I have spent the last few hours trying every tutorial out there on how to fix npm permissions on a mac.
NOTHING has worked thus far.
Steps I have taken
I have uninstalled node multiple times, tried running brew install node --without-npm then installing npm seperately.
I have tried to create my own npm-package file in my root directory and change the npm source and still that doesnt work.
I have tried what is detailed here https://github.com/sindresorhus/guides/blob/master/npm-global-without-sudo.md
I have tried what is shown in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxvybxYFq2o&t=154s
I have also tried a few other techniques all similar to above but nothing has worked.
Im on a 2015 macbook running a fresh install 0SX Mojave.
Any time I try to install a package it errors, and even if I use sudo, npm cant find the commands I'm entering for example if I
sudo npm install #angular/cli then try and use ng I get the command not found: ng
Any help would be appreciated. This question will be updated with methods used as they are suggested. Let me know If you need any more information.
I understand your frustration :(
These steps worked for me (from https://github.com/creationix/nvm/blob/master/README.md):
check if you have ~/.bash_profile file (home directory). I didn't. So I had to create it myself with:
touch ~/.bash_profile
Get NVM by running:
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.11/install.sh | bash
them run
export NVM_DIR="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME/:-$HOME/.}nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm
verify nvm installation by running (you might need to restart terminal window before)
nvm --version
Install node via nvm - run:
nvm install node
(if you get version warning/error just follow the instructions(I had to run npm config delete prefix and then again nvm install node))
Install CLI:
npm install -g #angular/cli
verify installation:
ng -v
Hope it helps!
When node (v.0.10.33) is installed with homebrew (v. 0.9.5), at one point it says:
==> Caveats
If you update npm itself do NOT use the npm upgrade command
Instead execute:
npm install -g npm#latest
So, what exactly is npm upgrade and what is the difference with npm install -g npm#latest?
-- edit 2015
the problem doesn't exist anymore with the current version of node. (but I never had an answer to what npm upgrade is?)
Use npm install to install a package and npm update to update a package.
That Homebrew npm caveat was removed after the issue with npm update -g was fixed.
npm comes bundled with node, both part of Node.js install --- no need to install separately
Below are the steps to install Node.js from source (OSX/linux)
Issue cmds as yourself NOT root (sudo)
to start fresh remove prior node and npm installs as well as these :
sudo mv ~/.npmrc ~/.npmrc_ignore
sudo mv ~/.npm ~/.npm_ignore
sudo mv ~/tmp ~/tmp_ignore
sudo mv ~/.npm-init.js ~/.npm-init.js_ignore
download source from : http://nodejs.org/download/
cd freshly-downloaded-dir
define environment variable NODE_PATH as the dir for subsequent module installs
export NODE_PARENT=${HOME}/nodejs-v0.10.33
export PATH=${NODE_PARENT}/bin:${PATH}
export NODE_PATH=${NODE_PARENT}/lib/node_modules
./configure --prefix=${NODE_PARENT}
make
make install # IMPORTANT this is NOT using sudo
# not wanted since installing into $USER owned $NODE_PARENT
which puts it into dir defined by above --prefix
when you use syntax : npm install -g some_cool_module
the -g for global installs it into dir $NODE_PATH and not your $PWD
Now put above three export xxx=yyy
commands into your ~/.bashrc or some such to persist these environment variable changes
Yeoman and bower do not work at all. I installed node using the Mac node package downloaded from the nodejs site.
npm: 1.4.21 / node: v0.10.30
.bash_profile:
export PATH=$HOME/local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin
export M2_HOME=/Users/cmorrow/apache-maven-3.1.1
export PATH=$PATH:$M2_HOME/bin
export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/Home
[[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && source "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" # Load RVM into a shell session *as a function*
export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH
export PATH=/Users/cmorrow/npm/lib/node_modules:$PATH
I installed yo with:
npm install -g yo
The post install reads:
yo#1.2.1 postinstall /Users/cmorrow/npm/lib/node_modules/yo
node ./scripts/doctor
[Yeoman Doctor] Everything looks alright!
