Error running my first jss app - cannot start node

Question

Following the instructions here: https://jss.sitecore.com/docs/getting-started/app-deployment

I was deploying into a vanilla 9.2 site which was working fine.

Step 4. Content shows up in the content tree

However going to the sitecore website url:

I'm a bit confused if I was supposed to change some sitecore.config to change the default website instead of pointing to the home node to point to the my-first-jss-app or if it was taken care of when I used the jss deploy command.

The error:

The system cannot find the file specified
Description: An unhandled exception occurred.

Exception Details: System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: The system cannot find the file specified

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:


[Win32Exception (0x80004005): The system cannot find the file specified]
   System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) +1614
   System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) +59
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.NodeServices.HostingModels.OutOfProcessNodeInstance.LaunchNodeProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) +30

[InvalidOperationException: Failed to start Node process. To resolve this:

[1] Ensure that Node.js is installed and can be found in one of the PATH directories.
    Current PATH environment variable is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Azure\CLI2\wbin;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath;C:\windows\system32;C:\windows;C:\windows\System32\Wbem;C:\windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\WebEx\Productivity Tools;C:\Program Files (x86)\Plantronics\Spokes3G\;C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;C:\Program Files\dotnet\;C:\Program Files (x86)\dotnet\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Client SDK\ODBC\130\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\130\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\130\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\130\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\Client SDK\ODBC\130\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\140\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\140\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\140\Tools\Binn\ManagementStudio\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Web Platform Installer\;C:\Users\jpearson\AppData\Roaming\nvm;C:\Program Files\nodejs;C:\Program Files\Git\cmd;C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Client SDK\ODBC\170\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\150\DTS\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\GitExtensions\;C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin;C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop\version-bin;C:\Users\jpearson\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;C:\Users\jpearson\.dotnet\tools;C:\Users\Default\.dotnet\tools
    Make sure the Node executable is in one of those directories, or update your PATH.

[2] See the InnerException for further details of the cause.]
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.NodeServices.HostingModels.OutOfProcessNodeInstance.LaunchNodeProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) +330
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.NodeServices.HostingModels.OutOfProcessNodeInstance..ctor(String entryPointScript, String projectPath, String[] watchFileExtensions, String commandLineArguments, ILogger nodeOutputLogger, IDictionary`2 environmentVars, Int32 invocationTimeoutMilliseconds, Boolean launchWithDebugging, Int32 debuggingPort, String nodePath) +261
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.NodeServices.HostingModels.Http.HttpNodeInstance..ctor(NodeServicesOptions options, Int32 port) +162
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.NodeServices.NodeServicesOptions.<.ctor>b__3_0() +41
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.NodeServices.DefaultNodeServices.GetOrCreateCurrentNodeInstance() +98
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.NodeServices.DefaultNodeServices.InvokeExportWithPossibleRetry(String moduleName, String exportedFunctionName, Object[] args, Boolean allowRetry) +59
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.NodeServices.DefaultNodeServices.InvokeExport(String moduleName, String exportedFunctionName, Object[] args) +91
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.Node.NodeRenderEngine.Invoke(String moduleName, String functionName, Object[] functionArgs) +540
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.Presentation.JssRenderer.PerformRender(TextWriter writer, IRenderEngine renderEngine, String moduleName, String functionName, Object[] functionArgs) +73
   Sitecore.JavaScriptServices.ViewEngine.Presentation.JssRenderer.Render(TextWriter writer) +240
   Sitecore.Mvc.Pipelines.Response.RenderRendering.ExecuteRenderer.Render(Renderer renderer, TextWriter writer, RenderRenderingArgs args) +147
   Sitecore.Mvc.Pipelines.Response.RenderRendering.ExecuteRenderer.Process(RenderRenderingArgs args) +74
   (Object , Object ) +14
   Sitecore.Pipelines.CorePipeline.Run(PipelineArgs args) +484
   Sitecore.Pipelines.DefaultCorePipelineManager.Run(String pipelineName, PipelineArgs args, String pipelineDomain, Boolean failIfNotExists) +236
   Sitecore.Pipelines.DefaultCorePipelineManager.Run(String pipelineName, PipelineArgs args, String pipelineDomain) +22
   Sitecore.Mvc.Pipelines.PipelineService.RunPipeline(String pipelineName, TArgs args) +195
   Sitecore.Mvc.Presentation.RenderingView.Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer) +297
   System.Web.Mvc.ViewResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context) +375
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +88
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +775
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult) +775
   System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList`1 filters, ActionResult actionResult) +81
   System.Web.Mvc.Async.<>c__DisplayClass3_1.<BeginInvokeAction>b__5(IAsyncResult asyncResult) +39

I do have node installed under nvm which is in the 1. path - although its in a subfolder.

Answer 1

Turns out it was related to the application pool identity not having permission to run node in the location it is installed using NVM.

This blog helped:

Update the security permissions on the %AppData%\nvm folder (C:\Users{username}\AppData\Roaming) to allow the Sitecore IIS user (or just Everyone as a quick fix for local dev) to Read, Execute, List.