npm v5 config link does not link - node.js

I am trying to get global links working by default with npm v5. The same setup works on npm v4.
Consider the following:
npm config set global true
npm config set link true
The desired outcome should be that all packages installed by npm install are installed globally and all directories in node_modules are links to that global install.
In npm v4 this happens as expected. In npm v5 it does not. In npm v5, no packages are installed globally and the dependent packages are copied directly into node_modules as if the configs are being ignored entirely.
Can someone please explain this behavior and how to resolve if possible?

Related

Package visible in npm list, but cannot be required

I am using nvm and via it I have set node v8.11.3 as my default. I installed the varint package globally using npm install -g --verbose varint, specifically to see where it is being installed. Post install on running npm list -g I can see it, but requiring it in the node repl fails. I am not sure as to what the issue is here. I am also not in a directory which has a package.json from before.
UPDATE:
which npm : ~/.nvm/versions/node/v8.11.3/bin/npm
which node : ~/.nvm/versions/node/v8.11.3/bin/node

"npm config set global false" not working

For some reason my npm is configured to install packages globally. I may have selected that option when I initially installed npm. However, I'm trying to change that configuration so npm installs locally. I googled and found this option:
npm config set global false
However, npm is still installing globally instead of locally. Am I missing a step or doing something incorrectly? Would you expect the command above to do what I need it to do?

npm installs packages locally by default. If you want to install a package globally use flag -g.
e.g. npm install my-package -g

How does npm know the path to install module from

I am new to npm, using package.json to define the dependencies. I am just curious where is those dependencies installed from?

First, npm checks your local machine for packages installed globally, or using the -g flag.
ie: if you used npm install -g moduleName
You can run npm list -g to figure out where that is on your machine.
Otherwise, npm goes to where you set the npm registry. By default this is npmjs.
If you want to see the default settings, run npm config list

npm install behavior after clear cache vs folder delete

I am trying to understand how npm work on cache clean and installation. Whenever I have to get latest latest version I try to do:
$ npm cache clean
$ npm install
But it fails to pickup latest dependencies so I always have to do delete old dependent project folder from node_module folder and do npm install
So I want to understand why?

npm cache clean only purges the global cache npm uses to avoid re-downloading the same packages. npm install does nothing if the installed package versions match the versions in package.json.
Maybe the command you're looking for is npm update?

npm install vs. update - what's the difference?

What is the practical difference between npm install and npm update? When should I use which?

The difference between npm install and npm update handling of package versions specified in package.json:
{
"name": "my-project",
"version": "1.0", // install update
"dependencies": { // ------------------
"already-installed-versionless-module": "*", // ignores "1.0" -> "1.1"
"already-installed-semver-module": "^1.4.3" // ignores "1.4.3" -> "1.5.2"
"already-installed-versioned-module": "3.4.1" // ignores ignores
"not-yet-installed-versionless-module": "*", // installs installs
"not-yet-installed-semver-module": "^4.2.1" // installs installs
"not-yet-installed-versioned-module": "2.7.8" // installs installs
}
}
Summary: The only big difference is that an already installed module with fuzzy versioning ...
gets ignored by npm install
gets updated by npm update
Additionally: install and update by default handle devDependencies differently
npm install will install/update devDependencies unless --production flag is added
npm update will ignore devDependencies unless --dev flag is added
Why use npm install at all?
Because npm install does more when you look besides handling your dependencies in package.json.
As you can see in npm install you can ...
manually install node-modules
set them as global (which puts them in the shell's PATH) using npm install -g <name>
install certain versions described by git tags
install from a git url
force a reinstall with --force

npm install installs all modules that are listed on package.json file and their dependencies.
npm update updates all packages in the node_modules directory and their dependencies.
npm install express installs only the express module and its dependencies.
npm update express updates express module (starting with npm#2.x, it doesn't update its dependencies).
So updates are for when you already have the module and wish to get the new version.

In most cases, this will install the latest version of the module published on npm.
npm install express --save
or better to upgrade module to latest version use:
npm install express#latest --save --force
--save: Package will appear in your dependencies.
More info: npm-install

npm update: install and update with latest node modules which are in package.json
npm install: install node modules which are defined in package.json(without update)

Many distinctions have already been mentioned. Here is one more:
Running npm install at the top of your source directory will run various scripts: prepublish, preinstall, install, postinstall. Depending on what these scripts do, a npm install may do considerably more work than just installing dependencies.
I've just had a use case where prepublish would call make and the Makefile was designed to fetch dependencies if the package.json got updated. Calling npm install from within the Makefile would have lead to an infinite recursion, while calling npm update worked just fine, installing all dependencies so that the build could proceed even if make was called directly.

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