SAFE Stack - installing pre-requisites - f#

Question

The SAFE Stack Documentation says to install npm (amongst other things) as a pre-requisite to build SAFE apps. But the link refers to https://www.npmjs.com where you have to search for packages. But which ones? What to install? There are thousands of packages there.
UPDATE:
I have just noticed that the npm documentation says that npm comes bundled with node, & most third-party distributions, by default. So why does the SAFE Stack documentation show the link to npm? Is there any sense in it?
I have tried to install the npm package via NuGet. But whatever I do, running the SAFE standard template in VS ends with a NullReferenceException:
File helpers.fs
let runOrDefault args =
try
match args with
| [| target |] -> Target.runOrDefault target
| _ -> Target.runOrDefault "Run" //NullReferenceException
0
with e ->
printfn "%A" e
1
Entering dotnet run through a command prompt opens a console window containing these messages:
Starting target 'InstallClient'
.> "C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.CMD" install (In: false, Out: false, Err: false)
npm ERR! code EBADENGINE
npm ERR! engine Unsupported engine
npm ERR! engine Not compatible with your version of node/npm: undefined
npm ERR! notsup Not compatible with your version of node/npm: undefined
npm ERR! notsup Required: {"node":"~16","npm":"~8"}
npm ERR! notsup Actual: {"npm":"8.19.2","node":"v19.0.0"}
npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR! C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2022-11-04T11_38_04_408Z-debug-0.log
Finished (Failed) 'InstallClient' in 00:00:02.0540071
UPDATE:
In line with Tomáš Petříček's recommendation, I installed this version of node.js: Latest LTS Version: 18.12.0 (includes npm 8.19.2)
But again, NullReferenceException in VS, and the following error messages appear when using the command prompt:
Starting target 'InstallClient'
.> "C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.CMD" install (In: false, Out: false, Err: false)
npm ERR! code EBADENGINE
npm ERR! engine Unsupported engine
npm ERR! engine Not compatible with your version of node/npm: undefined
npm ERR! notsup Not compatible with your version of node/npm: undefined
npm ERR! notsup Required: {"node":"~16","npm":"~8"}
npm ERR! notsup Actual: {"npm":"8.19.2","node":"v18.12.0"}
npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR! C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\npm-cache\_logs\2022-11-04T13_19_03_959Z-debug-0.log
Finished (Failed) 'InstallClient' in 00:00:01.9942657
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Build Time Report
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Target Duration
------ --------
Clean 00:00:00.5118885
InstallClient 00:00:01.9937254 (Process exit code '1' <> 0. Command Line: C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.CMD install)
Run 00:00:00 (skipped)
Total: 00:00:02.6111670
Status: Failure
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fake.Core.BuildFailedException: Target 'InstallClient' failed.

Answer 1

I think all you need to install is Node.js from the official download page There are two versions:
LTS (stable) - version 18 and
Current (development) - version 19
I previously installed "Current" and then run into various troubles (though different ones than you are reporting). You also seem to have 19 according to the log. I gave up with Current and reverted my setup to the LTS version. So perhaps uninstalling the Node version you have right now and installing Node LTS may help.

Answer 2

These adaptations made it possible to run the SAFE standard template on my PC in line with the Quick Start guidelines:
Pre-requisites:
The .NET 6 SDK //OK
node.js (>= 8.0) //OK
npm //do not use this link
Azure CLI (optional - required for Azure deployments) //OK
Continue with guidlines 1 to 6 in the "Create your first SAFE app" section. Use cmd for the dotnet run command.
Look at the node and npm versions in this error message example:
npm ERR! notsup Actual: {"npm":"8.19.2","node":"v18.12.0"}
You may have different versions of npm and node, of course.
In line with this article by Adam Johnson, do this:
Open package.json in the root folder of the template and change the versions of npm and node accordingly, like this:
"private": true,
"engines": {
"node": "18.x",
"npm": "8.x"
}
To suppress warnings, you may add *.npmrc file containing the text string engine-strict=true next to the package.json file.
This answer, however, does not solve the problem why there is a link to npm in the pre-requisites section.
The solution in this answer looks somewhat complicated so if you have got a better idea, it will be fine if you publish it.
UPDATE 08-Nov-2022
Instructions telling you how to run/debug a SAFE Stack app in Visual Studio are here. Then no more problems with NullReferenceExceptions.