Cannot install Ghost due to SQlite3 error

Developer help
1

I’m trying to install Ghost but I keep running into a SQlite3 error. Any idea how I could fix this?

I tried following the solution marked in a past thread. Not sure if I performed it correctly or not but it’s not working for me.

Found a development config but not a production config, running in development mode instead

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✔ Checking system Node.js version - found v16.14.2
ℹ Ensuring user is not logged in as ghost user [skipped]
ℹ Checking if logged in user is directory owner [skipped]
✔ Checking current folder permissions
✔ Validating config
✔ Checking memory availability
✔ Checking binary dependencies
✖ Starting Ghost: ghost-local
A GhostError occurred.

Message: Ghost was able to start, but errored during boot with: Knex: run
$ npm install @vscode/sqlite3 --save
Cannot find module '@vscode/sqlite3'
Require stack:
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/node_modules/knex-migrator/node_modules/knex/lib/dialects/sqlite3/index.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/node_modules/knex-migrator/node_modules/knex/lib/knex-builder/internal/config-resolver.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/node_modules/knex-migrator/node_modules/knex/lib/knex-builder/Knex.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/node_modules/knex-migrator/node_modules/knex/lib/index.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/node_modules/knex-migrator/node_modules/knex/knex.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/node_modules/knex-migrator/lib/database.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/node_modules/knex-migrator/lib/index.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/core/server/data/db/state-manager.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/core/boot.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/ghost.js
- /home/cabox/workspace/Ghost/versions/4.44.0/index.js

Debug Information:
    OS: Ubuntu, v16.04 LTS
    Node Version: v16.14.2
    Ghost Version: 4.44.0
    Ghost-CLI Version: 1.19.2
    Environment: development
    Command: 'ghost start'

Additional log info available in: /home/cabox/.ghost/logs/ghost-cli-debug-2022-04-19T17_57_58_733Z.log

Try running ghost doctor to check your system for known issues.

You can always refer to https://ghost.org/docs/ghost-cli/ for troubleshooting.
1 Like
2

Having same issue after upgrade to 4.44.0. I’ve likely missed a few interim versions, as it’s been a few weeks since I’ve run my local.

Also tried ghost buster and force update with no success.

3

I managed to get it working, here’s a step-by-step of what I had to do:

  1. Install sqlite3 separately
    npm install sqlite3 --save

  2. Move sqlite3 into node_modules/@vscode
    (I moved into every node_module folder that existed in my Ghost install)

  3. sudo apt install build-essential

  4. ghost update --force

  5. And finally ghost start

It’s not the cleanest or most ideal, but I got it running on a local/dev environment at least :smiley:

4

I’m on MacOS, so no apt, but I’ve got xcode dev tools installed. I’ve been playing around with it this morning without success… Hopefully someone on the Ghost team can shed some light for us.

5

For step 3, try replacing it with xcode-select --install

Source: Stackoverflow build-essential alternative

Hopefully, it works!

6

I already have xcode dev tools installed, so xcode-select --install doesn’t do anything.

I didn’t copy sqlite3 into every node_modules subdirectory (there are hundreds), but just the main for ghost 4.44.0, and inside there to the knex, knex-migration, and knex-migration/knex node_modules subdirs, since the error appears to be specifically related to knex.

Again, no luck.

7

Based on additional testing today, I was thinking this is a bug related to paths with spaces, however, looking at the debug output it seems @Raz1 was not using such a path, so now I’m second-guessing.

Still, if you’re having issues despite the above recommended solutions, trying a fresh install to a path with no spaces might be worth a shot.