If you install nodejs by HomeBrew he manually create a symbolic link in the folder
/usr/local/bin
if the manually installation don't generate that symbolic link you can doing manually with this command (with sudo):
ln -s /Users/cmorrow/npm/lib/node_modules/yo/cli.js /usr/local/bin/yo
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/yo
Not sure the exact fix, but I made a few changes and everything now works.
Things I did were:
Upgraded node js to v0.10.31
sudo npm cache clean -f
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n stable
Reinstalled yeoman
sudo npm install -g yo
I installed Node.js with these instructions and it seemed successful:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chris-lea/node.js
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nodejs
Then I installed npm with these instructions:
sudo curl https://www.npmjs.org/install.sh | sh
The nodejs installation seemed to work without errors but the npm command gave me a lot of errors. But it seems like they are installed because when I test what version I have they both come up:
nodejs -v
v0.10.30
npm -v
1.4.21
So If this doesn't tell me that I have both programs successfully installed, which I assume I do not, how do I know?
I think your tests tell that both or properly installed.
But you can try just type node in terminal & it should open a node shell, where you can check by running basic commands.
Current distributions of node.js (including the one you downloaded) already include npm. So maybe installing npm manually is one source of your errors. Beware that usually you run "npm install" with the permissions of a regular user. There are only some npm-based utilities that are to be installed with root permissions and the '-g' (global) command line switch.
On linux if you wish to install node.js and npm as yourself NOT root :
to start fresh remove prior node.js and npm installs as well as these :
~/.npmrc
~/.npm
~/tmp
~/.npm-init.js
create your ~/bin/ directory if not already created :
mkdir ${HOME}/bin
download source from : http://nodejs.org/download/
cd node-v0.10.30/
./configure --prefix=${HOME}/bin/nodejs
make -j8
make install
which puts it into dir defined by above --prefix
export PATH=${HOME}/bin/nodejs/bin:$PATH
define NODE_PATH so node can find dir for modules otherwise
npm install xxx will put newly installed module into dir in curr dir :
export NODE_PATH=${HOME}/bin/nodejs/lib/node_modules
do above AND use syntax :
npm install xxxxx -g
always use the -g for global which puts package xxxxx into $NODE_PATH
NOTE - nodejs install gives you npm as well :
ls -la ${HOME}/bin/nodejs/bin
I have just reinstalled Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, and before anything else i did these steps:
Installed Node via package manager with the following script
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python-software-properties python g++ make
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chris-lea/node.js
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nodejs
Tried to install yeoman, express, n, yeoman's generators globally and all of them returned the same error
npm ERR! Error: EACCES, symlink '../lib/node_modules/n/bin/n'
npm ERR! { [Error: EACCES, symlink '../lib/node_modules/n/bin/n'] errno: 3, code: 'EACCES', path: '../lib/node_modules/n/bin/n' }
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Please try running this command again as root/Administrator.
npm ERR! System Linux 3.8.0-29-generic
npm ERR! command "/usr/bin/node" "/usr/bin/npm" "install" "-g" "-d" "n"
npm ERR! cwd /home/heberlz
npm ERR! node -v v0.10.20
npm ERR! npm -v 1.3.11
npm ERR! path ../lib/node_modules/n/bin/n
npm ERR! code EACCES
npm ERR! errno 3
npm ERR! stack Error: EACCES, symlink '../lib/node_modules/n/bin/n'
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR! /home/heberlz/npm-debug.log
npm ERR! not ok code 0
Reclaimed ownership of the following folders recursively ~/.npm, /usr/lib/node, /usr/lib/node_modules, and of the following symlinks /usr/bin/node, /usr/bin/nodejs with absolutely no success
I need to install yeoman and its generators without sudo not to be in trouble later on :(
Ubuntu 12.04 and using Chris Lea's PPA for install the following works for me:
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-packages'
and adding $HOME/.npm-packages/bin to $PATH
Append to .bashrc
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.npm-packages/bin"
For more see this answer from #passy
If you already have $HOME/bin in your path, a simpler solution is just ...
npm config set prefix ~
New node commands will now install into your $HOME/bin directory.
