"Can't find Python executable..." - npm install hangs

Question

I am using "npm install" to download and compile all the dependencies of a small node.js app I have written. The "package.json" file I am using is correct and contains all the needed information.

One of the packages to be installed has "node-gyp" as a dependency, so I have previously installed the "python2" package.

Now, at a certain point I start getting error messages:

> node-gyp rebuild

gyp ERR! configure error
gyp ERR! stack Error: Can't find Python executable "python", you can set the PYTHON env variable.
gyp ERR! stack     at failNoPython (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/lib/configure.js:103:14)
gyp ERR! stack     at /usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/lib/configure.js:42:11
gyp ERR! stack     at F (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/which/which.js:40:25)
gyp ERR! stack     at E (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/which/which.js:43:29)
gyp ERR! stack     at /usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/which/which.js:54:16
gyp ERR! stack     at FSReqWrap.oncomplete (fs.js:99:15)
gyp ERR! System Linux 3.18.9-200.fc21.x86_64
gyp ERR! command "node" "/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js" "rebuild"
gyp ERR! cwd /srv/visitor/node_modules/phantom/node_modules/dnode/node_modules/weak
gyp ERR! node -v v0.12.1
gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v1.0.3
gyp ERR! not ok
npm WARN optional dep failed, continuing [email protected]

The issues seems to be that an environment variable is missing.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? No matter where I search on the Internet, there is no mention of a "PYTHON" variable, only "PYTHONPATH" and others like it. What is the correct way to fix this, so that I do not get those errors?

UPDATE 1:

After following advice from this thread I added these commands before executing "npm install":

PYTHON=/usr/sbin/python2
export PYTHON

Now I am getting this error:

> node-gyp rebuild

gyp ERR! build error
gyp ERR! stack Error: not found: make
gyp ERR! stack     at F (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/which/which.js:40:28)
gyp ERR! stack     at E (/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/which/which.js:43:29)
gyp ERR! stack     at /usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/which/which.js:54:16
gyp ERR! stack     at FSReqWrap.oncomplete (fs.js:99:15)
gyp ERR! System Linux 3.18.9-200.fc21.x86_64
gyp ERR! command "node" "/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js" "rebuild"
gyp ERR! cwd /srv/visitor/node_modules/phantom/node_modules/dnode/node_modules/weak
gyp ERR! node -v v0.12.1
gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v1.0.3
gyp ERR! not ok
npm WARN optional dep failed, continuing [email protected]

I find it absurd that it says "...not found: make...". Is there any possibility of it being so? If yes, how come packages install correctly?

Frankly, I do not understand a thing. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Try running this

PYTHON=$PYTHON:/usr/bin/python
export PYTHON

Add this to profile file (like ~/.bash_profile etc. depending on your shell) to make it persistent.

If your python isn't installed in /usr/bin/python then you can run which python to find out where it is installed.

Answer 2

First things first: I want to thank all who pitched in to help me with my issue, and especially @adarsh.

Now the real issue was that I was missing "make" and "gcc". At first, when a compiler message suggested so, I found it absurd. But keep in mind that this is an image PULLed from the Docker registry.

I added "pacman -S --needed --noconfirm make gcc" in my Dockerfile, and the build process completes successfully.

It should go without saying, that I also needed to make the suggested changes to the environmental variables.

Answer 3

This worked for me..

node-gyp --python C:\Users\username\.windows-build-tools\python27\python.exe build

We need to point to python.exe not just up to the installation folder.