Functions bundling ignores my Environment Variable

Support
, , , , ,
#1

sitename: ‘neegzar’
domain: neegzar.com

Hey,
I have a problem with node-fluent-ffmpeg.
The solution is to add this environment variable:

        'process.env.FLUENTFFMPEG_COV': false

(This is not the code I used, this is the solution provided here) - to add the environment varaible.

And so that’s what I did:

I’ve tried adding the environment EVERYWHERE but it still ignores this variable.

  • I’ve tried to add as to netlify settings → Environment Variable

Image: Pasteboard - Uploaded Image

  • I tried in netlify.toml file like this:
# Settings in the [build] context are global and are applied to 
# all contexts unless otherwise overridden by more specific contexts.
# [build]

[build.environment]
  FLUENTFFMPEG_COV = ""

# Production context: all deploys from the Production branch 
# set in your site’s Branches settings in the UI will inherit 
# these settings. You can define environment variables 
# here but we recommend using the Netlify UI for sensitive
# values to keep them out of your source repository. 
[context.production]
  environment = { FLUENTFFMPEG_COV = "false" }

But everything I’ve tried still ignores this environment variable.

Build error:

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3:06:26 PM:   2. Functions bundling                                         
3:06:26 PM: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3:06:26 PM: ​
3:06:26 PM: Packaging Functions from .netlify/functions-internal directory:
3:06:26 PM:  - render.js
3:06:26 PM: ​
3:06:26 PM: Packaging Functions from netlify/functions directory:
3:06:26 PM:  - create-gallery-image.ts
3:06:26 PM:  - is-production.ts
3:06:26 PM:  - meta.js
3:06:26 PM:  - record-mandala.ts
3:06:26 PM:  - take-screenshot.js
3:06:26 PM:  - test.cjs
3:06:26 PM: ​
3:06:28 PM: ✘ [ERROR] Could not resolve "./lib-cov/fluent-ffmpeg"
3:06:28 PM:     node_modules/fluent-ffmpeg/index.js:1:56:
3:06:28 PM:       1 │ ...FMPEG_COV ? require('./lib-cov/fluent-ffmpeg') : require('./lib/...        ╵                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3:06:29 PM: ​
3:06:29 PM: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3:06:29 PM:   Dependencies installation error                               
3:06:29 PM: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
3:06:29 PM: ​
3:06:29 PM:   Error message
3:06:29 PM:   A Netlify Function failed to require one of its dependencies.
3:06:29 PM:   Please make sure it is present in the site's top-level "package.json".​
3:06:29 PM:   Build failed with 1 error:
3:06:29 PM:   node_modules/fluent-ffmpeg/index.js:1:56: ERROR: Could not resolve "./lib-cov/fluent-ffmpeg"
3:06:29 PM: ​
3:06:29 PM:   Resolved config
3:06:29 PM:   build:
3:06:29 PM:     command: npm run build
3:06:29 PM:     commandOrigin: ui
3:06:29 PM:     environment:
3:06:29 PM:       - FLUENTFFMPEG_COV
3:06:29 PM:       - VITE_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
3:06:29 PM:       - VITE_AWS_BUCKET_NAME
3:06:29 PM:       - VITE_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
3:06:29 PM:       - VITE_GOOGLE_SPREADSHEETS_PRIVATE_NEEGZAR_API_KEY
3:06:29 PM:       - VITE_MONGO_DB_URI
3:06:29 PM:     publish: /opt/build/repo/build
3:06:29 PM:     publishOrigin: ui
3:06:29 PM:   functionsDirectory: /opt/build/repo/netlify/functions
3:06:29 PM:   headers:
3:06:32 PM:     - for: /_app/immutable/*      values:        cache-control: public, immutable, max-age=31536000  redirects:    - from: '*'      status: 200      to: /.netlify/functions/renderCaching artifacts
3:06:32 PM: Started saving node modules
3:06:32 PM: Finished saving node modules
3:06:32 PM: Started saving build plugins
3:06:32 PM: Finished saving build plugins
3:06:32 PM: Started saving pip cache
3:06:32 PM: Finished saving pip cache
3:06:32 PM: Started saving emacs cask dependencies
3:06:32 PM: Finished saving emacs cask dependencies
3:06:32 PM: Started saving maven dependencies
3:06:32 PM: Finished saving maven dependencies
3:06:32 PM: Started saving boot dependencies
3:06:32 PM: Finished saving boot dependencies
3:06:32 PM: Started saving rust rustup cache
3:06:32 PM: Finished saving rust rustup cache
3:06:32 PM: Started saving go dependencies
3:06:32 PM: Finished saving go dependencies
3:06:32 PM: Build failed due to a user error: Build script returned non-zero exit code: 2
3:06:33 PM: Failing build: Failed to build site
3:06:33 PM: Finished processing build request in 45.765355418s
#2

The environment variable isn’t a boolean

#4

According to the post you’ve attached, the environment variable needs to be a string.
Which it is.
So why is it still ignoring it?

#5

The post also says

environment variables are always returned as strings.

#6

If environment variables are always returned as strings, that means

"FALSE" ? "one" : "two" // returns one

Which is bad.

In other words, we need a way to return “two” as a string.

Is “” counts as a string?
If so,

"" ? 'one' : 'two' // should return two

and so I changed the variables to

[build.environment]
  FLUENTFFMPEG_COV = ""
[context.production]
  environment = { FLUENTFFMPEG_COV = "" }

But it still returns the first argument (lib-cov) instead of (lib).

...FMPEG_COV ? require('./lib-cov/fluent-ffmpeg') : require('./lib/...

In other words, Netlify ignores “” (empty) environment varaibles, but in my case we still need to print out “”… am I corrent? what’s the solution for this?

#7

Are you comparing the variable as a String with ===?

#8

No, @elron is not… but that’s because the comparison is happening in the dependency, not @elron’s code.

  • The environment variables must be Strings
  • The code expects a falsey value
  • To provide a false value with a string it would need to be empty
  • @elron tried to provide an empty string and indicates it didn’t work

Checking the dependency on GitHub it looks like they changed how the folder is resolved in 2019:

You might want to look at upgrading the dependency if you can.

1 Like
#10

Thanks for the suggestion.
Just wanted to update that I had no choice but to move my function to AWS Lambda.
It worked there with FFMPEG layer.