Can I change the username of the node user inside the Dockerfile to "dev"? Will that break things? #5125

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1. avivkeller commented on Dec 29, 2025

   

   avivkeller

   on Dec 29, 2025

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   @nodejs/docker
2. nschonni commented on Dec 29, 2025

   

   nschonni

   on Dec 29, 2025

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   https://github.com/nodejs/docker-node/blob/main/docs/BestPractices.md#non-root-user talks about changing the UID
3. Nefcanto commented on Dec 30, 2025

   

   Nefcanto

   on Dec 30, 2025

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   @nschonni I read that part. I just want to change the name of the user. This is my core image:

   FROM node:lts-trixie-slim
   
   RUN usermod -d /home/dev -l dev node
   
   RUN sed -i 's/^Components: main$/& contrib non-free-firmware/' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.sources \
       && apt-get update -qq -y \
       && apt-get upgrade -qq -y \
       && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
           git procps curl inotify-tools jq python3 make g++ unzip bc jo \
       && npm install --location=global npm npm-check \
       && cd /usr/local/bin && curl -fsSL https://getmic.ro | bash \
       && apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
   
   USER dev
   
   WORKDIR /home/dev
   

   It builds. No problem. But then I have this panel image that uses my core image:

   FROM nefcanto/core:latest
   
   ENV PATH="${PATH}:/core/commands/panel:/core/commands"
   
   RUN npm install --location=global serve -y
   
   RUN echo DefaultLimitNOFILE=65536 > /etc/systemd/system.conf
   RUN echo DefaultLimitNOFILE=65536 > /etc/systemd/user.conf
   
   RUN ulimit -n 65536
   

   It fails when I add RUN usermod -d /home/dev -l dev node line. This is the permission error:

   #6 [2/5] RUN npm install --location=global serve -y
   #6 3.422 npm error code EACCES
   #6 3.423 npm error syscall mkdir
   #6 3.423 npm error path /usr/local/lib/node_modules/serve
   #6 3.423 npm error errno -13
   #6 3.425 npm error Error: EACCES: permission denied, mkdir '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/serve'
   #6 3.425 npm error     at async mkdir (node:internal/fs/promises:861:10)
   #6 3.425 npm error     at async /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/reify.js:572:20
   #6 3.425 npm error     at async Promise.allSettled (index 0)
   #6 3.425 npm error     at async #reifyPackages (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/reify.js:309:11)
   #6 3.425 npm error     at async Arborist.reify (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@npmcli/arborist/lib/arborist/reify.js:121:5)
   #6 3.425 npm error     at async Install.exec (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/commands/install.js:150:5)
   #6 3.425 npm error     at async Npm.exec (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/npm.js:208:9)
   #6 3.425 npm error     at async module.exports (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/lib/cli/entry.js:67:5) {
   #6 3.425 npm error   errno: -13,
   #6 3.425 npm error   code: 'EACCES',
   #6 3.425 npm error   syscall: 'mkdir',
   #6 3.425 npm error   path: '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/serve'
   #6 3.425 npm error }
   #6 3.426 npm error
   #6 3.426 npm error The operation was rejected by your operating system.
   #6 3.426 npm error It is likely you do not have the permissions to access this f
   

   When I run it as node user, both images are built. But when I change the username to dev it seems that the permissions are broken. Do you have any idea why?
4. LegendCo commented on Jun 17, 2026

   

   LegendCo

   on Jun 17, 2026

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   In general, renaming the node user to dev will not inherently break Node.js itself. Linux processes care about the numeric UID/GID much more than the username. If the user remains UID 1000 and GID 1000, most software will continue to work exactly the same way.

   If you're building on top of the official image, it's often simpler to leave the node user as-is and just use:

   USER node
5. MikeMcC399 commented on Aug 10, 2026

   

   MikeMcC399

   on Aug 10, 2026 · Pinned by MikeMcC399

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   https://github.com/nodejs/docker-node/blob/main/docs/BestPractices.md#non-root-user in #5125 (comment) already provided the answer:

   Note that the node user is neither a build-time nor a run-time dependency and it can be removed or altered, as long as the functionality of the application you want to add to the container does not depend on it.
6. MikeMcC399

   pinned a comment on Aug 10, 2026
7. MikeMcC399

   added

   answered🎉 Yay! The issue has been resolved, or the question has been answered.🎉 Yay! The issue has been resolved, or the question has been answered.

   on Aug 10, 2026
8. MikeMcC399

   closed this as completedon Aug 10, 2026