npm update check failed for Docker container - docker

Question

I have a React app running in a docker container with a following .Dockerfile.
FROM node:13.12.0-alpine
WORKDIR /app
ENV PATH /app/node_modules/.bin:$PATH
COPY /mvp-client-app ./
RUN npm install --silent
CMD ["npm", "start"]
When I start the container I see the following error message
> mvp-client-app#0.1.0 start /app
> react-scripts start
Attempting to bind to HOST environment variable: 0.0.0.0
If this was unintentional, check that you haven't mistakenly set it in your shell.
Learn more here:
ℹ ｢wds｣: Project is running at http://172.18.0.4/
ℹ ｢wds｣: webpack output is served from
ℹ ｢wds｣: Content not from webpack is served from /app/public
ℹ ｢wds｣: 404s will fallback to /
Starting the development server...
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ npm update check failed │
│ Try running with sudo or get access │
│ to the local update config store via │
│ sudo chown -R $USER:$(id -gn $USER) /.config │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
I was not able to add to the proposed command to the Dockerfile. How can I get rid of the message and start the container?
We are using docker-compose
version: '3.3'
services:
mvp-client:
container_name: mvp-client
build:
context: ./MVP
dockerfile: mvp-client-app/Dockerfile
ports:
- '3001:3001'
environment:
- REACT_APP_ENV=development
- COMPOSE_CONVERT_WINDOWS_PATHS=1
- HOST=0.0.0.0
- PORT=3001
user:
999:999
I try to run the container by docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml build mvp-client and docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml up mvp-client (intentionally running only the one container as others work fine). I use Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Gitlab CI/CD pipeline.
Here is the package.json
{
"name": "mvp-client-app",
"version": "0.1.0",
"private": true,
"dependencies": {
"#blueprintjs/core": "^3.31.0",
"#blueprintjs/icons": "^3.20.1",
"#storybook/node-logger": "^6.0.3",
"#testing-library/jest-dom": "^5.11.3",
"#testing-library/react": "^10.4.8",
"#testing-library/user-event": "^12.1.1",
"axios": "^0.19.2",
"debug": "^4.1.1",
"echarts": "^4.7.0",
"echarts-for-react": "^2.0.15-beta.1",
"immer": "^7.0.7",
"lodash": "^4.17.15",
"node-gyp": "^7.1.0",
"react": "^16.13.0",
"react-dom": "^16.13.0",
"react-ga": "^3.1.2",
"react-google-recaptcha": "^2.1.0",
"react-lines-ellipsis": "^0.14.1",
"react-mosaic-component": "^4.1.1",
"react-notifications": "^1.6.0",
"react-redux": "^7.2.1",
"react-scripts": "^3.4.2",
"react-spinners": "^0.9.0",
"rebuild": "^0.1.2",
"redux": "^4.0.5",
"redux-thunk": "^2.3.0",
"socket.io-client": "^2.3.0",
"styled-components": "^5.1.1"
},
"scripts": {
"start": "react-scripts start",
"build": "react-scripts build",
"test": "react-scripts test",
"eject": "react-scripts eject",
"storybook": "start-storybook -p 9009 -s public",
"build-storybook": "build-storybook -s public"
},
"eslintConfig": {
"extends": "react-app"
},
"browserslist": {
"production": [
">0.2%",
"not dead",
"not op_mini all"
],
"development": [
"last 1 chrome version",
"last 1 firefox version",
"last 1 safari version"
]
},
"devDependencies": {
"#storybook/addon-actions": "^6.0.3",
"#storybook/addon-docs": "^6.0.3",
"#storybook/addon-knobs": "^6.0.3",
"#storybook/addon-links": "^6.0.3",
"#storybook/addon-storysource": "^6.0.3",
"#storybook/addons": "^6.0.3",
"#storybook/preset-create-react-app": "^3.1.4",
"#storybook/react": "^6.0.3"
}
}

Answer 1

I was solved by adding stdin_open: true to docker-compose.yml (see this question for further details).
version: '3.3'
services:
mvp-client:
container_name: mvp-client
build:
context: ./MVP
dockerfile: mvp-client-app/Dockerfile
ports:
- '3001:3001'
environment:
- REACT_APP_ENV=development
- COMPOSE_CONVERT_WINDOWS_PATHS=1
- HOST=0.0.0.0
- PORT=3001
user:
999:999
stdin_open: true

Answer 2

I wasn't using using docker-compose, so this solution did not work for me.
However, I got to the root cause, and this might help someone.
npm is looking for config in user's home, and with Docker scenario, there sometimes is no user and hence no home directory. Assigning
env HOME [same as WORKDIR]
in Dockerfile helped a lot.