Upgrade node-red on raspberry pi

General
1

Hi,
Some time ago I installed Node Red on my Raspberry Pi Zero. I think it was Node Red version 1.2.9 or something like that. I have used it for "sandbox'ing" to test different things with ZigBee/MQTT/Tasmota/... and yesterday I needed to upgrade a library for a MQTT part, and it said, my Node Red installation was way out of date. So I started to upgrade...

The short version: I have upgraded nodejs to version 16.3.0, and tried the

bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered)

to upgrade Node Red. But when the script has finished, Node Red does not work; When I run node-red-start

... I just get the message

shell-init: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent directories: No such file or directory

sh: 0: getcwd() failed: No such file or directory
Node-RED is not yet fully installed. Please re-run the install script again manually.

   bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered)

then retry  node-red-start

When looking in the log-file ( /var/log/nodered-install.log) it says:

If you want the installer to recreate the systemd script, please delete or rena$
ln: failed to create symbolic link '/usr/bin/python': File exists
Now add launcher to top bar, add cpu temp example, make sure ping works
The user pi' is already a member of gpio'.

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
python3-rpi.gpio is already the newest version (0.7.0-0.1~bpo10+4).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Allow binding to low ports : n
Memory  : 530M
Started :  Mon Oct 31 15:11:43 CET 2022
Finished:  Mon Oct 31 15:20:53 CET 2022

I found a similar description here: https://discourse.nodered.org/t/solved-node-red-v3-0-0-pi-installer-script-node-red-does-not-start-after-installer-is-finished-setting-js-no-such-file-or-directory/65085/2 and have tried the solution with using sudo npm install -g --unsafe-perm node-red but it does not give me Node Red back.

Can someone give me a hint to what to try and what I miss in trying to upgrade?

/Henrik

2

@henrik1 welcome to the forum!

  1. what OS do you have running on the Pi? (from the terminal run lsb_release -c)
  2. What user did you run the install script under?
  3. Did you runt the install script using 'sudo' (I hope not)
  4. If you do a cd $HOME/.node-red & ls -al, do you get output showing files and do a
  5. please run cat /var/log/nodered-install.log and copy and paste the results to a reply

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3

Also make sure that these commands succeed
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade

4

@Colin It says that all packages are up-to-date

@zenofmud Thank you for your reply. First regarding the quotes for showing code, That should be fixed now.

It says Codename: buster

The user is pi

The first script bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered) was run without sudo while the last one tried sudo npm install -g --unsafe-perm node-red was with sudo

I get

[1] 4857
total 12
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4096 Jan 11  2021 .
drwxr-xr-x 18 root root 4096 Jan 11  2021 ..
drwxr-xr-x  9 pi   pi   4096 Oct 30 21:06 pi
[1]+  Done                    cd $HOME/.node-red

I get

Already have nodejs v16.3.0
OLD nodejs 16 :
NEW nodejs  :

***************************************

Started : Mon Oct 31 15:11:43 CET 2022
Running for user pi at /home/pi
Found global nodes:   :

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
Package 'nodered' is not installed, so not removed
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

Versions: node:v16.3.0 npm:8.19.2
Now install Node-RED

added 8 packages, removed 15 packages, and changed 284 packages in 7m
3.0.2
Now create basic package.json for the user and move any global nodes
Installing extra nodes: node-red-node-pi-gpio@latest node-red-node-random@latest node-red-node-ping@latest node-red-contrib-play-audio@latest node-red-node-smooth@latest node-red-node-serialport@latest node-red-contrib-buffer-parser@latest :

up to date in 23s
Now add the shortcut and start/stop/log scripts to the menu
Now add systemd script and configure it for pi:pi @ /home/pi
Customized systemd script found @ /lib/systemd/system/nodered.service. To prevent loss of modifications, we'll not recreate the systemd script.
If you want the installer to recreate the systemd script, please delete or rename the current script & re-run the installer.
ln: failed to create symbolic link '/usr/bin/python': File exists
Now add launcher to top bar, add cpu temp example, make sure ping works
The user `pi' is already a member of `gpio'.

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
python3-rpi.gpio is already the newest version (0.7.0-0.1~bpo10+4).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Allow binding to low ports : n
Memory  : 530M
Started :  Mon Oct 31 15:11:43 CET 2022
Finished:  Mon Oct 31 15:20:53 CET 2022
5

Can you show us that again, including the line where you enter the command please?
Also
echo $HOME

6

Sure;

pi@homeautomatic:/home $ cd $HOME/.node-red & ls -al
[1] 4857
total 12
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4096 Jan 11  2021 .
drwxr-xr-x 18 root root 4096 Jan 11  2021 ..
drwxr-xr-x  9 pi   pi   4096 Oct 30 21:06 pi
[1]+  Done                    cd $HOME/.node-red

And echo $HOME

pi@homeautomatic:~ $ echo $HOME
/home/pi
7

Oops, my mistake, there should be two & not one. Please run
cd $HOME/.node-red && ls -al
and copy/paste the results

and could you try the NR install using
bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered) --node16

This is what I got and you should see something similar:

pi@testpi:~ $ bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered) --node16

Running Node-RED install for user pi at /home/pi on raspbian


This can take 20-30 minutes on the slower Pi versions - please wait.

