Correct way to use npm-cache VS Team Services

0
votes

I'm currently using npm install to install all packages for an Angular2 project CI project, however this step has started to increase the time it takes build agents to build the project. I would like to get build run times down for our CI pipeline by using the npm-cache command, however I keep getting failed attempts at running the command through the build agent.

I have tried using a Command Line step with the following:

enter image description here

This result in the error File name doesn't indicate a full path to a executable file.

I have also tried added an npm step:

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Which results in the following:

2017-06-14T13:01:13.2274922Z [command]C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd cache install

2017-06-14T13:01:19.8609829Z npm ERR! Usage: npm cache add tarball file

2017-06-14T13:01:19.8630626Z npm ERR! npm cache add folder

2017-06-14T13:01:19.8630626Z npm ERR! npm cache add tarball url

2017-06-14T13:01:19.8640981Z npm ERR! npm cache add git url

2017-06-14T13:01:19.8651863Z npm ERR! npm cache add name@version

2017-06-14T13:01:19.8661607Z npm ERR! npm cache ls path

2017-06-14T13:01:19.8672137Z npm ERR! npm cache clean pkg@version

What is the correct way to call npm cache from Team Services?

1
npmcontinuous-integrationrepositoryazure-devops
Are you using your own agent or the hosted agent? – Daniel Mann
We're using an on-premises agent – Novastorm

1 Answers

4
votes

You need to install npm-cache package first, then call npm-cache command via command line task.

  1. Add npm task (npm command: install; arguments: npm-cache -g)
  2. Add Command Line task (Tool: C:\\Windows\\ServiceProfiles\\NetworkService\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\npm-cache; Arguments:install; Working folder: $(Build.SourcesDirectory))

Node: Previous steps uses the private build agent that running as service with NetworkService account. You can add C:\\Windows\\ServiceProfiles\\NetworkService\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm to system environment variable (restart machine is needed) and call npm-cache command directly.

You also can change build agent account to use your account (by default C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\npm has added to user environment variable), then call npm-cache command after install npm-cache package with -g argument)

On the other hand, host agent won’t cache the packages, so it is useless if you are using hosted agent.