How to enable nvm in steps in circleci 2.0? - npm

Question

Here are my steps in my
steps:
-run:
name: Setup nvm and npm
command: |
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.8/install.sh | bash
export NVM_DIR=$HOME/.nvm
source $NVM_DIR/nvm.sh
nvm install 8.9 && nvm alias default 8.9
-run: npm install && npm run lint && npm test
The second step always fails with this error message
/bin/bash: npm: command not found
I checked .bashrc and I can see the following lines are added to the end of the file
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" # This loads nvm bash_completion
Circleci 2.0 invokes the step command by starting a new shell with #!/bin/bash -eo pipefail
If I starts a docker (docker run -i -t buildpack-deps:xenial) and apply the first step, and then start a new shell via #!/bin/bash -eo pipefail, I can see npm is available on the path
I am using docker for this project
version: 2
jobs:
test_main:
docker:
- image: buildpack-deps:xenial
So why does it fail in circleci 2.0 environment? How can I ensure npm will be available to step 2 from step 1?
I have tried to add [ -s "$HOME/.bashrc" ] && \. "$HOME/.bashrc" to ~/.bash_profile (in case .bashrc is not executed due to the non-interactive/non-login shell)
To reproduce the issue you can run circleci build with this .circleci/config.yml file
version: 2
jobs:
build:
docker:
- image: buildpack-deps:xenial
steps:
- run:
name: Setup nvm and npm
command: |
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.8/install.sh | bash
# Activate nvm
export NVM_DIR=$HOME/.nvm
touch $HOME/.nvmrc
source $NVM_DIR/nvm.sh
# Use node 8.9
nvm install 8.9 && nvm alias default 8.9
echo 8.9 > $HOME/.nvmrc
# Enable nvm in following steps
echo '[ -s "$HOME/.bashrc" ] && \. "$HOME/.bashrc"' >> $HOME/.bash_profile
# To fix npm install : "node-pre-gyp: Permission denied"
npm config set user 0
npm config set unsafe-perm true
npm install -g npx webpack webpack-cli jest
node --version
npm --version
- run: npm install
You will see the following error message:
====>> npm install
#!/bin/bash -eo pipefail
npm install
/bin/bash: npm: command not found
Error: Exited with code 127
Step failed
Task failed

Answer 1

The problem lies with these lines:
# Enable nvm in following steps
echo '[ -s "$HOME/.bashrc" ] && \. "$HOME/.bashrc"' >> $HOME/.bash_profile
I was hoping to source .bashrc from .bash_profile. However since the shell of circleci is non-interactive, the environment variable PS1 is blank. Hence .bashrc basically quits immediately once it is sourced, because of this line in .bashrc
# If not running interactively, don't do anything
[ -z "$PS1" ] && return
I have to put the following lines directly in the file specified by $BASH_ENV
echo 'export NVM_DIR=$HOME/.nvm' >> $BASH_ENV
echo 'source $NVM_DIR/nvm.sh' >> $BASH_ENV

Answer 2

I found that changing default node by nvm is not working for my steps.
Solved by:
- run:
name: 'Install Project Node'
command: |
set +x
source ~/.bashrc
nvm install 12
NODE_DIR=$(dirname $(which node))
echo "export PATH=$NODE_DIR:\$PATH" >> $BASH_ENV

Answer 3

Just source /opt/circleci/.nvm/nvm.sh in the beginning of every step.