Laravel PHP Process cannot run node - php

Question

I am trying to build an angular project from a Laravel project.
When I run an exec command from Laravel I got env: node: No such file or directory
Steps to reproduce :
create Laravel project: laravel new laravel-bug
create angular project: ng new angular-bug
In the Laravel file routes/web.php, in the / route, add:
use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
$process = new Process('cd /path/to/angular-bug && ng build');
$process->run(function ($type, $buffer) {
if (Process::ERR === $type) {
echo 'ERR > '.$buffer;
} else {
echo 'OUT > '.$buffer;
}
});
This will output the result, which for me is env: node: No such file or directory
Any ideas ?

Answer 1

I've had this issue before when node wasn't in the path of the web server user. The second argument to the Process::run() method is an array of environment variables. Use it to set a path.
<?php
use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
$env = ["PATH" => "/sbin;/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/path/to/node/if/its/different"];
$process = new Process('cd /path/to/angular-bug && ng build');
$process->run(function ($type, $buffer) {
if (Process::ERR === $type) {
echo 'ERR > '.$buffer;
} else {
echo 'OUT > '.$buffer;
}
}, $env);
The problem is that somewhere in this build process something is just calling node and expecting it will be in the path. (I think I experienced it when running npm.) This is not a great thing to do, and the software should be aware of where it’s located due to a compile-time setting or information from the package management system, or it should attempt to locate it.