How to Fix "NPM Install Killed" Errors Without Upgrading Your Server

In most cases, any NPM Killed message means that there is not enough RAM on the machine where you execute it.

For example, I recently encountered this problem while executing the npm run build on a machine with just 1GB of RAM. The build process was abruptly terminated with a "Killed" message. However, when I tried the same command on a machine with 2GB of RAM, it completed without a hitch.

sudo fallocate -l 1G /swapfile

sudo chmod 600 /swapfile

sudo mkswap /swapfile

sudo swapon /swapfile

sudo swapon --show

sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.bak

echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

sudo sysctl vm.swappiness=10

echo 'vm.swappiness=10' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf

sudo sysctl vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50

echo 'vm.vfs_cache_pressure=50' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf        

Conclusion

By creating a swap file, you can resolve memory-related issues during npm operations without upgrading your server. This is an excellent way to keep your development environment lean and cost-effective while avoiding unnecessary hardware expenses.

Have you run into memory issues similar to those with npm? Share your experiences and solutions in the comments!