"Error [ERR_IPC_CHANNEL_CLOSED]: channel closed" running concurrent npm installs on CircleCI 2.0 (npm 5.1.0)

[choliver]

I'm opening this issue because:

• npm is crashing.

What's going wrong?

Running concurrent npm installs in Docker as root on CircleCI 2.0, I consistently see failures of the following form:

/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/async.js:61
        fn = function () { throw arg; };
                           ^

Error [ERR_IPC_CHANNEL_CLOSED]: channel closed
    at process.target.send (internal/child_process.js:557:16)
    at callback (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/worker-farm/lib/child/index.js:29:17)
    at tryCatcher (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/util.js:16:23)
    at Promise.successAdapter [as _fulfillmentHandler0] (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/nodeify.js:22:30)
    at Promise._settlePromise (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:566:21)
    at Promise._settlePromise0 (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:614:10)
    at Promise._settlePromises (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:693:18)
    at Promise._fulfill (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:638:18)
    at Promise._settlePromise (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:582:21)
    at Promise._settlePromise0 (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:614:10)
    at Promise._settlePromises (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:693:18)
    at Promise._fulfill (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:638:18)
    at Promise._resolveCallback (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:432:57)
    at Promise._settlePromiseFromHandler (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:524:17)
    at Promise._settlePromise (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:569:18)
    at Promise._settlePromise0 (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:614:10)
/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/async.js:61
        fn = function () { throw arg; };
                           ^

Error [ERR_IPC_CHANNEL_CLOSED]: channel closed
    at process.target.send (internal/child_process.js:557:16)
    at callback (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/worker-farm/lib/child/index.js:29:17)
    at tryCatcher (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/util.js:16:23)
    at Promise.successAdapter [as _fulfillmentHandler0] (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/nodeify.js:22:30)
    at Promise._settlePromise (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:566:21)
    at Promise._settlePromise0 (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:614:10)
    at Promise._settlePromises (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:693:18)
    at Promise._fulfill (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:638:18)
    at Promise._settlePromise (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:582:21)
    at Promise._settlePromise0 (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:614:10)
    at Promise._settlePromises (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:693:18)
    at Promise._fulfill (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:638:18)
    at Promise._resolveCallback (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:432:57)
    at Promise._settlePromiseFromHandler (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:524:17)
    at Promise._settlePromise (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:569:18)
    at Promise._settlePromise0 (/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/promise.js:614:10)
/root/my-project/.gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/bluebird/js/release/async.js:61

[... and so on over and over again ...]

Running the same thing in the same Docker image locally (i.e. not in CircleCI 2.0) works fine. So I wonder if it's related to the following issues where it worked locally, but not in Circle (this was our previous blocker prior to trying 5.1.0):

• npm gets permissions of node_modules all wrong #16766
• NPM5 Permissions Issue #16896

Also these similar Docker-related ones:

• npm install fails in Docker container on system with Docker's userns-remap enabled #16892
• npm@5 errors under docker with NFS volume #17578
• Docker: Error: Cannot find module 'semver' #16807

See also CircleCI discussions for more context on NPM/Docker/Circle weirdnesses:

• https://discuss.circleci.com/t/getting-a-weird-einval-error-with-npm-on-circleci-2-0/13465/
• https://discuss.circleci.com/t/building-of-docker-images-based-upon-8-0/13037
• https://discuss.circleci.com/t/npm-install-error-that-isnt-reproducing-in-a-local-docker-container/13085

(Note that this is being orchestrated by Gradle via the gradle-node-plugin hence the bizarre .gradle/npm/npm-v5.1.0 paths above. But this is hopefully irrelevant, as it worked fine in the pre-v5 days.)

How can the CLI team reproduce the problem?

Extracting a minimal repro will take time, because of the dependency on Circle 😢 I'll update this issue if and when I manage it 😉

Run the following under CircleCI: https://github.com/quartictech/npm-17658. It fails around 50% of the time - see e.g. https://circleci.com/gh/quartictech/npm-17658/86.

It's not yet minimal because it's still orchestrated by Gradle - I've tried invoking NPM directly with a script, and I can't make it fail in the same way. So it seems a failure occurs only if all of the following are true:

• Running in Docker in CircleCI.
• Running concurrent instances.
• Orchestrated by Gradle (or maybe Java, or at least not Bash).

I'll continue to plug away at the repro to see if I can figure out why Gradle is important.

supporting information:

• npm -v prints: 5.1.0
• node -v prints: v8.1.3
• npm config get registry prints: https://registry.npmjs.org/
• Windows, OS X/macOS, or Linux?: Debian 8 / Docker / CircleCI 2.0
• Container:
  • I develop / deploy using Docker.

[choliver]

I've created a standalone repro, although it's not yet minimal - see https://github.com/quartictech/npm-17658.

This fails around 50% of the time on CircleCI - see e.g. https://circleci.com/gh/quartictech/npm-17658/86.

It's not minimal because it's still orchestrated by Gradle - I've tried invoking NPM directly with a script, and I can't make it fail in the same way. So it seems a failure occurs only if all of the following are true:

• Running in Docker in CircleCI.
• Running concurrent instances.
• Orchestrated by Gradle (or maybe Java, or at least not Bash).

I'll continue to plug away at the repro to see if I can figure out why Gradle is important.