What role does NPM play in the deployment of a Node.js App with AWS Beanstalk?

I'm interested in the workflow of an AWS Beanstalk deployment, particularly regarding the installation of packages. I assume that npm is used during the process to install packages on the server(s). However, I am curious to know if AWS Beanstalk utilizes the 'npm install --production' command to install packages. In my current setup, I have a packages.json file with both dependencies and devDependencies listed. I want to ensure that only the dependencies are being installed and not the devDependencies.

"dependencies": {
  "express": "3.4.4",
  "jade": "*",
  "restify": "~2.6.0",
  "assert": "~1.0.0",
  "orchestrate": "0.0.2",
  "chance": "~0.5.3"
}, 
"devDependencies": {
  "mocha": "~1.15.1"
}
javascriptamazon-web-servicesnpmamazon-elastic-beanstalk

Answer №1

To configure AWS Elastic Beanstalk to run npm install in production mode, simply set the environment variable NPM_CONFIG_PRODUCTION=true. You can easily do this using the Elastic Beanstalk web console.

Alternatively, you can achieve the same configuration by saving the following text to a file with the suffix .config within a directory named .ebextensions at the project root:

option_settings:

  - option_name: NPM_CONFIG_PRODUCTION
    value: true

Remember to use spaces instead of tabs when working with YAML format files.

After implementing this change, I noticed a significant decrease in the time it took to update new node.js code on a t1.micro environment – from about 5 minutes to just 90 seconds. This was due to avoiding the installation of unnecessary devDependencies like grunt, karma, and mocha.

Answer №2

The Elastic Beanstalk Node's stacks have undergone changes in the latest updates, as highlighted in a comment by @etreworgy.

To see the current behavior, you can run the following command inside an EC2 instance:

cat /opt/elasticbeanstalk/containerfiles/ebnode.py | grep -A 5 PRODUCTION

The output currently shows:

        if 'NPM_USE_PRODUCTION' not in npm_env:
            npm_env['NPM_USE_PRODUCTION'] = 'true'

        if npm_env['NPM_USE_PRODUCTION'] == 'true':
            print 'Running npm with --production flag'
            check_call([npm_path, '--production', 'install'], cwd=app_path, env=npm_env)
            check_call([npm_path, '--production', 'rebuild'], cwd=app_path, env=npm_env)
        else:
            print 'Running npm without --production flag'

Therefore, the default setting is to use npm install --production.

If you wish to disable this feature (as I did when encountering this answer), you must create a file named anything.config within a .ebextensions folder at the root of your project directory. The actual name of the file can be anything you like, such as 'node', 'npm', or any other desired identifier. the contents should include:

option_settings:
    - namespace: aws:elasticbeanstalk:application:environment
      option_name: NPM_USE_PRODUCTION
      value: false

Answer №3

At present, the Elastic Beanstalk setup executes npm install without including the --production flag. This action occurs on the instance located at 

/opt/elasticbeanstalk/containerfiles/ebnode.py
prior to exporting any environment customizations provided by the developer (for example, environment option settings). As a result, even setting NODE_ENV=production in the EB Environment's configuration does not stop devDependencies from being processed.

Answer №4

Another choice is utilizing npm-shrinkwrap, providing the added advantage of enabling you to freeze your dependencies simultaneously.

AWS Elastic Beanstalk mentions it on this link.

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