[BUG] postinstall scripts not executed during npm install

[AlCalzone]

Current Behavior:

postinstall script not executed

Expected Behavior:

postinstall script should be executed.

Steps To Reproduce:

1. Set up a VM you can trash later (the package modifies your global configuration)
2. Create directory /opt/iobroker, enter it
3. run npm i iobroker@latest as root

Environment:

• OS: Debian Buster
• Node: 15.5.1
• npm: 7.3.0

[ljharb]

Duplicate of #2194?

[Apollon77]

@ljharb not really because here it is not about global packages, or? but yes maybe related :-)

[ljharb]

Are you sure the script isn’t being executed? All output of postinstall scripts is suppressed in npm 7 unless the script fails.

[Apollon77]

Yes we are sure because many things happen there in the example of the above case and nothing of this is done

[darcyclarke]

Hey @AlCalzone, this does look to be like a duplicate (ie. potentially you are just not seeing output when scripts are run). We just tested this to see if postinstall scripts are working & they seem to be. I've posted a comment back here for some other context (ie. running with the --foreground-scripts flag or changing your loglevel should show output similar to v6): #2194 (comment)

Let us know if you think your scripts still aren't being run as of v7.4.1

[AlCalzone]

@darcyclarke It seems like the underlying issue is something different. Our postinstall script does indeed run, but it modifies package.json, so we can install additional dependencies dynamically in the next install step. This used to work in npm6, but now the changes get overwritten later, causing the followup installation steps to be skipped.