downgrade NPM version on mac - node.js

I'm trying to downgrade my NPM version from 6.5.0 -> 6.2.0 (i'm on MAC OS)
running npm install -g npm#6.2.0
however it still shows version 6.5.0 in the terminal with npm -v (also after reboot)
Something i'm missing here ? i want to be able to switch between versions with easy, preferably not by reinstalling Node and NPM each time.

Best use nvm, the Node package manager. You can effortlessly switch between Node versions and their matching npm versions.
Try which npm and check your .profile and .bashrc files, maybe you have a specific npm path in there?

Related

nvm / node / npm: newer npm with node 12 than with node 14?

I'm using nvm to build libraries that require specific (different) Node versions.
When I do:
nvm use 12
I get:
Now using node v12.21.0 (npm v8.14.0)
But when I do:
nvm use 14
I get:
Now using node v14.18.1 (npm v6.14.15)
I'm very surprised to see an older npm version with a newer Node version. Is that the way it's supposed to be?
When I do nvm use 14 I'd expect it uses the latest Node 14.x with whatever latest npm version is available for that Node version. Or am I misunderstanding how this works?
Node.js is distributed with a version of npm, but npm is still a seperate package that can be upgraded.
The distributed versions can be retrieved from node release info
node npm
v12.22.12 6.14.16
v14.20.0 6.14.17
v16.17.0 8.15.0
v18.9.0 8.19.1
npm can prompt you to upgrade when it detects an old version, and you will also to run into this instruction in the wild a fair bit:
npm install -g npm
This will grab whatever the latest version of npm is and is likely what happened in the nvm 12 environment.
Sometimes moving to a new major version of npm can be a source of trouble for projects that have already been setup with a previous major npm release and some behaviour changes. CI tasks often have a npm install -g npm and one day they start falling over for what seems like no change. I've also seen npm drop support for an old version of node, so a npm install -g npm ends up with a broken npm.
If you want to keep a fixed major release, like v6 that Node 12 was release with, use:
npm install -g npm#^6
or to use a specific version
npm install -g npm#6.14.16

Why does upgrading npm not actually update it?

I'm on Mac OS X (High Sierra). I'm having trouble upgrading npm. From their docs, I ran
localhost:tmp davea$ npm install -g npm#latest
/usr/local/Cellar/node#8/8.16.1/bin/npm -> /usr/local/Cellar/node#8/8.16.1/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js
/usr/local/Cellar/node#8/8.16.1/bin/npx -> /usr/local/Cellar/node#8/8.16.1/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npx-cli.js
+ npm#6.11.3
updated 1 package in 6.56s
but when I check the version, it is still at 6.9.0
localhost:tmp davea$ npm -v
6.9.0
What's going on?
You are looking at the npm version which is different to the node version.
If you look at the releases from nodejs.org you can see which version of npm your version of node relates to.
If you type node -v you'll see your Node version.
8.6.1 relates to npm version 6.4.1.
npm version 6.9.1 was released with node version 10.16.0
I would highly recommend using nvm on OSX to take the stress out of it. You can find it here.
Also, try looking at this answer.

npm -v still showing version 2.x.x after installing npm3

I am starting to use Angular 2, which requires npm 3.x.x, so I installed it with npm install -g npm3. The Angular 2 tutorials tell me to verify that I have npm 3.x.x by running npm -v, however when I run that, it still says I have version 2.15.8. It shows that I have version 3.10.7 if I run npm3 -v, but not if I run npm -v. Is this going to cause errors? Do I need to it to say I'm using version 3.x.x when I run npm -v? If so, what do I need to do?
EDIT:
Node.js version: node -v reveals that I am using v4.4.7 (Angular2 requires something between 4.4.x - 5.x.x, so I should be good here)
OS: I am currently using Windows 10 on a PC, but have had the same issue with my Mac.
Upgrade npm using this command - npm install -g npm
Maybe this helps:
https://www.google.de/search?q=update+npm+windows
Updating npm with npm itself will store npm.cmd in ../appdata/roaming/.
To avoid conflicts with an older npm version you need to remove npm.cmd from C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd

Grunt can't run because: Error: Module did not self-register

I use the same project for two machines. I can use Grunt on my iMac with npm 1.4.28 and can't run Grunt with my other machine npm -v 2.5.1
How can I revert my version of npm back to previous version? What if that particular version is not available?
So #steveax was correct, it was a compatibility issue. A few other people experienced the same thing. The repository author issued a great solution, though I would like to see the module and npm latest versions be compatible. But this works now:
On Linux or Mac:
NPM install -g n
n 0.10.33
On Windows:
npm install -g nvmw
nvmw install v0.10.33
nvmw use v0.10.33
what steveax in his comment answered is probably right!
but to answer your question, the crazy stuff about npm is that you can use npm itself to change the version:
$ npm install -g npm#1.4.28

How to use a specific version of NPM?

How can I switch which version of npm I'm using?
Currently:
$ npm -v
1.1.65
But I need: 1.0.x
I tried but got an error:
$npm version 1.0
npm ERR! version No package.json found
Anyone know how to use a different version of NPM? Thanks
Your NPM version is tied to your NodeJS version. As far as I can tell you can only have one NPM version per Node version. Using something like nodenv or, my favorite, asdf, you can define your node version per folder.
Per Node version (e.g. per folder) you globally install the version of NPM that you want to use.
$ npm install -g npm#x.x
Edit: You can also now specify NPM version in your package.json "engines" key, though it takes a little more work to enforce that declaration.
You can update npm without installing another version of node.js and npm is not tied to versions of node.js specifically.
Of course, as node.js advances and adds features so too does npm so there is some limit for npm depending on node.js but you SHOULD update npm as much as you can because there are important security patches and bug fixes.
This is a best practice for all software. Stability is not worth ignoring a security risk.
The command is npm install npm#latest -g to install it globally. This will install the latest version that will run with the node.js you have installed.
Additionally you can install a specific version of npm to your package.json in a project like this npm install npm#6.14 and you can use it locally. What is even more interesting is you can install a local version of node.js in a project and use it too!
Example:
I am running node 16.8.0 and I have npm 7.21.0 but I want to use an earlier version of npm but just for a project:
In the project directory
npm i --save-dev npm#6.14
This will put the earlier version of npm into the node_modules/.bin which will let you run it in relation to this project. If you type npm -v at this point you will get your global version.
If you type node_modules/.bin/npm -v you will get 6.14.15
Since you have made this version of npm the one for this project, when you use npm in your scripts it will use 6.14.15 and not the global version.
The same is true of node.js.
You can install an older version of node.js like this: node_modules/.bin/npm install --save-dev node#lts which will then add this version of node.js to the project.
You can test this by entering node_modules/.bin/node -v and in my example you will see the locally installed version number, in my example v14.17.3 although my global is v16.8.0
If you do this, your project scripts in package.json scripts will run the locally installed versions rather than the global versions.
You can test this out by creating a script in your package.json.scripts like this: "what:version": "npm -v && node -v",
Then if you run npm run what:version you will get
> what:version
> npm -v && node -v
6.14.15
v14.17.3
What value is this?
It is a way for you to package node and npm with your project. This can be especially valuable for large projects where you have many people working on the same project, so you have consistency across the board or if you have a build server that has a specific version of node + npm. Additionally if you have corporate requirements, etc.
Additionally there is npx which allows you to do so much more. Using npx you can even try something out without installing it.
Here is the documentation for npm: https://docs.npmjs.com/about-npm-versions
If you find you are needing to switch between different versions of node.js and npm you might want to use nvm https://docs.npmjs.com/downloading-and-installing-node-js-and-npm
When you install npm you only get the latest package, so you need to install specific versions individually, e.g:
npm install -g npm#5.6.0
Once you've done that, run a version check and you should see the version you've just installed:
npm -v
5.6.0
You can install specific version by bellow command.
npm install -g npm#6.14.11
For a specific version, use
npm install -g npm#x.y.z
And for the latest version, use
npm install -g npm#latest

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