在EC2上运行GitHub Actions时提示npm、pm2 command not found

AI 小北

2026-7-18

Fix: npm/pm2 not found in GitHub Actions SSH workflow

The error occurs because non-interactive SSH sessions (like the one used by GitHub Actions) don’t load the same shell profile files as interactive logins. This means your PATH variable doesn’t include the directories where npm and pm2 are installed—even if they’re set up globally for your user.

Here are three reliable fixes:

1. Use absolute paths for npm and pm2

First, log into your EC2 instance interactively and run these commands to get the full paths of npm and pm2:

which npm
which pm2

Replace the commands in your workflow’s SSH script with these absolute paths. For example, if the output is /usr/local/bin/npm and /usr/local/bin/pm2, update your script:

script: |
  cd /home/ubuntu/app/next
  /usr/local/bin/npm ci
  /usr/local/bin/npm run build
  /usr/local/bin/pm2 restart 0

2. Source your shell profile to load PATH

If you installed Node.js via a version manager like nvm, or added the path to your .bashrc/.profile, source that file before running commands. For nvm users:

script: |
  source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
  cd /home/ubuntu/app/next
  npm ci
  npm run build
  pm2 restart 0

If you added the path to .bashrc:

script: |
  source ~/.bashrc
  cd /home/ubuntu/app/next
  npm ci
  npm run build
  pm2 restart 0

Note: Some .bashrc files exit early for non-interactive shells. If that’s the case, modify your .bashrc to skip that check, or use one of the other fixes.

3. Explicitly add the directory to PATH

If you know the directory where npm/pm2 are located, add it directly to the PATH in the script:

script: |
  export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH" # Replace with your actual directory
  cd /home/ubuntu/app/next
  npm ci
  npm run build
  pm2 restart 0