Nix Recipe: Setup Nodejs

This is a nix recipe for building and running nodejs in a virtual nix environment.

• In your project folder, create a new file nodejs.nix and add following:

  { nixpkgs ? import <nixpkgs> {}, version, sha256 }:
  
  let
    inherit (nixpkgs) python37 utillinux stdenv autoPatchelfHook fetchurl binutils-unwrapped patchelf xcbuild;
    inherit (stdenv) mkDerivation;
  
  in
  mkDerivation {
    inherit version;
  
    name = "nodejs-${version}";
    src = fetchurl {
      url = "https://nodejs.org/dist/v${version}/node-v${version}${if stdenv.isDarwin then "-darwin-x64" else "-linux-x64"}.tar.xz"; # this darwin/linux check doesn't work since sha is different for packages
      inherit sha256;
    };
  
    # Dependencies for building node.js (Python and utillinux on Linux, just Python on Mac)
    buildInputs = with nixpkgs; [ xcbuild binutils-unwrapped patchelf glib python37 ] ++ stdenv.lib.optional stdenv.isLinux utillinux;
    nativeBuildInputs = with nixpkgs; [ autoPatchelfHook ];
  
    installPhase = ''
      echo "installing nodejs"
      mkdir -p $out
      cp -r ./ $out/
    '';
  
    meta = with stdenv.lib; {
      description = "Event-driven I/O framework for the V8 JavaScript engine";
      homepage = "https://nodejs.org";
      license = licenses.mit;
    };
  
    passthru.python = python37;
  }
  

  Note:

  • This will download the nodejs package depending on darwin or linux and build it.

• Add shell.nix with the following content:

  let
    nixpkgs = import (builtins.fetchTarball https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/20.03.tar.gz) {
      overlays = [];
      config = {};
    };
  
    installNodeJS = import (./nodejs.nix) {
      inherit nixpkgs;
      version = "13.6.0";
      sha256 = "${if nixpkgs.stdenv.isDarwin then "0z64v76w8x02yg2fz2xys580m9mlwklriz1s5b0rxn569j4kwiya" else "166pm67i7qys3x6x1dy5qr5393k0djb04ylgcg8idnk7m0ai7w00"}";
    };
    frameworks = nixpkgs.darwin.apple_sdk.frameworks;
  
  
  in
    with nixpkgs;
  
    stdenv.mkDerivation {
      name = "nodejs-env";
      buildInputs = [ installNodeJS ];
  
      nativeBuildInputs = [
        zsh
        vim
      ] ++ (
        stdenv.lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [
          frameworks.Security
          frameworks.CoreServices
          frameworks.CoreFoundation
          frameworks.Foundation
        ]
      );
  
      # Post Shell Hook
      shellHook = ''
      '';
    }
  

  Note:

  • Here, the nix packages are installed from 20.03 release.
  • NodeJS 13.6.0 version is installed, this is passed as argument. Different version can also be installed provided corresponding SHA is added.
  • All node packages can be installed via NPM in this environment.

• Run nix-shell --pure shell.nix to build and setup nodejs in a virtual environment.