Recent Node.js 502 bad gateway issues

In December of 2018, many Node.js users noticed that their applications randomly returned an HTTP status code 502 “Bad Gateway” error. On the IBM Cloud, the affected applications are deployed as Cloud Foundry applications or as Docker containers in Kubernetes clusters.

The Node.js community immediately noticed the issue and recognized it as a regression bug that will affect different LTS runtime versions (6.14.x and 6.15.x, 8.14.x, and 10.14.x). Further information about this bug can be found in this Github issue on Node.js source code.

Immediately the community started to fix this bug. Before the end of 2018, the community released new minor versions which contain the fix. In particular, the minor versions released are 6.16.x, 8.15.x, and 10.15.x.

Steps to take to resolve the issue

If you have been affected by this issue, you can easily resolve it by forcing your application to use a higher Node.js runtime version from your package.json file.

Here is an example of how to do that:

{
  "name": "get-started-node",
  "main": "server.js",
  "description": "An introduction to developing Node.js apps on the Bluemix platform",
  "version": "0.1.1",
  "private": false,
  "engines": {
    "node": "^7.10.0"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node server.js"
  },
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "https://github.com/IBM-Bluemix/get-started-node"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@dynatrace/oneagent": "^1.137.152-1.0.0",
    "body-parser": "^1.17.x",
    "cfenv": "^1.0.x",
    "cloudant": "1.9.x",
    "dotenv": "^4.0.0",
    "express": "^4.15.x",
    "npm": "^6.4.1",
    "semver": "^5.6.0"
  },
  "author": "IBM Corp",
  "license": "Apache-2.0"
}

As you can see, the package.json file contains pretty much all of the dependencies that you need for your app. The most important section is:

"engines": {
    "node": "^7.10.0"
}

As you know, this section specifies which Node.js runtime version is to be used to run the application. Updating the value of this key with a “good” runtime version (e.g., 6.16.x, 8.15.x, or 10.15.x) will resolve this kind of issues.

If you are pushing your application in IBM Cloud on Cloud Foundry (using cf push APP_NAME), you could try to use -b option for setting an older buildpack version, but without changing the Node.js runtime version in package.json, you could still face the issue.

If you are deploying your application as a Docker container inside an IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service cluster and you are using the official Node.js images, you will not face this issue since you will automatically use always the last minor version for the major version chosen.

Was this article helpful?
YesNo

More from Cloud

Bigger isn’t always better: How hybrid AI pattern enables smaller language models

5 min read - As large language models (LLMs) have entered the common vernacular, people have discovered how to use apps that access them. Modern AI tools can generate, create, summarize, translate, classify and even converse. Tools in the generative AI domain allow us to generate responses to prompts after learning from existing artifacts. One area that has not seen much innovation is at the far edge and on constrained devices. We see some versions of AI apps running locally on mobile devices with…

IBM Tech Now: April 8, 2024

< 1 min read - ​Welcome IBM Tech Now, our video web series featuring the latest and greatest news and announcements in the world of technology. Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified every time a new IBM Tech Now video is published. IBM Tech Now: Episode 96 On this episode, we're covering the following topics: IBM Cloud Logs A collaboration with IBM watsonx.ai and Anaconda IBM offerings in the G2 Spring Reports Stay plugged in You can check out the…

The advantages and disadvantages of private cloud 

6 min read - The popularity of private cloud is growing, primarily driven by the need for greater data security. Across industries like education, retail and government, organizations are choosing private cloud settings to conduct business use cases involving workloads with sensitive information and to comply with data privacy and compliance needs. In a report from Technavio (link resides outside ibm.com), the private cloud services market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 26.71% between 2023 and 2028, and it is forecast to increase by…

IBM Newsletters

Get our newsletters and topic updates that deliver the latest thought leadership and insights on emerging trends.
Subscribe now More newsletters