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PhantomJS or Puppeter in AppWrite Functions

Dec 27, 2023, 21:41

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50l3rOriginal post

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 19:16

Hi all,

Is there a way to be able to run puppeter or phantomjs in appwrite functions?

When testing my function locally, both with puppeter and with the html-pdf extension that phantomjs uses, it works fine, but when I run it inside a function, it throws me an error.

An example of errors:

Phantomjs

Error: spawn /usr/code-start/node_modules/phantomjs-prebuilt/lib/phantom/bin/phantomjs ENOENT
    at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:282:19)
    at onErrorNT (node:internal/child_process:480:16)
    at processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:83:21)

Puppeter

Error: Could not find Chromium (rev. 1108766). This can occur if either
 1. you did not perform an installation before running the script (e.g. `npm install`) or
 2. your cache path is incorrectly configured (which is: /root/.cache/puppeteer).
For (2), check out our guide on configuring puppeteer at https://pptr.dev/guides/configuration.
    at ChromeLauncher.resolveExecutablePath (/usr/code-start/node_modules/puppeteer-core/lib/cjs/puppeteer/node/ProductLauncher.js:127:27)
    at ChromeLauncher.executablePath (/usr/code-start/node_modules/puppeteer-core/lib/cjs/puppeteer/node/ChromeLauncher.js:207:25)
    at ChromeLauncher.launch (/usr/code-start/node_modules/puppeteer-core/lib/cjs/puppeteer/node/ChromeLauncher.js:93:37)
    at async /usr/code-start/dist/models/invoice.js:174:33

Thanks in advance

Summary

The user is asking if it's possible to run Puppeteer or PhantomJS in Appwrite functions. They have provided code examples and error messages indicating that these dependencies are not supported in the Docker image used by Appwrite. The community suggests waiting for a future version that may support this, and in the meantime, externalizing the Puppeteer functions. There is no solution provided in this thread.

safwan

Apr 1, 2023, 20:10

did you deploy the function as a fresh new function, or just an updated build to an existing function?

safwan

Apr 1, 2023, 20:11

I suggest you delete the function, and deploy a fresh build from the appwrite cli

safwan

Apr 1, 2023, 20:11

it seems like it's a simple dependency issue, and a fresh deploy should fix it

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 20:33

It is an existing function but I think the problem is that puppeter and phantom are not supported in the docker image that appwrite uses

Drake

Admin

Apr 1, 2023, 20:51

Yes, correct. There are OS level dependencies required which isn't supported in Appwrite functions. Here's the related issue: https://github.com/appwrite/appwrite/issues/1037. This might be achievable in the next version of our functions

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 20:52

Great. I'l wait and externalize the puppeter functions for the moment 🙂

Drake

Admin

Apr 1, 2023, 20:53

You might be able to hack together a solution if you include the os level dependencies in the uploaded code and reference them somehow. 🤷‍♂️

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:08

I used docker with dokku instance and create a Dockerfile like this:

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:08

FROM node:lts-alpine

WORKDIR /app

RUN apk update && apk add --no-cache nmap && \
    echo @edge http://nl.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community >> /etc/apk/repositories && \
    echo @edge http://nl.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main >> /etc/apk/repositories && \
    apk update && \
    apk add --no-cache \
      chromium \
      harfbuzz \
      "freetype>2.8" \
      ttf-freefont \
      nss

ENV PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=true

COPY package*.json ./

RUN npm install

COPY . .

CMD ["npm", "start"]

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:09

With this Procfile web: node index.js

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:09

And this is my script:

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:10

const express = require('express')
const bodyParser = require('body-parser')
const puppeter = require('puppeteer')

const app = express()
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }))

app.post('/', async (req, res) => {
    try {
        const html = req.body.html

        // Create a browser instance
        const browser = await puppeter.launch({
            headless: true,
            executablePath: '/usr/bin/chromium-browser',
            args: [
                '--disable-gpu',
                '--disable-setuid-sandbox',
                '--no-sandbox',
                '--no-zygote',
            ],
        })

        // Create a new page
        const page = await browser.newPage()

        await page.setContent(html, {
            waitUntil: 'networkidle0',
        })

        const pdfBuffer = await page.pdf({
            format: 'A4',
            // path: `${__dirname}/../invoice.pdf`,
            printBackground: true,
        })

        res.status(200).json({ file: pdfBuffer })
        await browser.close()
    } catch (error) {
        console.error(error)
        res.status(500).json({ error: error.message })
    }
})

app.listen(5000, function () {})

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:11

With all this I have managed to build a simple web service that through a provided html generates a pdf and sends the buffer in response to my appwrite function

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:11

I hope someone can be of help

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:12

Now, my appwrite function return a file buffer

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:12

Drake

Admin

Apr 1, 2023, 22:14

And this is hosted separate from Appwrite? And the appwrite function calls this service?

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:15

Yes

Drake

Admin

Apr 1, 2023, 22:15

I would probably write this to storage rather than returning the buffer in case it's too big and gets truncated

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:16

Yeah but in my case my backend who calls appwrite function manage the storage

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:17

I plan to use appwrite functions as microservices and be able to run universal functions from different projects

50l3r

Rank 1: Thread

Apr 1, 2023, 22:18

In this case, the function renders a pdf invoice based on some parameters provided

PhantomJS or Puppeter in AppWrite Functions

Need support?_