Act: Can't install npm dependencies

[finleygn]

I've been trying to get my github actions working locally with act (really cool tool btw) but I can't seem to get npm working.

Heres an example workflow to show the problem:

name: Test Somethin

on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - develop

jobs:
  do-stuff:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
          node-version: 12
          registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/

      - name: Install Dependencies
        run: npm install
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

Running command act -j do-stuff -s NPM_TOKEN=XXXX_XXXX_XXXX
I get this output

[Test Somethin/do-stuff] ⭐  Run actions/checkout@v2
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   ✅  Success - actions/checkout@v2
[Test Somethin/do-stuff] ⭐  Run actions/setup-node@v1
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   ☁  git clone 'https://github.com/actions/setup-node' # ref=v1
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   🐳  docker pull node:12-alpine
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   🐳  docker run image=node:12-alpine entrypoint=[] cmd=["node" "/github/home//setup-node985111831/dist/index.js"]
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::isExplicit:
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::explicit? false
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::evaluating 0 versions
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::match not found
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::evaluating 378 versions
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::matched: v12.16.1
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::isExplicit: 12.16.1
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::explicit? true
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::checking cache: /home/actions/cache/node/12.16.1/x64
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::not found
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v12.16.1/node-v12.16.1-linux-x64.tar.gz
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::Downloading /home/actions/temp/1a31fd1a-a499-4e30-9d38-531f090e84b2
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::download complete
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::Caching tool node 12.16.1 x64
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::source dir: /home/actions/temp/692cf33e-d4ab-4040-a505-f1e4bd026f89/node-v12.16.1-linux-x64
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::destination /home/actions/cache/node/12.16.1/x64
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::finished caching tool
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   ⚙  ::add-path:: /home/actions/cache/node/12.16.1/x64/bin
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   💬  ::debug::Setting auth in /github/workspace/.npmrc
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   ⚙  ::set-env:: NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG=/github/workspace/.npmrc
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   ⚙  ::set-env:: NODE_AUTH_TOKEN=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   ✅  Success - actions/setup-node@v1
[Test Somethin/do-stuff] ⭐  Run Install Dependencies
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   🐳  docker pull ubuntu:18.04
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   🐳  docker run image=ubuntu:18.04 entrypoint=[] cmd=["bash" "--noprofile" "--norc" "-eo" "pipefail" "/github/home/.temp-script-262291398"]
[Test Somethin/do-stuff]   ❌  Failure - Install Dependencies
Error: exit with `FAILURE`: 127

In the verbose output the verbose output says npm: command not found which causes the exit.

---

I thought maybe it was the same issue as #85 but after following @davidalger's steps the output was the same. (I'm also on macOS)

[fwilhe]

Have you tried configuring another image? I had some (limited) success with act -P ubuntu-latest=node:12. Might also depend on if you rely on the default node version or use the setup node action.

I'm wondering about the default home dir /github/workspace. Is this a leftover from the "old" actions? My understanding is that the "new" ones use /home/actions.

[fwilhe]

Interesting thing: In this repo https://github.com/SAP/project-piper-action

this job works

  units:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - run: npm ci
    - run: npm test

but this does not

  dist-is-up-to-date:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - run: npm ci
    - run: npm run package
    - run: git diff --name-only --exit-code

It seems to fail in installing packages, I don't understand why.

[finleygn]

If the Github action docs are up to date /github/workspace should be fine
https://help.github.com/en/actions/reference/virtual-environments-for-github-hosted-runners#filesystems-on-github-hosted-runners

there was an update to the readme recently (b48a0ef) saying to use the image ubuntu-latest=nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04 so will try that and see how it goes

[finleygn]

:clap:

Thanks for the image idea @fwilhe.

[finleygn]

Although if there is a solution for a more lightweight image that would be cool as the install took about an hour ;-;

[KingDarBoja]

WARNING - this image is >18GB

If you don't have fast internet, this is gonna take way more than 1 hour 😆

[cplee]

I think the issue is actually how I implemented the containers around steps that use actions. There is a separate step used for run steps and uses steps...this means anything you do in the uses step isn't necessarily available in the later run step.

In your case, setup-node installs NodeJS in a separate container from the npm install step.

I'm guessing this is a misunderstanding on my part about how GitHub Actions works...is it your understanding that the uses steps should NOT run in a separate container?

[finleygn]

not entirely sure but it was my understanding that uses steps can persist stuff

looking through https://github.com/actions/setup-go it seems like it just interacts directly with the runner?

[cplee]

Alright, I have a plan:

• Each job will get 1 container created and will just use cat for ENTRYPOINT
• Each step will result in a docker exec into that job container
• The job container will have a volume created for /github path that will be shared with the one-off containers

What's a one-off container? Some steps will NOT run in the job container:

• Any step with uses: docker://..... will have a one-off container with the job volume attached
• Any step with uses: action/name where action/name has an action.yaml with runs.using == 'docker' will have a one-off container with the job volume attached

Will work on this in coming days on branch https://github.com/nektos/act/tree/ISS-86

[finleygn]

looks solid

thanks a bunch :)