Command not found

[ju5t]

Last week I switched to a new laptop. The OS is MacOS (M1). When I try to create a PDF it gives the following error:

sh: npm: command not found sh: node: command not found

This is for the following command:

The command "PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin NODE_PATH=`npm root -g` node '/myhomefolder/vendor/spatie/browsershot/src/../bin/browser.js' '{"url":"file:\/\/\/var\/tmp\/486982453-0399117001637137714\/index.html","action":"pdf","options":{"args":[],"viewport":{"width":800,"height":600},"displayHeaderFooter":false,"format":"A4","margin":{"top":"60mm","right":"15mm","bottom":"40mm","left":"15mm"},"waitUntil":"networkidle0","printBackground":true}}'"

The error is pretty clear. It can't find the two commands. This feels like a $PATH issue. I tested the command as my own user and that works. The $PATH in PHP/Nginx is different though. It doesn't include /opt/homebrew/bin/ (where these binaries live) by default.

I've added /opt/homebrew/bin/ in /etc/paths.d/homebrew and restarted Valet. After the change, php.ini does give a $PATH which now includes these two paths. But the command still fails.

PHP is not restricted and should be able to access that path. When I run a basic selfmade script, it does work:

<?php

$output = null;
exec('node --version', $output);
print_r($output);

So, eh, help? :)

edit: it does work when I use setIncludePath, but I prefer a server based solution instead. I prefer not to change the path in PHP.

[aerni]

I just created a PR that fixes this issue: #581

[bryanjamesmiller]

I'm having a similar issue where the path on my computer that I need to use is: /Users/bryanmiller/.nvm/versions/node/v14.17.6/bin - but other developers/servers will have different paths and setups. Any suggestions?

[plweil]

@bryanjamesmiller Did you find a fix for this? I'm having the exact same issue.

[plweil]

@bryanjamesmiller and others who might run into this. I solved this by setting the node and npm binaries:

      $pdfContent = Browsershot::html($html)
        ->setNodeBinary('/Users/myhomedir/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.2/bin/node')
        ->setNpmBinary('/Users/myhomedir/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.2/bin/npm')
        ->pdf();

I'm not sure yet how to best manage this when node versions change.

[henrikruscon]

This was an issue for me as well, thanks @plweil.

Albeit not ideal for server environment, is nvm the issue here?

[plweil]

Yeah, having changeable versions of node, whether via nvm or whatever else, makes this a bit of a challenge to manage.

[joshuadegier]

Just adding my two cents to this topic. As I'm using node version manager the default paths still won't do the trick for my setup. As far as I can tell the only way to do this is using setNodeBinary and setNpmBinary which both would cause errors in production environments. Which could be worked around by using an environment setting holding the paths.

I suppose the best option you have if you run a similar setup as me is using setIncludePath where you would add your default path to the list as wel. For example:

->setIncludePath('$PATH:/Users/macbook/.nvm/versions/node/v12.22.10/bin')

Your path can be found by running which npm and which node in your terminal.

Still open for other suggestions, but I guess node version manager just is one of those things you really can't take into account in this package as the paths are different for everybody.

[marcorieser]

Same here

[lance2k]

This was fixed with setIncludePath, but other developers/servers will have different paths and setups. Any suggestions other than reverting to nodesource installer?

[benlumley]

To to make this nicer.... I've gone with this in AppServiceProvider

    $this->app->extend(PdfFactory::class, function (PdfFactory $service)  : PdfFactory {
            $service->default()->withBrowsershot(function (Browsershot $browsershot): void {
                // this is to make nvm node be used - only needed on local
                if (!empty(config('app.node_path')) && is_dir(config('app.node_path'))) {
                    $browsershot->setIncludePath('$PATH:' . config('app.node_path'));
                }
            });
            return $service;
        }); 

• in config/app.php - 'node_path' => env('NODE_PATH'),

Then you set the NODE_PATH env var if you need it; if not set - gets ignored.
Makes this hack workable for me.

[benlumley]

oh... wrong repo; kinda. I'm using spatie/laravelpdf