I can't seem to get etherpad to start

[jjasghar]

I have attempted to get etherpad to start 2.3.0, but for some reason I get a silent error. Can you decypher this so I can figure out what I'm missing?

> etherpad@2.3.0 prod /opt/etherpad-lite
> pnpm --filter ep_etherpad-lite run prod


> ep_etherpad-lite@2.3.0 prod /opt/etherpad-lite/src
> cross-env NODE_ENV=production node --require tsx/cjs node/server.ts

�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.573] [INFO] settings - �[39mAll relative paths will be interpreted relative to the identified Etherpad base dir: /opt/etherpad-lite
�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.742] [INFO] settings - �[39msettings loaded from: /opt/etherpad-lite/settings.json
�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.746] [INFO] settings - �[39mNo credentials file found in /opt/etherpad-lite/credentials.json. Ignoring.
�[33m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.747] [WARN] settings - �[39mloglevel: DEBUG
�[33m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.747] [WARN] settings - �[39mlogLayoutType: colored
�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.760] [INFO] settings - �[39mUsing skin "colibris" in dir: /opt/etherpad-lite/src/static/skins/colibris
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.761] [DEBUG] AbsolutePaths - �[39mRelative path "./SESSIONKEY.txt" can be rewritten to "/opt/etherpad-lite/SESSIONKEY.txt"
�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.777] [INFO] settings - �[39mRandom string used for versioning assets: 52c90456
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.908] [DEBUG] runCmd - �[39mExecuting command: pnpm --version
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.909] [DEBUG] runCmd - �[39mcwd: /opt/etherpad-lite
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:06.910] [DEBUG] runCmd - �[39mPATH=/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node_modules/.bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node_modules/.bin:/usr/local/lib/node_modules/pnpm/dist/node-gyp-bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.bin:/usr/local/lib/node_modules/pnpm/dist/node-gyp-bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:07.004] [DEBUG] settings - �[39mRunning on Node v24.2.0 (minimum required Node version: 18.18.2)
�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.642] [INFO] server - �[39mStarting Etherpad...
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.770] [DEBUG] server - �[39mRemoving SIGINT listener because it might interfere with shutdown tasks. Function code:
function listener () {
      /* istanbul ignore if */
      if (!processOk(global.process)) {
        return
      }
      // If there are no other listeners, an exit is coming!
      // Simplest way: remove us and then re-send the signal.
      // We know that this will kill the process, so we can
      // safely emit now.
      var listeners = process.listeners(sig)
      if (listeners.length === emitter.count) {
        unload()
        emit('exit', null, sig)
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        emit('afterexit', null, sig)
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        if (isWin && sig === 'SIGHUP') {
          // "SIGHUP" throws an `ENOSYS` error on Windows,
          // so use a supported signal instead
          sig = 'SIGINT'
        }
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        process.kill(process.pid, sig)
      }
    }
Current stack:
    at removeSignalListener (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:102:35)
    at Object.exports.start (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:163:9)
    at err (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:314:38)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:317:61)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1734:14)
    at Object.transformer (/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/tsx@4.20.3/node_modules/tsx/dist/register-D46fvsV_.cjs:3:1104)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1469:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1286:12)
    at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:322:14)
    at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:235:24)
    at Module.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:152:5)
    at node:internal/main/run_main_module:33:47
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.772] [DEBUG] server - �[39mRemoving SIGTERM listener because it might interfere with shutdown tasks. Function code:
function listener () {
      /* istanbul ignore if */
      if (!processOk(global.process)) {
        return
      }
      // If there are no other listeners, an exit is coming!
      // Simplest way: remove us and then re-send the signal.
      // We know that this will kill the process, so we can
      // safely emit now.
      var listeners = process.listeners(sig)
      if (listeners.length === emitter.count) {
        unload()
        emit('exit', null, sig)
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        emit('afterexit', null, sig)
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        if (isWin && sig === 'SIGHUP') {
          // "SIGHUP" throws an `ENOSYS` error on Windows,
          // so use a supported signal instead
          sig = 'SIGINT'
        }
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        process.kill(process.pid, sig)
      }
    }
Current stack:
    at removeSignalListener (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:102:35)
    at Object.exports.start (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:163:9)
    at err (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:314:38)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:317:61)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1734:14)
    at Object.transformer (/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/tsx@4.20.3/node_modules/tsx/dist/register-D46fvsV_.cjs:3:1104)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1469:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1286:12)
    at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:322:14)
    at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:235:24)
    at Module.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:152:5)
    at node:internal/main/run_main_module:33:47
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.824] [DEBUG] runCmd - �[39mCommand returned successfully: pnpm --version
�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.824] [INFO] plugins - �[39mpnpm --version: 10.12.3
�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.868] [INFO] plugins - �[39mcheck installed plugins for migration
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.870] [DEBUG] plugins - �[39mplugin commander already exists in node_modules
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.870] [DEBUG] plugins - �[39mplugin ep_markdown already exists in node_modules
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.872] [DEBUG] plugins - �[39mplugin showdown already exists in node_modules
�[91m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.873] [ERROR] server - �[39mError occurred while starting Etherpad
�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.879] [INFO] server - �[39mExiting...
�[32m[2025-06-24T22:09:09.880] [INFO] server - �[39mWaiting for Node.js to exit...
�[91m[2025-06-24T22:09:14.879] [ERROR] server - �[39mSomething that should have been cleaned up during the shutdown hook (such as a timer, worker thread, or open connection) is preventing Node.js from exiting
�[91m[2025-06-24T22:09:14.880] [ERROR] server - �[39mEnable `dumpOnUncleanExit` setting to get a dump of objects preventing a clean exit
�[91m[2025-06-24T22:09:14.881] [ERROR] server - �[39mForcing an unclean exit...
/opt/etherpad-lite/src:
 ERR_PNPM_RECURSIVE_RUN_FIRST_FAIL  ep_etherpad-lite@2.3.0 prod: `cross-env NODE_ENV=production node --require tsx/cjs node/server.ts`
Exit status 1
 ELIFECYCLE  Command failed with exit code 1.

