Resolving the Bitbucket Pipeline Custom Cache Issue

Описание: Struggling with custom cache definitions in Bitbucket Pipelines? Our blog provides an in-depth explanation to help you tackle the `empty cache` issue effectively.
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Resolving the Bitbucket Pipeline Custom Cache Issue: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you’re working with Bitbucket Pipelines and have encountered the frustrating problem of a custom cache definition not functioning as expected, you’re not alone. Many developers use Bitbucket for CI/CD and face issues when dealing with cache definitions, particularly when files are organized in nested folder structures. In this guide, we will break down the problem and explore a solution, ensuring your pipeline runs smoothly and caches your dependencies effectively.

Understanding the Structure of the Problem

Let’s first examine what might be causing the issue. In your project, you have a directory that consists of two sub-folders, namely api and ui, where the node_modules folder is located in the ui directory.

Your current bitbucket-pipelines.yml configuration specifies a cache for frontendnode, pointing to src/ui/node_modules. However, you are encountering the error:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This error message indicates that the pipeline cannot find any files to cache, leading to an empty cache upload.

Step-by-Step Solution

To resolve this issue, we will follow several steps.

1. Check Your Cache Definition

First, ensure that your cache definition accurately points to the correct directory. Your current configuration looks like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This seems correct at first glance, but let’s confirm the folder does exist and contains files.

2. Verify Node Modules Installation

The cache will only get populated if the npm install command runs successfully, which fills the node_modules folder. Let’s revisit your script section:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

To ensure that the modules are being installed correctly, consider adding a step to list the contents of the node_modules directory after the npm install command. You can use the tree command, as shown below:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This will help you confirm whether node_modules has been populated after the installation.

3. Execute the Pipeline

After updating the script to include the command to visualize the directory structure, run your pipeline again. If the modules are successfully installed, you should see an output of the files in node_modules.

4. Understanding Cache Behavior

It's important to note that Bitbucket Pipelines will only cache files after a successful completion of the pipeline step. If for some reason, your build fails prior to completing the script, the cache will not retain any files.

5. Validate Path Issues

Lastly, if you still encounter issues, double-check if there are any path-related problems:

Ensure that the working directory is set correctly.

Make sure there are no typos in your paths throughout the bitbucket-pipelines.yml file.

Final Thoughts

By following the steps outlined above, you should be able to resolve the issue with your custom cache definition in Bitbucket Pipelines. Remember that proper installation of dependencies and correct path definitions are key to success in your CI/CD process. Happy coding!