Installing git through .ebextensions on Elastic Beanstalk

Question

I'm getting an error deploying to Elastic Beanstalk, because there is no git on the instance. One of the dependencies in my package.json is dependant on a git repository and needs to git clone. Git is not installed on the instances. I tried installing it through .ebextensions .conf file while deploying, through yum, but when I ssh into the instance it's not there.

Question is: what is the correct way to install and have git on a Linux instance running on Elastic Beanstalk before npm install is called on that instance?

Here's the log showing the error:

[2015-04-18T09:00:02.815Z] ERROR [1777]  : Command execution failed: Activity failed. (ElasticBeanstalk::ActivityFatalError)
caused by: + /opt/elasticbeanstalk/containerfiles/ebnode.py --action npm-install
  npm WARN package.json [email protected] No repository field.
  npm WARN package.json [email protected] No README data
  npm WARN `git config --get remote.origin.url` returned wrong result (https://github.com/awslabs/dynamodb-document-js-sdk) undefined
  npm WARN `git config --get remote.origin.url` returned wrong result (https://github.com/awslabs/dynamodb-document-js-sdk) undefined
  npm ERR! git clone https://github.com/awslabs/dynamodb-document-js-sdk undefined
  npm ERR! git clone https://github.com/awslabs/dynamodb-document-js-sdk undefined
  npm ERR! Linux 3.14.35-28.38.amzn1.x86_64
  npm ERR! argv "/opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-v0.12.0-linux-x64/bin/node" "/opt/elasticbeanstalk/node-install/node-v0.12.0-linux-x64/bin/npm" "--production" "install"
  npm ERR! node v0.12.0
  npm ERR! npm  v2.5.1
  npm ERR! code ENOGIT

  npm ERR! not found: git
  npm ERR!
  npm ERR! Failed using git.
  npm ERR! This is most likely not a problem with npm itself.
  npm ERR! Please check if you have git installed and in your PATH.

Answer 1

If you put a config file in your .ebextensions folder like this:

packages:
  yum:
    git: []

Make sure the git package is in a config file with a higher execution index then one that actually requires git. It is common to have it in a first config file named: 00-packages.config.

Answer 2

I can think of three ways you could ensure git(or any dependency) is installed on the system before npm install is run.

1. Define a preinstall script in your package.json that installs git if required.
2. You can add a script(file), using ebextensions in either the pre-appdeploy hooks directory, or the preinit hooks directory. I would suggest the preinit hook, as that's where the hook for installing packages is. Just set the path of your script to /opt/ebextensions/hooks/preinit/99_install_git.sh, or if you want to do in pre-appdeploy, /opt/ebextensions/hooks/appdeploy/pre/99_install_git.sh, and make the file executable by using the mode field.
3. Using ebextensions to install a package.

For your use case, I think #3 is the best option. Kinda late, but I hope you find it useful