Apollo MCP Server v1.8.1 not compatible with UBI9 base images (works with v1.5.0)

[riginoommen]

Summary

When upgrading Apollo MCP Server from v1.5.0 → v1.8.1, the installation fails when running inside Red Hat UBI9 based container images.

The failure occurs during execution of the official install script:

main: line 182: _libc_version: unbound variable

Version 1.5.0 works correctly with the same Dockerfile and environment.

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Environment

Base Images

registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9:9.5
registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9-minimal:9.5

Container runtime

• Docker
• Podman

Apollo MCP Server versions tested

Version	Result
1.5.0	Works
1.8.1	Installer fails

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Error Output

During installation:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apollographql/apollo-mcp-server/v1.8.1/scripts/nix/install.sh | sh

main: line 182: _libc_version: unbound variable

The failure happens inside the install.sh script, which appears to assume the _libc_version variable is set.

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Steps to Reproduce

1. Use the following Dockerfile
2. Set

ENV APOLLO_MCP_SERVER_VERSION=1.8.1

3. Build the image

docker build -t mcp-test .

4. Build fails during install script execution.

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Dockerfile Used for Reproduction

# Stage 1: Build stage
FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9:9.5-1745854298 AS build

ENV APOLLO_MCP_SERVER_VERSION=1.8.1
ENV APOLLO_MCP_SERVER_HOME=/opt/apollo-mcp-server

RUN mkdir -p /usr/share/pki/ca-trust-source/anchors && \
    curl -k -s 'https://certs.com/certs/cert.pem' > /usr/share/pki/ca-trust-source/anchors/custom-ca.pem && \
    update-ca-trust

RUN curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apollographql/apollo-mcp-server/v${APOLLO_MCP_SERVER_VERSION}/scripts/nix/install.sh | sh && \
    mv ./apollo-mcp-server /usr/local/bin/

RUN apollo-mcp-server --version

FROM registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9-minimal:9.5-1745855087

ENV APOLLO_MCP_SERVER_HOME=/opt/apollo-mcp-server
ENV SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt

COPY --from=build /usr/local/bin/apollo-mcp-server /usr/local/bin/apollo-mcp-server
COPY ./mcp.yaml mcp.yaml
COPY --from=build ${SSL_CERT_FILE} ${SSL_CERT_FILE}

RUN update-ca-trust

RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/apollo-mcp-server

EXPOSE 4000

WORKDIR /

CMD ["apollo-mcp-server", "mcp.yaml"]

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Expected Behavior

The installer should successfully install Apollo MCP Server v1.8.1 on UBI9 the same way v1.5.0 does.

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Actual Behavior

The installer script fails with:

_libc_version: unbound variable

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Additional Context

UBI9 images are commonly used in enterprise Red Hat / OpenShift environments, so ensuring compatibility would help teams deploying Apollo MCP Server in those platforms.

[riginoommen]

I faced a similar issue before with apollo router - apollographql/router#6941 same issue seems to be with mcp server