No need to change your path!
Since this discussion is really about reducing the security risks of running sudo, you should also be aware that any node app could potentially be installing an app name that does not match the registered node package name you think you're installing. So there is a security risk that an npm install will replace an existing system command or one you already have in $HOME/bin. If you're concerned, check the bin, and scripts properties in the package.json file of the app you're installing first.
In general, it's safest to:
(a) Place $HOME/bin last in your path so system commands are not superseded.
(b) don't include "." or any relative path in your $PATH so you don't accidentally run a command that happens to be in the current directory.
Reference:
package.json properties
npm install
NodeJS security vulnerabilities: nodesecurity.io.
As for October 2014:
Node.js is available from the NodeSource Debian and Ubuntu binary distributions repository.
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup | sudo bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
That's it.
Outdated answer:
The fastest way without using sudo is like described here by isaac
I strongly encourage you not to do package management with sudo!
Packages can run arbitrary scripts, which makes sudoing a package
manager command as safe as a chainsaw haircut. Sure, it's fast and
definitely going to cut through any obstacles, but you might actually
want that obstacle to stay there.
I recommend doing this once instead:
sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local
EDIT:
There are certain security concerns and functionality limitations regarding changing the ownership of /usr/local to the current user:
if there is another user on the machine who could use global npm packages - do not change the ownership of /usr/local
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/1393/are-my-permissions-for-usr-local-correct
https://askubuntu.com/questions/261326/is-it-safe-to-chown-usr-local
Having said that, if you want to install global module without using sudo, I don't see any better solution (from pragmatic point of view) than mentioned. Security vs easy of use is very broad topic, and there is no easy answer for that - it just depends on your requirements.
The issue was i installed node using sudo, to avoid errors when installing npm modules globally one MUST NEVER install node with sudo.
My solution was to reinstall node it this way:
Download latest stable node sources from nodejs.org #in my case node-v0.10.20.tar.gz
tar -zxf node-v0.10.20.tar.gz #uncompress sources
cd node-v0.10.20 #enter uncompressed folder
sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local
./configure --prefix=/usr/local && make && make install
One thing to note is that only taking ownership of the /usr/local folder wouldn't work in my case because node installation itself was made with sudo
Last step to install yeoman: #although at yeoman.io it says that doing "npm install -g yo" already installs bower and grunt, there are some submodules of grunt that fail, so i fixed that by installing it by itself
npm install -g bower
npm install -g grunt
npm install -g yo
npm install -g generator-angular
I solved this problem with environment variable and shell alias:
export NPM_PREFIX=$HOME/node
alias npmg="npm -g --prefix $NPM_PREFIX"
For me npm did not honor the "prefix" config setting in .npmrc.
Find the path to npm's directory:
npm config get prefix
For many systems, this will be /usr/local.
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).
Here is the link for full details
https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/fixing-npm-permissions
According to this similar SO post: npm throws error without sudo
Looks like you might have an ownership issue with ~/.npm directory.
As with the answer in that one, try:
sudo chown -R `whoami` ~/.npm
If you're on a developping machine, you might be better off considering using nvm.
If not, you simply want to install using your favorite package manager.
Whatever the case may be, I'd recommend checking this answer on stackoverflow
Actually, I just changed the permission of a user folder that was owned by root:
sudo chown -R $USER ~/.config/configstore
Then I could "npm install" and "bower install" without sudo!
Worked fine!
using lubuntu 14.04.3, I tried changing ownership of .npm and npm prefix, updated my path, npm installed modules to my home directory without sudo but the path was incorrect so the modules like ember were not found, linuxbew solved the problem, quick setup guide here for node/npm
This issue and other caused by the same reason can be solved installing Node in user space.
