Node red on Mac mini m2 starting as a service can't execute commands via exec node

General
1

Hello I've installed node-red on my macmini m2 running 15.4.1 Sequoia.

Everything is working fine - if is start NR by terminal (cmd node-red) the exec node is working as expected - commands are executed correctly.

But if NR is starting automatically on startup via LaunchAgent script - I'm facing a problem concerning permissions I guess, when I try to execute commands via the exec node.
The commands are not executed I recieve an error 127 e.g. /bin/sh: cp: command not found

Can someone point me to the right direction what I've to do ??

Thanks in advance

2

Hi @mac89muc

Welcome to the forums :smiley:

One potential, the cp command is a binary in it's own right, it's not built into the shell

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It's very possible, the $PATH variable is not seen by the process (node)

The $PATH variable contains the location of /bin

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Maybe try printing the $PATH variable using the exec node to check if this variable is seen

$PATH

A users shell, will envelop the $PATH variable, and will check these location(s) for commands.

I'm using an M2 Pro Mini.
But only Node RED on it for dev purposes

3

Try using the command
which cp
to give you the full path to the command, and put that in the exec node. On my Ubuntu system I see

which cp
/usr/bin/cp

If that doesn't help, how did you install node-red? Is it running in Docker for example? If so then it may be necessary to install cp in the container.

4

thank you guys - that solution with the full path in the exec command is working for me.

which cp is giving me /bin/cp
$PATH is containing /bin so is there a chance to give the node process access to the $PATH variable?

If I start nr by terminal command node-red I have no problems - only if I start the node-red process automatically by launch agent.

5

The problem is that when running automatically the PATH environment variable does not exist. I don't use Macs, but I expect that googling for something like
How to set an environment variable when starting with LaunchAgent
will help.

Though personally I would just use the full path rather than messing about with env vars.

6

Add this to your launch agent plist

<key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
<dict>
    <key>PATH</key>
    <string>/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/sbin</string>
</dict>

@Colin's will work also, its just my preference to allow any launch agent's to see the path variable.

whatever works better for you.

its been a whilst since I done this, so research if committing to the above

source : launchd - How to extend PATH of LaunchAgents in ~/Library/LaunchAgents? - Ask Different