Can't install plugin in the Etherpad Docker image

[narthur]

I'm having trouble installing an Etherpad plugin using my Dockerfile. I've tried both of the following commands:

RUN cd /opt/etherpad-lite && \
    npm install --no-save --legacy-peer-deps ep_post_data

RUN cd /opt/etherpad-lite/src && \
    npm install --no-save --legacy-peer-deps ep_post_data

When I run the install command in the Etherpad root directory and then try to spin up the image, I get an error that the log4js module can't be found.

When I run the same command in the src directory inside the Etherpad root, the instance spins up fine, but the plugin is not listed as installed in /admin/plugins.

Here is the minimum reproduction:

https://github.com/narthur/beetherpad

Here are the settings.json file and troubleshooting info:

https://gist.github.com/narthur/1834d632b0f5635f4b893abd0681524d

How can I install a plugin during my docker build?

[narthur]

Clarification: This question is not intended to be specific to the ep_post_data plugin. If there's another plugin that would be better for me to test with, that's perfectly fine. My end goal is setting up a docker-powered development environment for creating my own etherpad plugin.

[SamTV12345]

@narthur This is a weird issue. It builds on my local system without a problem but it also doesn't detect the additional plugin at runtime.

[narthur]

I just tried installing ep_spellcheck, ep_headings2, and ep_align in the src dir, all with the same result. Build completes without issue, instance starts up fine, but no plugins are shown as installed at /admin/plugins.

[narthur]

Here's the output from this command:

RUN cd /opt/etherpad-lite/src && \
    npm install --no-save --legacy-peer-deps ep_align && \
    npm ls ep_align && exit 1

 > [2/2] RUN cd /opt/etherpad-lite/src &&     npm install --no-save --legacy-peer-deps ep_align &&     npm ls ep_align && exit 1:                                                     
#5 2.730 npm WARN old lockfile                                                                                                                                                        
#5 2.731 npm WARN old lockfile The package-lock.json file was created with an old version of npm,                                                                                     
#5 2.731 npm WARN old lockfile so supplemental metadata must be fetched from the registry.                                                                                            
#5 2.732 npm WARN old lockfile                                                                                                                                                        
#5 2.732 npm WARN old lockfile This is a one-time fix-up, please be patient...
#5 2.732 npm WARN old lockfile 
#5 7.012 npm WARN old lockfile express-session: No matching version found for express-session@1.18.2.
#5 7.013 npm WARN old lockfile     at module.exports (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-pick-manifest/lib/index.js:209:23)
#5 7.014 npm WARN old lockfile     at RegistryFetcher.manifest (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/pacote/lib/registry.js:119:22)
#5 7.015 npm WARN old lockfile     at async Array.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js:727:24)
#5 7.016 npm WARN old lockfile  Could not fetch metadata for express-session@1.18.2 express-session: No matching version found for express-session@1.18.2.
#5 7.016 npm WARN old lockfile     at module.exports (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-pick-manifest/lib/index.js:209:23)
#5 7.017 npm WARN old lockfile     at RegistryFetcher.manifest (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/pacote/lib/registry.js:119:22)
#5 7.017 npm WARN old lockfile     at async Array.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/build-ideal-tree.js:727:24) {
#5 7.017 npm WARN old lockfile   code: 'ETARGET',
#5 7.017 npm WARN old lockfile   type: 'version',
#5 7.018 npm WARN old lockfile   wanted: '1.18.2',
#5 7.019 npm WARN old lockfile   versions: [
#5 7.019 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.0.0',  '1.0.1',  '1.0.2',  '1.0.3',  '1.0.4',
#5 7.019 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.1.0',  '1.2.0',  '1.2.1',  '1.3.0',  '1.3.1',
#5 7.020 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.4.0',  '1.5.0',  '1.5.1',  '1.5.2',  '1.6.0',
#5 7.021 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.6.1',  '1.6.2',  '1.6.3',  '1.6.4',  '1.6.5',
#5 7.021 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.7.0',  '1.7.1',  '1.7.2',  '1.7.3',  '1.7.4',
#5 7.022 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.7.5',  '1.7.6',  '1.8.0',  '1.8.1',  '1.8.2',
#5 7.023 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.9.0',  '1.9.1',  '1.9.2',  '1.9.3',  '1.10.0',
#5 7.024 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.10.1', '1.10.2', '1.10.3', '1.10.4', '1.11.0',
#5 7.024 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.11.1', '1.11.2', '1.11.3', '1.12.0', '1.12.1',
#5 7.024 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.13.0', '1.14.0', '1.14.1', '1.14.2', '1.15.0',
#5 7.024 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.15.1', '1.15.2', '1.15.3', '1.15.4', '1.15.5',
#5 7.026 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.15.6', '1.16.0', '1.16.1', '1.16.2', '1.17.0',
#5 7.026 npm WARN old lockfile     '1.17.1', '1.17.2', '1.17.3'
#5 7.026 npm WARN old lockfile   ],
#5 7.026 npm WARN old lockfile   distTags: { latest: '1.17.3' },
#5 7.027 npm WARN old lockfile   defaultTag: 'latest'
#5 7.027 npm WARN old lockfile }
#5 17.16 
#5 17.16 added 4 packages, and audited 786 packages in 16s
#5 17.16 
#5 17.16 71 packages are looking for funding
#5 17.16   run `npm fund` for details
#5 17.22 
#5 17.22 29 vulnerabilities (14 moderate, 15 high)
#5 17.22 
#5 17.22 To address issues that do not require attention, run:
#5 17.22   npm audit fix
#5 17.22 
#5 17.22 To address all issues (including breaking changes), run:
#5 17.22   npm audit fix --force
#5 17.22 
#5 17.22 Run `npm audit` for details.
#5 17.22 npm notice 
#5 17.22 npm notice New minor version of npm available! 10.1.0 -> 10.2.5
#5 17.22 npm notice Changelog: <https://github.com/npm/cli/releases/tag/v10.2.5>
#5 17.22 npm notice Run `npm install -g npm@10.2.5` to update!
#5 17.22 npm notice 
#5 20.16 ep_etherpad-lite@1.9.4 /opt/etherpad-lite/src
#5 20.16 `-- ep_align@0.3.73 extraneous
#5 20.16 