  Stop Node-RED                       ✔
  Remove old version of Node-RED      ✔
  Remove old version of Node.js       ✔   v14.19.1
  Install Node.js for Armv6           ✔   v16.18.0   Npm 8.19.2
  Clean npm cache                     ✔
  Install Node-RED core               ✔   3.0.2
  Move global nodes to local          -
  Npm rebuild existing nodes          ✔
  Install extra Pi nodes              ✔
  Add shortcut commands               ✔
  Update systemd script               -   Skipped - existing script is customized.
                                      

Any errors will be logged to   /var/log/nodered-install.log
All done.
You can now start Node-RED with the command  node-red-start
  or using the icon under   Menu / Programming / Node-RED
Then point your browser to localhost:1880 or http://{your_pi_ip-address}:1880

Started :  Tue  1 Nov 03:12:29 EDT 2022 
Finished:  Tue  1 Nov 03:23:16 EDT 2022
 
Just FYI : Your settings.js file is different from the latest defaults.
You may wish to run
   diff -y --suppress-common-lines /usr/lib/node_modules/node-red/settings.js /home/pi/.node-red/settings.js
to compare them and see what the latest options are.
 
**********************************************************************************
 ### WARNING ###
 DO NOT EXPOSE NODE-RED TO THE OPEN INTERNET WITHOUT SECURING IT FIRST
 
 Follow the guide at https://nodered.org/docs/user-guide/runtime/securing-node-red
 to setup security.
 
 ### ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS ###
  - Remove the /etc/sudoers.d/010_pi-nopasswd file to require entering your password
    when performing any sudo/root commands:
 
      sudo rm -f /etc/sudoers.d/010_pi-nopasswd
 
  - Change the ownership of its settings file to 'root' to prevent unauthorised changes:

      sudo chown root:root ~/.node-red/settings.js
 
**********************************************************************************
8 
pi@homeautomatic:~ $ cd $HOME/.node-red && ls -al
total 348
drwxr-xr-x   4 pi pi   4096 Oct 30 19:53 .
drwxr-xr-x   9 pi pi   4096 Oct 30 21:06 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi  25570 Oct 30 19:53 .config.nodes.json
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi  26240 Oct 30 19:53 .config.nodes.json.backup
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi     95 Feb  6  2021 .config.runtime.json
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi    333 Feb  7  2021 .config.users.json
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi    331 Feb  7  2021 .config.users.json.backup
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi  21112 Oct 30 19:53 .flows_homeautomatic.json.backup
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi    432 Jul 18  2021 .flows_homeautomatic_cred.json.backup
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi  20992 Oct 30 19:53 flows_homeautomatic.json
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi    504 Jul 18  2021 flows_homeautomatic_cred.json
drwxr-xr-x   3 pi pi   4096 Feb  6  2021 lib
drwxr-xr-x 216 pi pi  12288 Oct 30 20:05 node_modules
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi 183252 Oct 31 15:20 package-lock.json
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi    783 Oct 30 20:06 package.json
-rw-r--r--   1 pi pi  13261 Feb  6  2021 settings.js

I did, and got the following

Running Node-RED install for user pi at /home/pi on raspbian


This can take 20-30 minutes on the slower Pi versions - please wait.

  Stop Node-RED                       ✔
  Remove old version of Node-RED      ✔
  Remove old version of Node.js       ✔   v16.3.0
  Install Node.js for Armv6           ✔   v16.3.0   Npm 8.19.2
  Clean npm cache                     ✔
  Install Node-RED core               ✔   3.0.2
  Move global nodes to local          -
  Npm rebuild existing nodes          ✔
  Install extra Pi nodes              ✔
  Add shortcut commands               ✔
  Update systemd script               -   Skipped - existing script is customized.

Any errors will be logged to   /var/log/nodered-install.log

All done.
You can now start Node-RED with the command  node-red-start
  or using the icon under   Menu / Programming / Node-RED
Then point your browser to localhost:1880 or http://{your_pi_ip-address}:1880

Started :  Tue Nov  1 16:28:00 CET 2022
Finished:  Tue Nov  1 16:40:54 CET 2022

Just FYI : Your settings.js file is different from the latest defaults.
You may wish to run
   diff -y --suppress-common-lines /usr/lib/node_modules/node-red/settings.js /home/pi/.node-red/settings.js
to compare them and see what the latest options are.

**********************************************************************************
 ### WARNING ###
 DO NOT EXPOSE NODE-RED TO THE OPEN INTERNET WITHOUT SECURING IT FIRST

 Follow the guide at https://nodered.org/docs/user-guide/runtime/securing-node-red
 to setup security.

 ### ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS ###
  - Remove the /etc/sudoers.d/010_pi-nopasswd file to require entering your password
    when performing any sudo/root commands:

      sudo rm -f /etc/sudoers.d/010_pi-nopasswd

  - Change the ownership of its settings file to 'root' to prevent unauthorised changes:

      sudo chown root:root ~/.node-red/settings.js

**********************************************************************************

But still, when I afterwards run node-red-start I get

pi@homeautomatic:~/.node-red $ node-red-start

Node-RED is not yet fully installed. Please re-run the install script again manually.

   bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered)

then retry  node-red-start
9

Most odd... the install looked good.
What does which node report.
You aren't using something like nvm or n to manage node version are you ?

10

-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 20992 Oct 30 19:53 flows_homeautomatic.json
Are you running Home Automation/Home Automation?
If so, you should be running their install.

11

I see that the install did not update your node red service file, as you had, apparently, already modified it. Can you show us what is in it please
cat /lib/systemd/system/nodered.service

12 
/usr/sbin/node

I don't think I am using nvm or n. I don't recall using that.

If I recall it right, I choose the name homeautomatic name myself.

Sure, it shows

pi@homeautomatic:~ $ cat /lib/systemd/system/nodered.service
# systemd service file to start Node-RED

[Unit]
Description=Node-RED graphical event wiring tool
Wants=network.target
Documentation=http://nodered.org/docs/hardware/raspberrypi.html

[Service]
Type=simple
# Run as normal pi user - change to the user name you wish to run Node-RED as
User=pi
Group=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi

Environment="NODE_OPTIONS=--max_old_space_size=256"
# uncomment and edit next line if you need an http proxy
#Environment="HTTP_PROXY=my.httpproxy.server.address"
# uncomment the next line for a more verbose log output
#Environment="NODE_RED_OPTIONS=-v"
# uncomment next line if you need to wait for time sync before starting
#ExecStartPre=/bin/bash -c '/bin/journalctl -b -u systemd-timesyncd | /bin/grep -q "systemd-timesyncd.* Synchronized to time server"'

ExecStart=/usr/bin/env node-red-pi $NODE_OPTIONS $NODE_RED_OPTIONS
#ExecStart=/usr/bin/env node $NODE_OPTIONS red.js $NODE_RED_OPTIONS
# Use SIGINT to stop
KillSignal=SIGINT
# Auto restart on crash
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=20
# Tag things in the log
SyslogIdentifier=Node-RED
#StandardOutput=syslog

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
13

What model Pi is it (use cat /proc/cpuinfo to find out) and which version of the OS is it using (cat /etc/os-release)?

Does /usr/bin/node exist? If so what do this report
/usr/bin/node -v
Also
usr/sbin/node -v
node -v
apt policy nodejs

1 Like
14

Yes. /usr/sbin/node is not the usual place for it to be installed so we need to understand that

15

Something else that might be useful
dpkg -S /usr/sbin/node

16 
pi@homeautomatic:~ $ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
model name      : ARMv6-compatible processor rev 7 (v6l)
BogoMIPS        : 697.95
Features        : half thumb fastmult vfp edsp java tls
CPU implementer : 0x41
CPU architecture: 7
CPU variant     : 0x0
CPU part        : 0xb76
CPU revision    : 7

Hardware        : BCM2835
Revision        : 9000c1
Serial          : 000000005ad7f159
Model           : Raspberry Pi Zero W Rev 1.1

pi@homeautomatic:~ $ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)"
NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="10"
VERSION="10 (buster)"
VERSION_CODENAME=buster
ID=raspbian
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianForums"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianBugs"

pi@homeautomatic:~ $ /usr/bin/node -v
v16.18.0

pi@homeautomatic:~ $ usr/sbin/node -v
-bash: usr/sbin/node: No such file or directory

pi@homeautomatic:~ $ node -v
v16.3.0

pi@homeautomatic:~ $ apt policy nodejs
nodejs:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 10.24.0~dfsg-1~deb10u2
  Version table:
     10.24.0~dfsg-1~deb10u2 500
        500 http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian buster/main armhf Packages

pi@homeautomatic:~ $ dpkg -S /usr/sbin/node
dpkg-query: no path found matching pattern /usr/sbin/node
17

Is that still the case, or was it a typo?

18

That is still correct. I get /usr/sbin/node

19

If I was you, I would copy the .node-red directory and it’s sub directories to usb drive. I would then uninstall node.js (note you have 16.3.0 while my install got 16.18.0).
I would then run

bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered) --node16

And see if it installs node.js v16.18.0 and try running Node-RED

20

Can you run
which node
then
/usr/sbin/node -v
ls -l /usr/sbin/node
and copy/paste that whole sequence here, including the lines where you enter the commands please.