nodeenv 0.7.3

Node.js virtual environment builder

Node.js virtual environment

nodeenv (node.js virtual environment) is a tool to create isolated node.js environments.

It creates an environment that has its own installation directories, that doesn’t share libraries with other node.js virtual environments.

Also new environment can be integrated with environment which was built by virtualenv (python).

Install

Global installation

You can install nodeenv globally with easy_install:

$ sudo easy_install nodeenv

or pip:

$ sudo pip install nodeenv

Local installation

If you’re using virtualenv then you can install nodeenv via pip/easy_install inside any virtual environment built with virtualenv:

$ virtualenv env
$ . env/bin/activate
(env) $ pip install nodeenv
(env) $ nodeenv --version
0.6.5

If you want to work with the latest version of the nodeenv you can install it from the github repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/ekalinin/nodeenv.git
$ ./nodeenv/nodeenv.py --help

Dependency

For nodeenv

• make

• curl

• egrep

• sort

• tail

• tar

For node.js

• python

• libssl-dev

Usage

Basic

Create new environment:

$ nodeenv env

Activate new environment:

$ . env/bin/activate

Chek versions of main packages:

(env) $ node -v
v0.4.6

(env) $ npm -v
0.3.18

Deactivate environment:

(env) $ deactivate_node

Advanced

Get available node.js versions:

$ nodeenv --list
0.0.1   0.0.2   0.0.3   0.0.4   0.0.5   0.0.6   0.1.0
0.1.2   0.1.3   0.1.4   0.1.5   0.1.6   0.1.7   0.1.8
0.1.10  0.1.11  0.1.12  0.1.13  0.1.14  0.1.15  0.1.16
0.1.18  0.1.19  0.1.20  0.1.21  0.1.22  0.1.23  0.1.24
0.1.26  0.1.27  0.1.28  0.1.29  0.1.30  0.1.31  0.1.32
0.1.90  0.1.91  0.1.92  0.1.93  0.1.94  0.1.95  0.1.96
0.1.98  0.1.99  0.1.100 0.1.101 0.1.102 0.1.103 0.1.104
0.2.1   0.2.2   0.2.3   0.2.4   0.2.5   0.2.6   0.3.0
0.3.2   0.3.3   0.3.4   0.3.5   0.3.6   0.3.7   0.3.8
0.4.1   0.4.2   0.4.3   0.4.4   0.4.5   0.4.6

Install node.js “0.4.3” without ssl support with 4 parallel commands for compilation and npm.js “0.3.17”:

$ nodeenv --without-ssl --node=0.4.3 --npm=0.3.17 --jobs=4 env-4.3

Create a new environment with the system-wide node.js:

$ nodeenv --node=system

Saving into the file versions of all installed packages:

$ . env-4.3/bin/activate
(env-4.3)$ npm install -g express
(env-4.3)$ npm install -g jade
(env-4.3)$ freeze ../prod-requirements.txt

Create environment copy from requirement file:

$ nodeenv --requirement=../prod-requirements.txt --jobs=4 env-copy

Requirements files are plain text files that contain a list of packages to be installed. These text files allow you to create repeatable installations. Requirements file example:

$ cat ../prod-requirements.txt
connect@1.3.0
express@2.2.2
jade@0.10.4
mime@1.2.1
npm@0.3.17
qs@0.0.7

If you’re already have python virtualenv tool, and want to use nodeenv and virtualenv in conjunction, then you should create (or activate) python virtual environment:

# in case of using virtualenv_wrapper
$ mkvirtualenv my_env

# in case of using virtualenv
$ . my_env/bin/activate

and add node virtual environment to this existing new_venv:

$ nodeenv -p

If you need to set the path to make used to build node:

$ nodeenv -m /usr/local/bin/gmake ENV

That’s all. Now, all your node.js modules will be installed into your virtual environment:

$ workon my_env
$ npm install -g coffee-script
$ which coffee
/home/monty/virtualenvs/my_env/bin/coffee

If environment’s directory already exists then you can use --force option:

$ nodeenv --requirement=./requirements.txt --jobs=4 --force env

If you alredy have an environment and want to update packages from requirements file you can use --update option:

$ . env-4.3/bin/activate
(env-4.3)$ nodeenv --update=./requirements.txt

Alternatives

There are several alternatives that create isolated environments:

• nave - Virtual Environments for Node. Nave stores all environments in one directory ~/.nave. Can create per node version environments using nave use envname versionname. Can not pass additional arguments into configure (for example –without-ssl) Can’t run on windows because it relies on bash.

