Make it possible to pull nodejs packages from custom npm registry

During an incident at npmjs.org it was extremely difficult to pull
nodejs packages -- so we made it possible to pull from a custom
registry, deployed for instance with Verdaccio (https://verdaccio.org/).

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 Note: Breaking changes between versions are indicated by "💥".
 
+## Unreleased
+
+- [Improvement] Make it possible to rely on a different npm registry for faster image building
+
 ## v3.11.11 (2020-04-15)
 
 - [Bugfix] Make sure all emails (including "password reset") are properly saved to a local file in development mode (#315)

docs/configuration.rst

@@ -197,6 +197,20 @@ The following sections describe how to modify various aspects of the docker imag
 
 The custom image will be used the next time you run ``tutor local quickstart`` or ``tutor local start``. Do not attempt to run ``tutor local restart``! Restarting will not pick up the new image and will continue to use the old image.
 
+openedx Docker Image build arguments
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+When building the "openedx" Docker image, it is possible to specify a few `arguments <https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/builder/#arg>`__:
+
+- ``EDX_PLATFORM_REPOSITORY`` (default: ``"https://github.com/edx/edx-platform.git"``)
+- ``EDX_PLATFORM_VERSION`` (default: ``"open-release/ironwood.master"``)
+- ``EDX_PLATFORM_VERSION_DATE`` (default: ``"20200227"``)
+- ``NPM_REGISTRY`` (default: ``"https://registry.npmjs.org/"``)
+
+These arguments can be specified from the command line, `very much like Docker <https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/build/#set-build-time-variables---build-arg>`__. For instance::
+    
+    tutor images build -a EDX_PLATFORM_VERSION=customsha1 openedx
+
 Adding custom themes
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

tutor/templates/build/openedx/Dockerfile

@@ -63,8 +63,9 @@ RUN nodeenv /openedx/nodeenv --node=8.9.3 --prebuilt
 ENV PATH /openedx/nodeenv/bin:${PATH}
 
 # Install nodejs requirements
+ARG NPM_REGISTRY=https://registry.npmjs.org/
 RUN npm set progress=false \
-    && npm install
+    && npm install --verbose --registry=$NPM_REGISTRY
 ENV PATH ./node_modules/.bin:${PATH}
 
 # Install private requirements: this is useful for installing custom xblocks.