.

repo_class

Name of the Puppet class used for the setup and management of the Node.js repository. Defaults to ::nodejs::repo::nodesource (NodeSource). If using the Node.js and npm packages from the EPEL repository, set this to ::epel and make sure that the EPEL module is applied before the nodejs module in your Puppet node definitions.

repo_enable_src

Whether any repositories which hold sources are enabled. Defaults to false.

repo_ensure

Whether to ensure that the repository exists, if it is being managed. Defaults to present and may also be set to absent.

repo_pin

Whether to perform APT pinning to pin the Node.js repository with a specific value. Defaults to undef.

repo_priority

Whether to set a Yum priority for the Node.js repository. If using EPEL and the NodeSource repository on the same system, you may wish to set this to a value less than 99 (or the priority set for the EPEL repository) to ensure that the NodeSource repository will always be preferred over the Node.js packages in EPEL, should they both hold the same Node.js version. Defaults to absent.

repo_proxy

Whether to use a proxy for this particular repository. For example, http://proxy.domain. Defaults to absent.

repo_proxy_password

Password for the proxy used by the repository, if required.

repo_proxy_username

User for the proxy used by the repository, if required.

repo_release

Optional value to override the apt distribution release. Defaults to undef which will autodetect the distribution. If a value is specified, this will change the NodeSource apt repository distribution. This is useful if the distribution name does not exist in the NodeSource repositories. For example, the Ubilinux distribution release name 'dolcetto' does not exist in NodeSource, but is a derivative of Debian 9 (Stretch). Setting this value to stretch allows NodeSource repository management to then work as expected on these systems.

repo_url_suffix

Defaults to 12.x which means that the latest NodeSource 12.x release is installed. If you wish to install a 13.x release or greater, you will need to set this value accordingly. This parameter is a just a reflection of the NodeSource URL structure - NodeSource might remove old versions (such as 0.10 and 0.12) or add new ones (such as 20.x) at any time.

The following are repo_url_suffix values that reflect NodeSource versions that were available on 2017-11-29:

• Debian 8 (Jessie) 0.10 0.12 4.x 5.x 6.x 7.x 8.x 9.x
• Debian 9 (Stretch) 4.x 6.x 7.x 8.x 9.x
• Debian (Sid) 0.10 0.12 4.x 5.x 6.x 7.x 8.x 9.x
• Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial) 0.10 0.12 4.x 5.x 6.x 7.x 8.x 9.x
• Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety) 0.12 4.x 6.x 7.x 8.x
• Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful) 4.x 6.x 8.x 9.x
• RHEL/CentOS 6 0.10 0.12 4.x 5.x 6.x 7.x 8.x 9.x
• RHEL/CentOS 7 0.10 0.12 4.x 5.x 6.x 7.x 8.x 9.x
• Amazon Linux - See RHEL/CentOS 7
• Fedora 25 4.x 6.x 7.x 8.x 9.x
• Fedora 26 6.x 8.x 9.x
• Fedora 27 8.x 9.x

use_flags

The USE flags to use for the Node.js package on Gentoo systems. Defaults to ['npm', 'snapshot'].

package_provider

The package provider is set as the default for most distributions. You can override this with the package_provider parameter to use an alternative

Limitations

This module has received limited testing on:

• CentOS/RHEL 6/7/8
• Debian 8
• Ubuntu 16.04/18.04/20.04

The following platforms should also work, but have not been tested:

• Amazon Linux
• Archlinux
• Darwin
• Debian 9
• Fedora
• FreeBSD
• Gentoo
• OpenBSD
• OpenSuse/SLES
• Ubilinux
• Windows

Module dependencies

This modules uses puppetlabs-apt for the management of the NodeSource repository. If using an operating system of the Debian-based family, you will need to ensure that puppetlabs-apt version 4.4.0 or above is installed.

If using CentOS/RHEL 6/7 and you wish to install Node.js from EPEL rather than from the NodeSource repository, you will need to ensure puppet-epel is installed and is applied before this module.

If using Gentoo, you will need to ensure gentoo-portage is installed.

If using Windows, you will need to ensure that puppetlabs-chocolatey is installed.

nodejs::npm has the ability to fetch npm packages from Git sources. If you wish to use this functionality, Git needs to be installed and be in the PATH.

Development

See CONTRIBUTING