• nvm - Node Version Manager. It is necessarily to do nvm sync for caching available node.js version. Can not pass additional arguments into configure (for example –without-ssl)

• virtualenv — Virtual Python Environment builder. For python only.

Nodeenv changelog

Version 0.7.3

• Fixed npm.js redirect. See # 52

• Added --update option. See # 25

Version 0.7.2

• Bug fixing in freeze. See # 47

Version 0.7.1

• Added --make option

Version 0.7.0

• added --force. See # 37

• python3 support (first steps). See # 38, # 39

• escaping all directories used by subprocesses. See # 40

• added an option to use system-wide node. See # 41

Version 0.6.6

• Fixed incomplete package names using freeze. See # 35

• Fixed packages installation type in README. See # 33

Version 0.6.5

• Node’s source not loaded if it already exists in FS.

Version 0.6.4

• Added python3 compatibility. See # 32

Version 0.6.3

• Fixed nodeenv -p. See issue # 31

Version 0.6.2

• Skipped stand-alone npm installation by default. See pull # 30

• --without-npm has been changed to --with-npm. See pull # 30

• Fixed options for running Make instances in parallel. See pull # 30

Version 0.6.1

• Used pkg_resources.parse_version to compare versions. See pull # 29

• Fixed doubling prompt inside a virtualenv. See issues # 26

Version 0.6.0

• Fixed typo in deactive command. See pull # 20

• Not used “–insecure” to download npm. See pull # 21

• Removed “src” directory after installation. See pull # 22

• Added option “–clean-src”

• Added integration with python’s virtualenv. See pull # 23

Version 0.5.3

• Bug fix. Used https, /dist/latest/. See pull # 16

Version 0.5.2

• Improved installation logic for release candidate versions. See pull # 10

Version 0.5.1

• Improved logic for the option ‘–without-npm’. See issue # 14, pull # 15

Version 0.5.0

• The virtual environment’s path is no longer hardcoded into the activation script. See pull # 13

Version 0.4.3

• Fixed metavar for --npm

• npm install -g used for npm >=1.0, not noly for latest

Version 0.4.2

• Added README.ru.rst

Version 0.4.1

• Fixed bug in print_node_versions. See pull # 11

• Added deps in README

Version 0.4.0

• Compatibility with virtualenv (renamed deactivate to deactivate_node). See pull # 9, issue # 6

Version 0.3.10

• Fixed bug in url detection for node.js download

Version 0.3.9

• Deleted notify method calls. See pull # 7

• Updated tar url for node.js > 0.5.0. See pull # 8

Version 0.3.8

• Added NODE_PATH variable export (for correct module search after installation via npm)

Version 0.3.7

• Shows command output when error occurs

• Excluded ‘npm’ from freeze list

• Fixed bug with ‘not only letter’ names in freeze list

• Added global installation for npm >= 1.0 (when install soft from requirement file)

Version 0.3.6

• Fixed freeze output command. See request # 5

• Diagnostic message fixed. See pull # 4

Version 0.3.5

• Added option --npm to install certain npm.js version. Request .

• Fixed freeze command for npm >= 1.0.x.

Version 0.3.4

• Fixed problem #2 with new npm installation script. Added --no-npm-clean option. The default to the npm 0.x cleanup.

Version 0.3.3

• Fixed problem #1 with installation from PyPI via easy_install. Added MANIFEST.in file.

Version 0.3.2

• Internal improvements

• Logging refactoring

Version 0.3.1

• Default environment promt is folder name

Version 0.3.0

• Renamed nve to nodeenv