NPM/Cordova permissions Error: EACCES: permission denied, scandir - linux

Question

When I run cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-geolocation I receive the following error. I have tried enable 777 on this folder, setting myself as the owner etc. In these circumstances I'm not allowed to use sudo, but am confident if I could that would solve the problem.
Failed to install 'cordova-plugin-geolocation': Error: EACCES: permission denied, scandir '/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/build/device/libCordova.a'
at Error (native)
at Object.fs.readdirSync (fs.js:952:18)
at GlobSync._readdir (/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/cordova/node_modules/glob/sync.js:275:41)
at GlobSync._readdirInGlobStar (/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/cordova/node_modules/glob/sync.js:254:20)
at GlobSync._readdir (/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/cordova/node_modules/glob/sync.js:263:17)
at GlobSync._processReaddir (/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/cordova/node_modules/glob/sync.js:135:22)
at GlobSync._process (/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/cordova/node_modules/glob/sync.js:130:10)
at GlobSync._processGlobStar (/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/cordova/node_modules/glob/sync.js:360:10)
at GlobSync._process (/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/cordova/node_modules/glob/sync.js:128:10)
at GlobSync._processGlobStar (/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/cordova/node_modules/glob/sync.js:363:10)
Error: EACCES: permission denied, scandir '/Users/username/documents/core/myapp/app/platforms/ios/build/device/libCordova.a'

Answer 1

NPM issue's
You can fix this problem using one of three options:
1).Change the permission to npm's default directory.
2).Change npm's default directory to another directory.
3).Install node with a package manager that takes care of this for you.
You should back-up your computer before moving forward.
Option 1: Change the permission to npm's default directory
1).Find the path to npm's directory:
npm config get prefix
For many systems, this will be /usr/local.
WARNING: If the displayed path is just /usr, switch to Option 2 or you will mess up your permissions.
2).Change the owner of npm's directories to the name of the current user (your username!):
sudo chown -R $(whoami) $(npm config get prefix)/{lib/node_modules,bin,share}
This changes the permissions of the sub-folders used by npm and some other tools (lib/node_modules, bin, and share).
Option 2: Change npm's default directory to another directory
There are times when you do not want to change ownership of the default directory that npm uses (i.e. /usr) as this could cause some problems, for example if you are sharing the system with other users.
Instead, you can configure npm to use a different directory altogether. In our case, this will be a hidden directory in our home folder.
1).Make a directory for global installations:
mkdir ~/.npm-global
2).Configure npm to use the new directory path:
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
3).Open or create a ~/.profile file and add this line:
export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH
4).Back on the command line, update your system variables:
source ~/.profile
Test: Download a package globally without using sudo.
npm install -g jshint
nstead of steps 2-4 you can also use the corresponding ENV variable (e.g. if you don't want to modify ~/.profile):
NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=~/.npm-global
Option 3: Use a package manager that takes care of this for you.
If you're doing a fresh install of node on Mac OS you can avoid this problem altogether by using the Homebrew package manager. Homebrew sets things up out of the box with the correct permission.
brew install node

Answer 2

For Mac users, if you are looking for a quick answer, you can edit the permissions of the .npm folder located at /Users/$(whoami)/.npm.
Go to .npm parent folder (to prevent running the 2nd command in the wrong place).
$ cd /Users/$(whoami)
Run chmod to change the permissions of the .npm folder.
$ sudo chmod -R 777 .npm/*
That's how I solved on my case.

Answer 3

In case anyone else arrives with a Mac cordova environment that has sudo'd itself beyond repair, this was my only solution (after a lot of pain):
backup everything
remove all cordova platforms (WARNING: this will wreck anything custom you've done within a platform, thus the backup)
uninstall cordova globally
uninstall npm; I just used the basic command from their site: sudo npm uninstall npm -g
install NVM
through that, install Node long-term-stable
install cordova (no more sudo required)
take permissions of your project directory (I did my whole user directory recursively)
add your platforms
diff back in any of your customizations
find a comfortable chair and drink scotch