Installing node-inspector on Windows

Question

When I run npm install node-inspector, I get the following:

....

GET https://registry.npmjs.org/policyfile/0.0.4
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/mime
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/qs
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/formidable
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/socket.io-client/0.9.8
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/redis/0.7.2
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/policyfile/0.0.4
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/formidable
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/mime
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/qs
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/hiredis
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/uglify-js/1.2.5
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/active-x-obfuscator/0.0.1
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/xmlhttprequest/1.2.2
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/ws
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/hiredis

> hiredis@0.1.14 preinstall C:\apache\expTest\node_modules\node-inspector\node_modules\socket.io\node_modules\redis\node_modules\hiredis
> make || gmake

npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/uglify-js/1.2.5
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/ws
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/active-x-obfuscator/0.0.1
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/xmlhttprequest/1.2.2
'make' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
'gmake' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
npm ERR! error installing hiredis@0.1.14
npm ERR! error installing redis@0.7.2
npm ERR! error installing socket.io@0.9.8
npm ERR! error rolling back socket.io@0.9.8 Error: UNKNOWN, unknown error 'C:\apache\expTest\node_modules\node-inspector\node_modules\socket.io\node_modules\socket.io-client'
npm ERR! error installing node-inspector@0.2.0beta3

npm ERR! Error: ENOENT, no such file or directory 'C:\apache\expTest\node_modules\node-inspector\node_modules\socket.io\node_modules\socket.io-client\node_modules\___ws.npm\p
npm ERR! You may report this log at:
npm ERR!     <http://github.com/isaacs/npm/issues>
npm ERR! or email it to:
npm ERR!     <npm-@googlegroups.com>
npm ERR!
npm ERR! System Windows_NT 6.1.7601
npm ERR! command "c:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\\\node.exe" "c:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npm-cli.js" "install" "node-inspector"
npm ERR! cwd C:\apache\expTest
npm ERR! node -v v0.6.11
npm ERR! npm -v 1.1.1
npm ERR! path C:\apache\expTest\node_modules\node-inspector\node_modules\socket.io\node_modules\socket.io-client\node_modules\___ws.npm\package\lib\Validation.fallback.js
npm ERR! fstream_path C:\apache\expTest\node_modules\node-inspector\node_modules\socket.io\node_modules\socket.io-client\node_modules\___ws.npm\package\lib\Validation.fallbac
npm ERR! fstream_type File
npm ERR! fstream_class FileWriter
npm ERR! code ENOENT
npm ERR! message ENOENT, no such file or directory 'C:\apache\expTest\node_modules\node-inspector\node_modules\socket.io\node_modules\socket.io-client\node_modules\___ws.npm\
npm ERR! errno {}
npm ERR! fstream_stack Object.oncomplete (c:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs\node_modules\npm\node_modules\fstream\lib\writer.js:204:26)
npm ERR! error rolling back node-inspector@0.2.0beta3 Error: UNKNOWN, unknown error 'C:\apache\expTest\node_modules\node-inspector\node_modules\socket.io\node_modules\socket.

npm ERR! hiredis@0.1.14 preinstall: `make || gmake`
npm ERR! `cmd "/c" "make || gmake"` failed with 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the hiredis@0.1.14 preinstall script.
npm ERR! This is most likely a problem with the hiredis package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR!     make || gmake
npm ERR! You can get their info via:
npm ERR!     npm owner ls hiredis
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.
npm ERR!
npm ERR! System Windows_NT 6.1.7601
npm ERR! command "c:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\\\node.exe" "c:\\Program Files (x86)\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npm-cli.js" "install" "node-inspector"
npm ERR! cwd C:\apache\expTest
npm ERR! node -v v0.6.11
npm ERR! npm -v 1.1.1
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
npm ERR! message hiredis@0.1.14 preinstall: `make || gmake`
npm ERR! message `cmd "/c" "make || gmake"` failed with 1
npm ERR! errno {}
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR!     C:\apache\expTest\npm-debug.log
npm not ok

---

It looks like it is trying to run a nix command at hiredis, which fails, crashing the entire install. Is there any way to get around this? I have heard plenty of Windows users using node-inspector, but perhaps this is a dependency from a newer version. Any ideas?

Answer 1

As M. Laing said, you're missing GNU make, which is required by hiredis (a redis connector).

You don't need redis for node-inspector, but it's required by socket.io, even though it's for a completely optional feature. I've opened an issue on github about that:

https://github.com/LearnBoost/socket.io/issues/978

While this gets resolved, here's a work around:

• Download socket.io's ZIP archive from github and unzip it.
• Edit the package.json file and remove redis from the dependencies.
• Run a cmd, enter the folder and type npm install.
• Type npm install node-inspector again.

Since socket.io is now installed, it should now succeed.