WebStorm: Karma server not starting, TypeError: undefined is not a function on server.start();

Question

I have the latest version of WebStorm (10.0.4). Today I wanted to include karma in my project so I installed Python and ran:

npm install -g karma
npm install karma
npm install karma-jasmine
npm install karma-chrome-launcher
npm install karma-phantomjs-launcher

I tried it with two different config files, one for my project and one superbasic config, but both throw the same error. Here is the basic config:

// Karma configuration
// Generated on Fri Jul 17 2015 14:05:46 GMT+0200 (Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit)

module.exports = function(config) {
  config.set({

    // base path that will be used to resolve all patterns (eg. files, exclude)
    basePath: '',


    // frameworks to use
    // available frameworks: https://npmjs.org/browse/keyword/karma-adapter
    frameworks: ['jasmine'],


    // list of files / patterns to load in the browser
    files: [
      'test/**/*Spec.js'
    ],


    // list of files to exclude
    exclude: [
    ],


    // preprocess matching files before serving them to the browser
    // available preprocessors: https://npmjs.org/browse/keyword/karma-preprocessor
    preprocessors: {
    },


    // test results reporter to use
    // possible values: 'dots', 'progress'
    // available reporters: https://npmjs.org/browse/keyword/karma-reporter
    reporters: ['progress'],


    // web server port
    port: 9876,


    // enable / disable colors in the output (reporters and logs)
    colors: true,


    // level of logging
    // possible values: config.LOG_DISABLE || config.LOG_ERROR || config.LOG_WARN || config.LOG_INFO || config.LOG_DEBUG
    logLevel: config.LOG_INFO,


    // enable / disable watching file and executing tests whenever any file changes
    autoWatch: true,


    // start these browsers
    // available browser launchers: https://npmjs.org/browse/keyword/karma-launcher
    browsers: ['Chrome'],


    // Continuous Integration mode
    // if true, Karma captures browsers, runs the tests and exits
    singleRun: false
  })
}

I then created a new "Karma" Run configuration, but when I click run, it says:

"C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\JetBrains\WebStorm 10.0.4\plugins\js-karma\js_reporter\karma-intellij\lib\intellijServer.js" --karmaPackageDir=C:\workspace\full_ui\node_modules\karma --configFile=C:\workspace\full_ui\tests\karma.conf_messages.js --browsers=Chrome
C:\Program Files (x86)\JetBrains\WebStorm 10.0.4\plugins\js-karma\js_reporter\karma-intellij\lib\intellijServer.js:10
server.start(cliOptions);
       ^
TypeError: undefined is not a function
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Program Files (x86)\JetBrains\WebStorm 10.0.4\plugins\js-karma\js_reporter\karma-intellij\lib\intellijServer.js:10:8)
    at Module._compile (module.js:460:26)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:478:10)
    at Module.load (module.js:355:32)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:310:12)
    at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:501:10)
    at startup (node.js:129:16)
    at node.js:814:3

Process finished with exit code 1

I really don't know what could cause this problem. Did I miss anything to install? I have never used karma before, so I might have some basic error somewhere, but I can't figure out what.

Answer 1

I think this may be caused by a recent update to the karma lib 9 days ago

https://github.com/karma-runner/karma/commits/master/lib/server.js

It could be the intellijServer.js is now out of date and needs to be altered. I've got it working by updating the intellijServer.js (until intellij fix it) with:

  var cli = require('./intellijCli.js')
  , Server = cli.requireKarmaModule('lib/server.js')
  , cliOptions = { configFile: require.resolve('./intellij.conf.js') };

var browsers = cli.getBrowsers();
if (browsers != null) {
  cliOptions.browsers = browsers;
}

var server=new Server(cliOptions);
server.start();

// Prevent karma server from being an orphan process.
// For example, if WebStorm is killed using SIGKILL, karma server will still be alive.
// When WebStorm is terminated, karma server's standard input is closed automatically.
process.stdin.resume();
process.stdin.on('close', function () {
  // terminating orphan process
  process.exit(123);
});

Once I got the server bit working i got another issue with No provider for “framework:jasmine”! (However this appears to be a separate unrelated issue affecting me, because I didn't fully setup karma). This was resolved with:

npm install karma-jasmine --save-dev
npm install karma-chrome-launcher --save-dev

followed by

npm install