NodeJS Updating

info

• Recurring Task: NodeJS version needs to be updated periodically. You may have to resolve dependency conflicts in package.json (among other things) to ensure compatibility
• Frequency: Depends on the release schedule of NodeJS, AWS Lambda, and Github Actions, as seen below. About once a year can be expected

AWS Lambda NodeJS Schedule

• https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/lambda-runtimes.html
  • This chart shows when each NodeJS version will be deprecated
    • Phase 1: Can no longer create new AWS lambda functions (cannot add a new API endpoint, for instance. Cannot create a new serverless project / feature on that NodeJS version). Existing functions can be updated still.
    • Phase 2: Can no longer create nor update AWS lambda functions. ~ 1 month after Phase 1

General NodeJS Schedule

• https://github.com/nodejs/Release
  • Shows EOL (end of life) of each NodeJS version - each version will still work, but will stop receiving security updates

Github Actions NodeJS Schedule

• https://github.blog/changelog/label/actions/
  • This blog category can help keep track of changes to NodeJS versions supported by Github Actions (needed for frontend Github Pages, as well as all Github Actions CI/CD (e.g. for triggering backend deployments))
  • Expect about a year's delay between General NodeJS version EOL and Github Actions NodeJS EOL, as we can see that Github Actions dropped support for NodeJS 12 about a year

Checking Current NodeJS Versions

• On the backend, look in backend/template.yaml (or something like that), this controls the NodeJS version used for the backend (AWS Lambda)
  • Go to AWS Console > Lambda > Functions to double check which NodeJS versions are currently used in backend
• On the frontend, look in the .github/workflows folder for configuring nodeJS version (every Github Actions YML file except the API-deploy workflow, as backend nodejs version is handled by backend/template.yaml as explained above)

Version Specific Changes

What Breaks from NodeJS 12 to 16

• Node-Sass: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/69312134/error-with-node-sass-when-running-npm-install
  • Switch to Dart Sass to fix

What Breaks from NodeJS 16 to 18

• OpenSSL security rules: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/69962209/what-is-openssl-legacy-provider-in-node-js-v17
• For now I opt to use a "legacy OpenSSL" option in order to use Node 18, which may be a security vulnerability, but for now good enough

What will Break from NodeJS 18 to 19+

• I don't know. Topic for future research
• If in doubt, search the error message in Github and StackOverflow