[full] Update node version to LTS

[JesterOrNot]

Updates from 10.19.0 -> 12.16.1

[jankeromnes]

@JesterOrNot Thanks a lot!

Please test this on Theia, because Theia is:

• a big project that relies heavily on Node.js
• an important project that we really don't want to break
• a project that broke before due to a Node.js upgrade

To do so, please:

1. fork https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia
2. change the fork's base image to gitpod/workspace-full-vnc:branch-sh-nvm
3. open the fork in Gitpod, and verify that Theia builds successfully, that you're able to start Theia in a new preview, and that the development experience generally works great (i.e. the TypeScript language server, jump to definition, rename symbol, etc)

[JesterOrNot]

@jankeromnes, Yea it breaks theia, where do we go from here, the way I see it if we become more and more out of date if we leave it.

[jankeromnes]

Thanks a lot for testing it! Please request support for Node.js LTS by filing an issue against https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia, and copy/paste the full error messages you're seeing with Node.js LTS.

I agree that we should get to a point where we always ship the latest stable version of each tool in workspace-full.

[akosyakov]

https://github.com/eclipse-theia/theia/blob/d5a60bb069bdb126dcdf0166bc69cca1014eb291/.gitpod.dockerfile#L14-L19 does not help?

[JesterOrNot]

@akosyakov No, however something like

RUN bash -cl "echo -e \"\nnvm use 10\" >> ~/.bashrc"

Could maybe work in conjunction with the previous instruction

[jankeromnes]

FYI the workspace-dotnet build failed with:

Too long with no output (exceeded 10m0s): context deadline exceeded

The fix is to increase that job's no-output time out, e.g. like so:

workspace-images/.circleci/config.yml

Line 86 in 95be4db

no_output_timeout: 30m

[jankeromnes]

@JesterOrNot please rebase this Pull Request, and also rebase the test branch in your Theia fork and try this again.

There are new node / nvm fixes in both workspace-images and Theia that should help make this work.

[jankeromnes]

I tried to test this again, but the nvm dir is still being forcefully added to the PATH:

gitpod /workspace/theia $ echo $PATH | sed 's_:_\n_g' | sort
/bin
/home/gitpod/.cargo/bin
/home/gitpod/.cargo/bin
/home/gitpod/.cargo/bin
/home/gitpod/go/bin
/home/gitpod/go-packages/bin
/home/gitpod/.nvm/versions/node/v12.16.1/bin
/home/gitpod/.pyenv/bin
/home/gitpod/.pyenv/plugins/pyenv-virtualenv/shims
/home/gitpod/.pyenv/plugins/pyenv-virtualenv/shims
/home/gitpod/.pyenv/shims
/home/gitpod/.pyenv/shims
/home/gitpod/.pyenv/shims
/home/gitpod/.rvm/bin
/home/gitpod/.rvm/bin
/home/gitpod/.rvm/bin
/home/gitpod/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.6.3/bin
/home/gitpod/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.6.3@global/bin
/home/gitpod/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.6.3/bin
/home/gitpod/.sdkman/candidates/gradle/current/bin
/home/gitpod/.sdkman/candidates/java/current/bin
/home/gitpod/.sdkman/candidates/maven/current/bin
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/bin
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/sbin/
/sbin
/usr/bin
/usr/local/bin
/usr/local/sbin
/usr/sbin
/workspace/.cargo/bin
/workspace/.cargo/bin
/workspace/go/bin
/workspace/.pip-modules/bin
/workspace/.pip-modules/bin
/workspace/.rvm/bin
/workspace/.rvm/bin

Also, many directories are added twice. While this isn't a big issue, it's not super clean and potentially makes searching for binaries a fraction of a second slower.

[jankeromnes]

But since the PATH force-add was removed in 6f17595, I think that the test is not relevant.

I.e., Gitpod is likely pulling an older gitpod/workspace-full-vnc:branch-sh-nvm version from its cache, so we're not actually testing the newest state of this PR. I'm not sure how to make Gitpod clear the Docker cache. Worst case we'll have to re-publish the newest image under a different tag (e.g. by opening a new PR).

[jankeromnes]

FYI, we've decided to keep the hard-coded Node.js version in the PATH for now, but upgrade to LTS.

The reason for keeping the hard-coded version is that the Node.js debugging extension requires which node to work without sourcing ~/.bashrc.

This way most projects will have a convenient setup that just works (no extra step required to get Node.js LTS). It will only get a little awkward for projects who need a different Node.js version, because they will need to add this to their .gitpod.Dockerfile:

FROM gitpod/workspace-full

# Install & use custom Node.js version
ENV NODE_VERSION=10.19.0
RUN bash -c ". .nvm/nvm.sh && \
        nvm install ${NODE_VERSION} && \
        nvm alias default ${NODE_VERSION}"`
ENV PATH=/home/gitpod/.nvm/versions/node/v${NODE_VERSION}/bin:$PATH

(Note that the new hard-coded Node.js binary path should be "in front of" (i.e. "left of") the pre-existing $PATH, otherwise the old hard-coded version will prevail.)

[jankeromnes]

Tested with jankeromnes/theia@02b0463, it works well!

Required this Theia fix though: jankeromnes/theia@16d697f (which I'll need to contribute upstream)

[akosyakov]

It will only get a little awkward for projects who need a different Node.js version, because they will need to add this to their Dockerfile:

@jankeromnes sounds like something worth to add to Gitpod docs

[jankeromnes]

Required this Theia fix though: jankeromnes/theia@16d697f (which I'll need to contribute upstream)

Done in eclipse-theia/theia#7404

It will only get a little awkward for projects who need a different Node.js version, because they will need to add this to their Dockerfile:

@jankeromnes sounds like something worth to add to Gitpod docs

Hmm, true. While this is awkward and "temporary" until we find a better solution, it seems to be the current "official" way to change Node.js versions.

@nisarhassan12 Could you please mention the trick described in #178 (comment) about how to switch to a different Node.js version, in your upcoming "JavaScript in Gitpod" guide?

[nisarhassan12]

@jankeromnes Thanks! sure.

[jankeromnes]

This seems to work very well!

Tomorrow, we are about to release a Gitpod.io update that will make the Theia IDE use its own Node.js v10 binary regardless of what Node.js version is used by default in the workspace.

So, assuming the deployment goes well and sticks, we will be able to merge this PR into master, e.g. on Thursday Friday. 🚀

[jankeromnes]

Small CircleCI hiccup with the gitpod/workspace-dotnet image:

3d07dc885a78: Pushing  17.43GB/16.98GB

Too long with no output (exceeded 30m0s): context deadline exceeded

Should probably bump the timeout just in case.

[JesterOrNot]

Awesome!