How to resolve "Cannot resolve 'file'" error in webpack? - npm

Question

I keep getting this really annoying error in webpack and even when I run webpack --display-error-details, I get no errors. But anytime I run webpack-dev-server I get the following error. I really can't see where I am going wrong in my configuration.
Entry module not found: Error: Cannot resolve 'file' or 'directory'
./frontend/app.jsx
module.exports = {
context: __dirname,
entry: './frontend/app.jsx',
output: {
filename: 'bundle.js',
path: __dirname
},
module: {
loaders: [
{
test: [ /\.js$/, /\.jsx$/],
exclude: /(node_modules)/,
loader: 'babel-loader',
query: {
presets: ['es2015', 'react']
}
},
{
test: /\.scss$/,
use: ['style-loader', 'css-loader', 'sass-loader']
}
]
},
devtool: 'source-map',
resolve: {
extensions: ['.js', '.jsx', '.scss' ]
}
};
{
"name": "basicapp",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "",
"main": "app.jsx",
"author": "",
"license": "ISC",
"scripts": {
"start": "webpack-dev-server --env development",
"dev-server": "nodemon ./server.js localhost 8080",
"build": "webpack --env production"
},
"dependencies": {
"babel-cli": "^6.24.0",
"babel-core": "^6.24.0",
"babel-loader": "^6.4.1",
"babel-preset-es2015": "^6.24.0",
"babel-preset-react": "^6.23.0",
"css-loader": "^0.27.3",
"express": "^4.15.2",
"express-graphql": "^0.6.3",
"lodash": "^4.17.4",
"node-sass": "^4.5.1",
"react": "^15.4.2",
"react-dom": "^15.4.2",
"react-redux": "^5.0.3",
"react-router": "^4.0.0",
"redux": "^3.6.0",
"sass-loader": "^6.0.3",
"webpack": "^2.3.2"
},
"devDependencies": {
"html-webpack-plugin": "^2.28.0",
"node-sass": "^4.5.1",
"nodemon": "^1.11.0",
"sass-loader": "^6.0.3"
}
}

Answer 1

Webpack may not be treating __dirname as you want it to and may be resolving it to / instead. Try adding this to your webpack config:
{
node: {
__dirname: true
}
}

Answer 2

this can be because of multiple reasons the best way to identify the exact issue is to tryout the below two commands:
if you are running webpack 1/2 alone then use the snippet:
webpack --display-error-details
if you are running the webpack dev server then use the snippet:
webpack-dev-server --display-error-details
this would provide a detailed error report in the console