I'm unable to install the Node agent

Issue

The following error is seen during the installation of the Node agent:

npm ERR! @contrast/distringuish@1.2.0 build: `node-gyp rebuild`
npm ERR! Exit status 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the @contrast/distringuish@1.2.0 build script.
npm ERR! This is probably not a problem with npm. There is likely additional logging output above.
npm WARN Local package.json exists, but node_modules missing, did you mean to install?

Cause

From versions 2.0.0 to 2.5.1 of the Node agent, you must have installed:

• A C++ compiler toolchain (e.g., Clang, GCC or MSVC) and a POSIX-compatible make
• Python (which is needed for Node-gyp, Node's build tool, to function)

Notes: If you can build other modules with C++ bindings like node-sass and sqlite3, you probably meet all of the requirements for Contrast. The official Node Docker images come with all of the prerequisites installed.

Resolution

Windows

To install the necessary compiler toolchain on Windows, run npm install -g --production windows-build-tools. If you're using a Node version older than 8.0, you must use windows-build-tools version 3.0 (not 4.0, the newest version).

macOS

macOS ships with the clang compiler suite. Use clang --version to ensure that you have the compiler installed. If Clang is not already installed, run $ xcode-select --install to install it.

Linux

Linux distributions often ship with a C++ compiler toolchain. You can verify that the compiler is installed with c++ --version. If you don't have a C++ compiler installed, install the g++ package available from most Linux package managers.