Getting errors installing npm forever and mechanic - npm

Question

My goal is to set up a Dev environment for ApostropheCMS (https://apostrophecms.org/docs/) on my Windows 10 machine. To achieve the goal, I have CentOS running in a Docker container, and I am following these instructions to install Apostrophe:
https://apostrophecms.org/docs/tutorials/intermediate/deployment.html
I am more-or-less able to get through the following installs error-free and warning-free:
## My docker command, to get CentOS bash in a new container
docker run -it centos bash
## Apostrophe CMS install script, run inside CentOS Bash
# Grab some command line basics
yum install wget rsync perl git nano
# Allow the use of the EPEL ("Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux") repository
yum install epel-release
# Front end proxy webserver
yum install nginx
# Install node, imagemagick, npm, and compiler tools so an efficient
# mongo driver can be compiled by npm
yum install gcc automake autoconf libtool make nodejs ImageMagick npm
# Install mongodb
yum install mongodb-server mongodb
# Allow non-root users to run command line applications installed with
# "npm install -g", otherwise it is not very useful
chmod -R a+r /usr/lib/node_modules/
However I get errors or warnings with the two commands for installing forever and mechanic from npm. The errors are in the appendix below.
# Used to run things indefinitely restarting as needed
npm install -g forever
# Used to manage nginx
npm install -g mechanic
My questions are:
Do I even need forever and mechanic for a dev instance? I.e., one where all I will be doing is developing locally and deploying to a server?
If yes, how can I get these installed error-free?
I realize these are noob-level questions. I am new to CentOS, Docker, and Apostrophe. Thank you for your patience, understanding, and advice.
APPENDIX: ERRORS
The second-to-last command:
# Used to run things indefinitely restarting as needed
npm install -g forever
Gives me:
npm WARN optional SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: fsevents#^1.0.0 (node_modules/forever/node_modules/chokidar/node_modules/fsevents):
npm WARN notsup SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Unsupported platform for fsevents#1.2.4: wanted {"os":"darwin","arch":"any"} (current: {"os":"linux","arch":"x64"})
The final command:
# Used to manage nginx
npm install -g mechanic
Gives me:
gyp WARN EACCES user "undefined" does not have permission to access the dev dir "/root/.node-gyp/6.14.2"
gyp WARN EACCES attempting to reinstall using temporary dev dir "/usr/lib/node_modules/mechanic/node_modules/fs-ext/.node-gyp"
make: Entering directory `/usr/lib/node_modules/mechanic/node_modules/fs-ext/build'
CXX(target) Release/obj.target/fs-ext/fs-ext.o
make: g++: Command not found
make: *** [Release/obj.target/fs-ext/fs-ext.o] Error 127
make: Leaving directory `/usr/lib/node_modules/mechanic/node_modules/fs-ext/build'
gyp ERR! build error
gyp ERR! stack Error: `make` failed with exit code: 2
gyp ERR! stack at ChildProcess.onExit (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules.bundled/node-gyp/lib/build.js:276:23)
gyp ERR! stack at emitTwo (events.js:106:13)
gyp ERR! stack at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:191:7)
gyp ERR! stack at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:219:12)
gyp ERR! System Linux 4.9.87-linuxkit-aufs
gyp ERR! command "/usr/bin/node" "/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js" "configure" "build"
gyp ERR! cwd /usr/lib/node_modules/mechanic/node_modules/fs-ext
gyp ERR! node -v v6.14.2
gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v3.4.0
gyp ERR! not ok
/usr/lib
`-- (empty)
npm WARN optional SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: fsevents#^1.0.0 (node_modules/mechanic/node_modules/chokidar/node_modules/fsevents):
npm WARN notsup SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Unsupported platform for fsevents#1.2.4: wanted {"os":"darwin","arch":"any"} (current: {"os":"linux","arch":"x64"})
npm ERR! Linux 4.9.87-linuxkit-aufs
npm ERR! argv "/usr/bin/node" "/usr/bin/npm" "install" "-g" "mechanic"
npm ERR! node v6.14.2
npm ERR! npm v3.10.10
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
npm ERR! fs-ext#0.5.0 install: `node-gyp configure build`
npm ERR! Exit status 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the fs-ext#0.5.0 install script 'node-gyp configure build'.
npm ERR! Make sure you have the latest version of node.js and npm installed.
npm ERR! If you do, this is most likely a problem with the fs-ext package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR! node-gyp configure build
npm ERR! You can get information on how to open an issue for this project with:
npm ERR! npm bugs fs-ext
npm ERR! Or if that isn't available, you can get their info via:
npm ERR! npm owner ls fs-ext
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.
npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
npm ERR! /npm-debug.log
npm ERR! code 1

Answer 1

Indeed, there were some oversights in this recipe on our documentation site. The critical yum package you were missing is gcc-c++.
yum install gcc-c++
In addition I have updated the entire recipe to include better versions of node and mongodb from better repositories. (The EPEL repository does offer a version of MongoDB but it is very out of date. The version of node in that repository is a little better, but why not have 8.x, since it's the current long term support release.)
Thanks for bringing it to our attention.