Docker Toolbox: no such file or directory, open '/home/node/application/package.json'

[coreyshuman]

Note: This issue is specific to Docker Toolbox and should not apply to Docker Desktop.

The Issue

By default, Docker Toolbox only mounts C://Users to the Docker virtual machine. This means volumes won't mount if you run the project from a different directory (such as C://MyProject) or different drive (such as D://Devel).

This issue will cause the following error message on the server and client instance when performing docker-compose up:

Creating react-challenge-project_database_1 ... done                                                                    Creating react-challenge-project_server_1   ... done                                                                    Creating react-challenge-project_client_1   ... done                                                                    
server_1    | npm ERR! path /home/node/server/package.json
server_1    | npm ERR! code ENOENT
server_1    | npm ERR! errno -2
server_1    | npm ERR! syscall open
server_1    | npm ERR! enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/home/node/server/package.json'
server_1    | npm ERR! enoent This is related to npm not being able to find a file.
server_1    | npm ERR! enoent
server_1    |
server_1    | npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
server_1    | npm ERR!     /root/.npm/_logs/2020-04-14T07_58_33_742Z-debug.log
react-challenge-project_server_1 exited with code 254
client_1    | npm ERR! path /home/node/application/package.json
client_1    | npm ERR! code ENOENT
client_1    | npm ERR! errno -2
client_1    | npm ERR! syscall open
client_1    | npm ERR! enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/home/node/application/package.json'
client_1    | npm ERR! enoent This is related to npm not being able to find a file.
client_1    | npm ERR! enoent
client_1    |
client_1    | npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
client_1    | npm ERR!     /root/.npm/_logs/2020-04-14T07_58_37_857Z-debug.log
react-challenge-project_client_1 exited with code 254

How To Fix

1. Open VirtualBox Manager, select default, and open Settings

2. Open Shared Folders

3. Add a new Shared Folder

• Folder name should be in the format: <drive letter>/<folder path>. For example: c/MyProject
• Make sure to enable Auto Mount and Make Permanent
  

4. Your folder configuration should now look similar to this

• In this example, a Shared Folder was added for D://Devel
  

5. Restart the default Virtual Machine for these changes to take effect

6. In your terminal window, run docker-compose down and docker-compose up

If done correctly, the server and application instances should now start correctly:

server_1    |
server_1    | > [email protected] start /home/node/server
server_1    | > nodemon index.js
server_1    |
server_1    | [nodemon] 2.0.3
server_1    | [nodemon] to restart at any time, enter `rs`
server_1    | [nodemon] watching path(s): *.*
server_1    | [nodemon] watching extensions: js,mjs,json
server_1    | [nodemon] starting `node index.js`
server_1    | Listening on port 4000
client_1    |
client_1    | > [email protected] start /home/node/application
client_1    | > react-scripts start
client_1    |
client_1    | Starting the development server...
client_1    |
client_1    | Compiled successfully!
client_1    |
client_1    | You can now view application in the browser.
client_1    |
client_1    |   Local:            http://localhost:3000/
client_1    |   On Your Network:  http://172.18.0.4:3000/
client_1    |
client_1    | Note that the development build is not optimized.
client_1    | To create a production build, use yarn build.

Resources

https://medium.com/@Charles_Stover/fixing-volumes-in-docker-toolbox-4ad5ace0e572