You can do it just copying and pasting in your terminal
NODEJS_ROOT=${NODEJS_ROOT:-~/nodejs}
cd /tmp
wget -N http://nodejs.org/dist/node-latest.tar.gz && tar xzf node-latest.tar.gz
NODEJS_CURRENT=$(tar tf node-latest.tar.gz|head -1)
mkdir -p $NODEJS_ROOT/$NODEJS_CURRENT
cd $NODEJS_CURRENT
./configure --prefix=$NODEJS_ROOT/$NODEJS_CURRENT && make install
cd $NODEJS_ROOT
rm current 2> /dev/null # Removes current symbolic link, if any
ln -s $NODEJS_CURRENT current
Same commands can be launched also to get Node updated to latest version.
Don't forget to edit your environment. Only once, do
echo "export NODEJS_ROOT=$NODEJS_ROOT" >> $HOME/.bash_profile
echo 'export PATH=$NODEJS_ROOT/current/bin:$PATH' >> $HOME/.bash_profile
source $HOME/.bash_profile # reload your env, so you can use node right now
Check out this article as a reabout how to Install Node.js without sudo.
For a more general solution about this topic (i.e., install software locally) see dotsoftware.
just use nvm
you will be able to dynamically switch between different node versions and it is installed locally for your user. No sudo needed. Just make sure you have fully cleaned up the old node beforehand.
https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm
In order to install Node.js and npm locally without having to use sudo open the terminal and type:
echo 'export PATH=$HOME/local/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
. ~/.bashrc
mkdir ~/local
mkdir ~/node-latest-install
cd ~/node-latest-install
wget -c http://nodejs.org/dist/node-latest.tar.gz | tar xz --strip-components=1
./configure --prefix=~/local
make install
wget -c https://www.npmjs.org/install.sh | sh
Use NVM
I had the same "permission denied" issue. Instead of trying to fix the NodeJS installed from https://nodejs.org/en/ which installs into folders that are owned by root instead of $USER, I used NVM. node version manager.
Install it: run curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.1/install.sh | bash
Install a version of node: run nvm install 16
Use it:
nvm use 16
npm install -g yarn
Everything worked fine when I used Node installed by NVM.
The best solution I found was to install Node.js from the tar package on to user home directory & link the lib folder location. Here is what you need to do
This will install Nodejs under ~/.local/ instead of the default /usr/local/
Add this to your ~/.npmrc (create the file if it doesn't exist already):
root = /home/YOUR-USERNAME/.local/lib/node_modules
binroot = /home/YOUR-USERNAME/.local/bin
manroot = /home/YOUR-USERNAME/.local/share/man
Download the Nodejs source code from nodejs.org and install it under your ~/.local tree:
tar xf node......
cd node........
./configure --prefix=~/.local
make
make install
Create ~/.node_modules symlink. (This directory will be automatically searched when you load modules using require "module" in scripts. I'm not sure why Node doesn't search ~/.local/lib/node_modules by default.)
cd
ln -s .local/lib/node_modules .node_modules
Is ~/.local/bin in your path? Type
which npm
If it says ~/.local/bin/npm, you're done.
Otherwise, do this...
export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH
...and add that line to your ~/.profile file, so it'll run every time you log in.
If you still encounter ownership or permission error while installing packages, then change ownership of ~/.local/ dir by running
chown -R user:user ~/.local/
Now you should be good to install packages via 'npm'
Note: ALL OF THE ABOVE COMMANDS ARE TO BE RUN AS USER. DO NOT USE SUDO OR ROOT LOGIN
NEVER EVER CHANGE THE PERMISSION OF FOLDERS UNDER '/USR/LIB/'. WILL LEAD TO UNSTABLE OS
I find Pawel Grzybek's explanations very convincing: They boil down to 3 simple sudo commands, never having to use sudo again for global npm installs:
sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/lib/node_modules
sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/bin
sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/share