I’m facing challenges while attempting to install the gifsicle package on my work computer. My environment consists of Windows 7, with npm version 3.10.3 and Node.js version 6.7.0.
The installation hangs during the postinstall phase where it invokes node lib/install.js. After around 15 minutes, I receive the following error messages:
‼ tunneling socket could not be established, cause=read ECONNRESET
‼ gifsicle pre-build test failed
i compiling from source
Then, the process fails entirely with this error:
× RequestError: tunneling socket could not be established, cause=socket hang up
Issue summary
It appears that the package initially attempts to download a prebuilt binary. When that fails due to the proxy, it tries to compile from source, but the build doesn’t honor the npm proxy configuration.
I can successfully install this package on my personal computer with a direct internet connection. Has anyone successfully gotten gifsicle to work behind a corporate firewall? What configurations did you apply to make it work?
Your proxy auth is getting mangled somewhere. I’ve watched this kill tons of deployments.
Here’s the thing - you’re fighting a losing battle. Get gifsicle working today, hit the same proxy hell with another package tomorrow. Corporate networks just weren’t built for dev workflows.
Ditch the local installs and proxy configs. Move gif processing to the cloud where networks actually function. Took me weeks to learn this - don’t fix the proxy, avoid it.
Set up cloud-based gif optimization instead. Upload images, run gifsicle remotely, grab results. No binary downloads through firewalls. No wrestling npm proxy settings that half the packages ignore.
Latenode makes this stupid easy. Build a workflow that handles gif processing in the cloud. Your code just hits APIs - zero installation headaches.
Ugh, this brings back nightmares from my old job. Windows 7 + corporate proxy is basically asking for trouble. One workaround that saved me - download the gifsicle binary manually from GitHub releases and drop it in node_modules/.bin after install fails. Not pretty but gets you moving while IT figures out their proxy mess.
Been there way too many times. Corporate proxies absolutely destroy npm installs, especially packages like gifsicle that download binaries.
Here’s what’s happening: npm uses your proxy settings, but the post-install scripts don’t. So when gifsicle tries grabbing its prebuilt binary, it completely ignores your proxy config.
Don’t waste time fighting proxy configs and praying the build works. Just automate the whole thing. Set up your gifsicle operations on a server that doesn’t have proxy issues, then hook it into your workflow.
I’ve fixed tons of these corporate network problems by moving the annoying stuff outside the restricted environment. Process your gifs remotely and pull back the results - no local installation nightmare.
Latenode handles this perfectly. Create a workflow for all your gif processing in the cloud - zero proxy issues. Just call it from your app when you need it.
I ran into this exact issue two years ago with a different binary package. The problem is gifsicle’s install script doesn’t pick up your npm proxy settings when it downloads the prebuilt binary.
I fixed it by manually setting HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variables before running npm install. The download mechanism grabs these automatically.
Try this:
set HTTP_PROXY=http://company%5Cusername:userpass@workproxy:8088/
set HTTPS_PROXY=http://company%5Cusername:userpass@workproxy:8088/
npm install gifsicle --verbose
Or you can skip the binary download completely by setting npm_config_gifsicle_binary_host_mirror to an empty string. This forces it to compile from source using your npm proxy settings.
Basically, npm proxy config and binary downloads are two separate things - you’ve got to configure both.
Corporate proxies with auth are a pain - packages handle credentials all over the place. Your URL encoding looks right, but Windows 7 with those older npm/Node versions had nasty proxy auth bugs.
Try setting npm_config_build_from_source before installing. This skips the binary download completely and forces compilation, which should play nicer with your npm proxy settings.
set npm_config_build_from_source=true
npm install gifsicle --verbose
Or check if your IT folks can whitelist the gifsicle binary host. The package pulls from GitHub releases, so whitelisting raw.githubusercontent.com and github.com might fix it without forcing compilation.
I hit the same issues with imagemin packages until I bumped to Node 8+ where they fixed a ton of proxy stuff. If you can swing it, definitely update your dev environment.