Error: could not get uid/gid

[Laurian]

This error was initially reported here: npm/npm#4719

I compiled and installed node 0.10.26 on Ubuntu 12.04; npm update dies:

root@dev:/opt/node-v0.10.26# npm update -g
npm ERR! Error: could not get uid/gid
npm ERR! [ 'nobody', 0 ]
npm ERR! 
npm ERR!     at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/uid-number/uid-number.js:36:24
npm ERR!     at ChildProcess.exithandler (child_process.js:635:7)
npm ERR!     at ChildProcess.EventEmitter.emit (events.js:98:17)
npm ERR!     at maybeClose (child_process.js:743:16)
npm ERR!     at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (child_process.js:810:5)
npm ERR! If you need help, you may report this *entire* log,
npm ERR! including the npm and node versions, at:
npm ERR!     <http://github.com/npm/npm/issues>

npm ERR! System Linux 3.2.0-54-virtual
npm ERR! command "/usr/local/bin/node" "/usr/local/bin/npm" "update" "-g"
npm ERR! cwd /opt/node-v0.10.26
npm ERR! node -v v0.10.26
npm ERR! npm -v 1.4.3
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR!     /opt/node-v0.10.26/npm-debug.log
npm ERR! not ok code 0

Trying as non root a sudo npm update -g yields the same error, only difference is [ 'nobody', 1000 ] instead of [ 'nobody', 0 ]

The only way I could quickly get around was to comment out the error check (line 36), which I guess is not the proper way to do it.

[IlanFrumer]

Today I upgraded to node v0.10.26, Installed via node.js ppa

I'm running on linux-mint 13.10 xfce x64.

I get the same error when running as root

sudo npm update -g --verbose

npm info it worked if it ends with ok
npm verb cli [ '/usr/bin/node', '/usr/bin/npm', 'update', '-g', '--verbose' ]
npm info using npm@1.4.3
npm info using node@v0.10.26
npm verb node symlink /usr/bin/node
npm ERR! Error: could not get uid/gid
npm ERR! [ 'nobody', 1000 ]
npm ERR!
npm ERR! at /usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/uid-number/uid-number.js:36:24
npm ERR! at ChildProcess.exithandler (child_process.js:635:7)
npm ERR! at ChildProcess.EventEmitter.emit (events.js:98:17)
npm ERR! at maybeClose (child_process.js:743:16)
npm ERR! at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (child_process.js:810:5)
npm ERR! If you need help, you may report this entire log,
npm ERR! including the npm and node versions, at:
npm ERR! http://github.com/npm/npm/issues

npm ERR! System Linux 3.11.0-12-generic
npm ERR! command "/usr/bin/node" "/usr/bin/npm" "update" "-g" "--verbose"
npm ERR! cwd /home/ilan
npm ERR! node -v v0.10.26
npm ERR! npm -v 1.4.3
npm verb exit [ 1, true ]
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR! /home/ilan/npm-debug.log
npm ERR! not ok code 0

[isaacs]

Caused by 2d701a8. Reverted, pushing a new npm now. Sorry about this.

[IlanFrumer]

I wasn't able to upgrade to 0.0.5 becuase sudo npm update -g uid-number ironically throws the same error.

I made a quick temporary fix:

sudo sh -c 'curl https://raw.github.com/isaacs/uid-number/v0.0.5/uid-number.js > /usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/uid-number/uid-number.js'

Now sudo npm update -g works again!

Thanx

[danmactough]

@IlanFrumer see also - https://gist.github.com/isaacs/9117286

Via twitter:

npmjs: if you are having trouble with sudo global installs on npm@1.4.3, fix with this script:
https://t.co/s8GKtRspX5
fixed client just pushed.

[IlanFrumer]

@danmactough Thanx.

[isaacs]

Updated https://gist.github.com/isaacs/9117286 with annotations about what each line does.

@IlanFrumer Yes, that will work, but it depends on having a specific root dir, and if uid-number ever has incompatible changes, it could break stuff. Better to fetch the exact version (and check the shasum while we're at it) and then move into the exact place that npm was installed.

[kuntau]

→ ./fix-global-installs.sh  
+ npm cache add uid-number@0.0.5
++ npm get cache
+ cache=/home/kuntau/.npm
++ npm get root -g
+ root=undefined
+ sudo cp /home/kuntau/.npm/uid-number/0.0.5/package/get-uid-gid.js /home/kuntau/.npm/uid-number/0.0.5/package/uid-number.js undefined/npm/node_modules/uid-number
cp: target ‘undefined/npm/node_modules/uid-number’ is not a directory

Unfortunately the script not working for me.. root=undefined?

[isaacs]

Ack, it should be npm root, not npm get root. Fixed.

[lesion]

I'm reopening this 'cause I've the same error (for different reasons).
I'm trying to run node/npm inside a runc container. I've tried compiled node (7.5.0) and two packaged release (6.9.5 and 7.2.1) and all of them exit with a bad segfault when trying to install any package globally with npm install -g <package>

npm output:

Error: could not get uid/gid
[ 'nobody', 0 ]
    at /usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/uid-number/uid-number.js:37:16

looking at that, I saw an exec_file to ./get-uid-gid.js, that's the results of running it manually:

# node /usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/uid-number/get-uid-gid.js  nobody 0
[ 'nobody', 0 ]
Segmentation fault

and here last lines of strace:

write(11, "[ 'nobody', 0 ]\n", 16[ 'nobody', 0 ]
)      = 16
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, ~[RTMIN RT_1 RT_2], [], 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, ~[], NULL, 8) = 0
rt_sigaction(SIGRT_2, {0x5572dab598, ~[], SA_RESTORER, 0x5572db2a44}, NULL, 8) = 0
getpid()                                = 16651
gettid()                                = 16651
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/proc/self/task", O_RDONLY|O_LARGEFILE|O_DIRECTORY|O_CLOEXEC) = 12
fcntl(12, F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC)          = 0
kill(16651, SIGRT_2)                    = ? <unavailable>
+++ killed by SIGSEGV +++
Segmentation fault

ps. don't know if this is the right place for this
pps. this is an arm64

[skl]

@lesion Same when running a raspian docker container through qemu-user-static (so emulating an armv7l machine). I worked around this by hard-coding for my target user (root) inside the container:

echo "module.exports = function uidNumber(uid, gid, cb) {cb(null, 0, 0)}" > /usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/uid-number/uid-number.js

Maybe uid-number package could parse output of id <username> and getent group <groupname> commands to do the lookups instead of JS.

[mathias-luedtke]

@skl: I have the same use case, npm config set unsafe-perm true worked for me

[vielmetti]

Same, building Mastodon in Docker, I used the npm config set unsafe-perm true line in the Dockerfile and was able to make it past the issue.

http://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon/issues/802