Sorry about the weird characters, this came from my OpenShift raw output.

[SamTV12345]

Do you use any special plugins or so? You also do not use an LTS version. So could be also a bug in latest NodeJS release.

[jjasghar]

Nope, no plugins apart from ep_markdown.

I thought 2.3.0 was a LTS/stable release? Can you point to them so I can try with one of those?

[SamTV12345]

In your log output I can see this line:
�[36m[2025-06-24T22:09:07.004] [DEBUG] settings - �[39mRunning on Node v24.2.0 (minimum required Node version: 18.18.2)

We had so many quirky stuff with non LTS versions. It could also just be a bug in NodeJS. I don't see any errors in the console. Just this weird error. I'll try the latest version with Windows.

[jjasghar]

Oh! Sorry i miss understood, i didn't realize you ment the Node version, i thought you were talking about etherpad as the LTS.

I can downgrade the Node version, let me try that too.

[jjasghar]

It looks like the node:alpine from the main Dockerfile, is here: https://github.com/nodejs/docker-node/blob/781fc74e97c58255f2078b1ffcc85f16208b2604/24/alpine3.22/Dockerfile which looks like it's just pulling from the latest release of node.

[jjasghar]

nope, rolled back to node 22, and same error:

> etherpad@2.3.0 prod /opt/etherpad-lite
> pnpm --filter ep_etherpad-lite run prod


> ep_etherpad-lite@2.3.0 prod /opt/etherpad-lite/src
> cross-env NODE_ENV=production node --require tsx/cjs node/server.ts

�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:53.792] [INFO] settings - �[39mAll relative paths will be interpreted relative to the identified Etherpad base dir: /opt/etherpad-lite
�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:53.872] [INFO] settings - �[39msettings loaded from: /opt/etherpad-lite/settings.json
�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:53.876] [INFO] settings - �[39mNo credentials file found in /opt/etherpad-lite/credentials.json. Ignoring.
�[33m[2025-06-25T21:01:53.877] [WARN] settings - �[39mloglevel: DEBUG
�[33m[2025-06-25T21:01:53.877] [WARN] settings - �[39mlogLayoutType: colored
�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:53.878] [INFO] settings - �[39mUsing skin "colibris" in dir: /opt/etherpad-lite/src/static/skins/colibris
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:53.878] [DEBUG] AbsolutePaths - �[39mRelative path "./SESSIONKEY.txt" can be rewritten to "/opt/etherpad-lite/SESSIONKEY.txt"
�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:53.879] [INFO] settings - �[39mRandom string used for versioning assets: 9538af20
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:54.183] [DEBUG] runCmd - �[39mExecuting command: pnpm --version
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:54.184] [DEBUG] runCmd - �[39mcwd: /opt/etherpad-lite
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:54.185] [DEBUG] runCmd - �[39mPATH=/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node_modules/.bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node_modules/.bin:/usr/local/lib/node_modules/pnpm/dist/node-gyp-bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.bin:/usr/local/lib/node_modules/pnpm/dist/node-gyp-bin:/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:54.429] [DEBUG] settings - �[39mRunning on Node v22.17.0 (minimum required Node version: 18.18.2)
�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.404] [INFO] server - �[39mStarting Etherpad...
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.509] [DEBUG] server - �[39mRemoving SIGINT listener because it might interfere with shutdown tasks. Function code:
function listener () {
      /* istanbul ignore if */
      if (!processOk(global.process)) {
        return
      }
      // If there are no other listeners, an exit is coming!
      // Simplest way: remove us and then re-send the signal.
      // We know that this will kill the process, so we can
      // safely emit now.
      var listeners = process.listeners(sig)
      if (listeners.length === emitter.count) {
        unload()
        emit('exit', null, sig)
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        emit('afterexit', null, sig)
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        if (isWin && sig === 'SIGHUP') {
          // "SIGHUP" throws an `ENOSYS` error on Windows,
          // so use a supported signal instead
          sig = 'SIGINT'
        }
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        process.kill(process.pid, sig)
      }
    }
Current stack:
    at removeSignalListener (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:102:35)
    at Object.exports.start (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:163:9)
    at err (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:314:38)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:317:61)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1730:14)
    at Object.transformer (/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/tsx@4.20.3/node_modules/tsx/dist/register-D46fvsV_.cjs:3:1104)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1465:32)
    at Function._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1282:12)
    at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:322:14)
    at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:235:24)
    at Function.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:171:5)
    at node:internal/main/run_main_module:36:49
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.510] [DEBUG] server - �[39mRemoving SIGTERM listener because it might interfere with shutdown tasks. Function code:
function listener () {
      /* istanbul ignore if */
      if (!processOk(global.process)) {
        return
      }
      // If there are no other listeners, an exit is coming!
      // Simplest way: remove us and then re-send the signal.
      // We know that this will kill the process, so we can
      // safely emit now.
      var listeners = process.listeners(sig)
      if (listeners.length === emitter.count) {
        unload()
        emit('exit', null, sig)
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        emit('afterexit', null, sig)
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        if (isWin && sig === 'SIGHUP') {
          // "SIGHUP" throws an `ENOSYS` error on Windows,
          // so use a supported signal instead
          sig = 'SIGINT'
        }
        /* istanbul ignore next */
        process.kill(process.pid, sig)
      }
    }
Current stack:
    at removeSignalListener (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:102:35)
    at Object.exports.start (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:163:9)
    at err (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:314:38)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/opt/etherpad-lite/src/node/server.ts:317:61)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1730:14)
    at Object.transformer (/opt/etherpad-lite/node_modules/.pnpm/tsx@4.20.3/node_modules/tsx/dist/register-D46fvsV_.cjs:3:1104)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1465:32)
    at Function._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1282:12)
    at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:322:14)
    at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:235:24)
    at Function.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:171:5)
    at node:internal/main/run_main_module:36:49
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.529] [DEBUG] runCmd - �[39mCommand returned successfully: pnpm --version
�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.529] [INFO] plugins - �[39mpnpm --version: 10.12.3
�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.557] [INFO] plugins - �[39mcheck installed plugins for migration
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.559] [DEBUG] plugins - �[39mplugin commander already exists in node_modules
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.559] [DEBUG] plugins - �[39mplugin ep_markdown already exists in node_modules
�[36m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.560] [DEBUG] plugins - �[39mplugin showdown already exists in node_modules
�[91m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.560] [ERROR] server - �[39mError occurred while starting Etherpad
�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.561] [INFO] server - �[39mExiting...
�[32m[2025-06-25T21:01:57.561] [INFO] server - �[39mWaiting for Node.js to exit...

[SamTV12345]

Ah it can also be that an exception is swallowed. Can you go to settings.json and increase the logLevel to DEBUG ?

[jjasghar]

Yep, already done, that's what [DEBUG] runCmd is right? or is there another option?

[SamTV12345]

Yes or you edit it in settings.json. I'm wondering what happens it kills the process directly without any stacktrace. Can you update to latest version. Do pnpm install and then check again?