Node.js SmartMachine Troubleshooting Guide

In this page:

Problems Using Node.js™ or npm

npm update doesn't seem to work

You may be using a very old version of npm. See Updating npm From Very Old Versions.

Problems Logging In to Your Node.js Development SmartMachine

I get a "Permission denied" error when I use SSH to log in to my machine.

Newer Node.js Development SmartMachines do not have individual IP addresses. You need to provide your machine's unique port number either in the ssh command line or in the ~/.ssh/config file. See this topic.

When using ssh to connect to my Node.js Development SmartMachine, I'm being asked for a password. Which password should I use?

If you are being asked for a password on SSH connection, then your SSH key is either not being sent or the incorrect SSH key is being used.

When you provision your Node.js Development SmartMachine, the keys that are associated with your Joyent Cloud account are added to your SmartMachine. If you add/remove/update keys from your account, these are not changed on your SmartMachine.

To work out which keys are being sent to your server, you can run ssh -vvv node@<yourhost>.no.de. This will give you information on which Identity file (private key) is being sent to the server.

For more information on debugging SSH Key authentication problems, please refer to this guide.

I'm trying to add an SSH key generated by puttygen.exe on windows, but https://no.de/sshkeys doesn't seem to accept it.

At the very top of the puttygen.exe dialog, there is a "Public key for pasting into OpenSSH" box. Copy and paste this key into https://no.de/sshkeys, and it will be accepted. See the PuTTY documentation here.

When I try to log in to my Node.js Development SmartMachine or push a change to my repo, I see a dire warning:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

    WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!     

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!

Don't panic. If the server that hosts your Node.js Development SmartMachine has been rebooted since the first time your machine was provisioned, you may see this warning once.

You can remove the old entry in your known_hosts file with this command. Change yourmachinename to the name of your Node.js Development SmartMachine.

ssh-keygen -R yourmachinename.no.de

You should not see this warning again unless you specifically regenerate your host keys.

Problems Compiling Code

• Make sure that you've updated to the latest pkgsrc repository.
• Note that the repository has two versions of GCC. To compile 64-bit binaries, you must use GCC 4.5.x.

Problems Related to Git

I can't add a remote for the repo on my Node.js Development SmartMachine

If adding the remote like this doesn't work, leave off the ssh://.

git remote add joyent ssh://node@yourname.no.de:repo # this may not work
git remote add joyent node@yourname.no.de:repo       # this should work

When I try to use the git repository from my local machine, I am being asked for a password.

Be sure that you first create a git repository on your local machine, then push it to your Node.js Development SmartMachine. See the instructions in Getting Started with a Node.js Development SmartMachine#Deploying with git.

Other Problems

I can't seem to send mail from my Node.js Development SmartMachine

Outgoing SMTP ports are closed on Node.js Development SmartMachines. If your application needs to send mail, you will need to use your own mail service.