[narthur]

Installing via the dashboard seems to work fine. Here are the logs when installing this way

etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:06.659] [INFO] plugins - Installing plugin ep_align...
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.037] [ERROR] runCmd|npm - npm WARN enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/opt/etherpad-lite/package.json'
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.040] [ERROR] runCmd|npm - npm WARN etherpad-lite No description
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.043] [ERROR] runCmd|npm - npm WARN etherpad-lite No repository field.
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.045] [ERROR] runCmd|npm - npm WARN etherpad-lite No README data
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.048] [ERROR] runCmd|npm - npm WARN etherpad-lite No license field.
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.049] [ERROR] runCmd|npm - 
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.056] [INFO] runCmd|npm - + ep_align@0.3.73
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.056] [INFO] runCmd|npm - added 2 packages from 3 contributors and audited 784 packages in 5.616s
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.455] [INFO] runCmd|npm - 
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.456] [INFO] runCmd|npm - 71 packages are looking for funding
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.456] [INFO] runCmd|npm -   run `npm fund` for details
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.456] [INFO] runCmd|npm - 
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.456] [INFO] runCmd|npm - found 26 vulnerabilities (18 moderate, 8 high)
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.457] [INFO] runCmd|npm -   run `npm audit fix` to fix them, or `npm audit` for details
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.502] [INFO] plugins - Successfully installed plugin ep_align
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:13.502] [INFO] plugins - Running npm to get a list of installed plugins...
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:17.076] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_align...
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:17.077] [INFO] plugins - Loading plugin ep_etherpad-lite...
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:17.078] [INFO] plugins - Loaded 2 plugins
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:17.114] [INFO] settings - settings loaded from: /opt/etherpad-lite/settings.json
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:17.115] [INFO] settings - No credentials file found in /opt/etherpad-lite/credentials.json. Ignoring.
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:17.116] [INFO] settings - Using skin "colibris" in dir: /opt/etherpad-lite/src/static/skins/colibris
etherpad_1  | [2023-12-27T13:50:17.116] [INFO] settings - Random string used for versioning assets: 3947890a

[narthur]

Found this:

# Plugins must be installed before installing Etherpad's dependencies, otherwise
# npm will try to hoist common dependencies by removing them from
# src/node_modules and installing them in the top-level node_modules. As of
# v6.14.10, npm's hoist logic appears to be buggy, because it sometimes removes
# dependencies from src/node_modules but fails to add them to the top-level
# node_modules. Even if npm correctly hoists the dependencies, the hoisting
# seems to confuse tools such as `npm outdated`, `npm update`, and some ESLint
# rules.

[narthur]

If this is correct that Etherpad doesn't support installing plugins from the command line after Etherpad's dependencies have been installed, it seems like this documentation page needs to be updated:

https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite/wiki/Available-Plugins

[SamTV12345]

Did you try the latest image? Maybe that fixes the error. There I installed npm version 6.

[SamTV12345]

If this is correct that Etherpad doesn't support installing plugins from the command line after Etherpad's dependencies have been installed, it seems like this documentation page needs to be updated:

https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite/wiki/Available-Plugins

I found the error. You install it in the wrong directory. The current working directory is the root path of etherpad.
So the line must look like this:

FROM etherpad/etherpad

RUN cd /opt/etherpad-lite && \
    npm install ep_guest

[narthur]

Oh, interesting. When I tried that before, I got an error on startup that log4js couldn't be imported. Maybe the update to npm 6 fixed that problem?

[narthur]

Confirmed working:

Thank you for your help @SamTV12345!

[SamTV12345]

Oh, interesting. When I tried that before, I got an error on startup that log4js couldn't be imported. Maybe the update to npm 6 fixed that problem?

Yes that was the problem with newer npm versions. Now that we have the same npm version as the server npm version installed, this is possible again.