Fix for npm global install on Ubuntu - node.js

I have a nodejs package that requires a global install. This one fails in a way that leads me to believe there might be a configuration problem in the the Ubuntu package npm. This happens every-time I setup an Ubuntu 14.04 machine.
sudo apt-get install npm
npm install -g lineman
The npm -g command will throw some access error naming the local lib and bin directories. Unlike some global installs, it is not an option to cheat and run the second command under sudo. So, the only fix I have found that will work is something like this:
sudo chgrp -R $(whoami) /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib
sudo chmod -R g+rwx /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib
The fix is fine for me, I'm the only user. But is this really the best way to do it? I don't want to document my fix for anyone else that might use it in an environment where this will not work or cause trouble.
Also, should I file a bug report with someone who packages npm for Ubuntu?

Instead of npm install -g lineman, you should run sudo npm install -g lineman. npm requires permission as well.
Also check this stackoverlfow link.

Related

How to install node/npm so that 'sudo npm' works on an ec2 instance?

Answer: Follow the steps in this link
http://iconof.com/blog/how-to-install-setup-node-js-on-amazon-aws-ec2-complete-guide/
I am running ubuntu on an ec2 instance and need to sudo npm install something. I am given the error that sudo npm is not recognized.
There is a previous thread that is 7 years old. On EC2: sudo node command not found, but node without sudo is ok I tried every solution there and nothing worked.
I think the problem is using NVM to install npm and node. How can I install these so that they are compatible with sudo? Thanks!
You can run the following command
sudo yum install nodejs npm --enablerepo=epel
For more, you can also install using the following link also: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-javascript/v2/developer-guide/setting-up-node-on-ec2-instance.html
Second Approach:
Install NPM
git clone https://github.com/isaacs/npm.git
cd npm
sudo env PATH=$HOME/local/node/bin:$PATH make install
Now you can install npm packages and run javascript node files as usual!
sudo npm install forever -g
sudo npm install express -g
Resource Link: http://www.wisdomofjim.com/blog/how-to-install-node-and-npm-on-an-ec2-server
You can use NVM. You can follow this link which gives proper steps to install node on ec2 instance.
I dont know if my problem is the same as yours (i think is similar), but i tried to run "sudo npm install" on a amazon linux ec2 machine and it gave me the "sudo: npm: command not found" type of problem.
I followed the instructions recommended by AWS to install node and NPM (https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-javascript/v2/developer-guide/setting-up-node-on-ec2-instance.html).
I solve this by changing the owner and group of the directory and files (package.json and package-lock.json):
chown ec2-user:ec2-user nameDir
and then i run npm install again. It worked!

getting error when using -g in npm

when I try to install any package globally, I get multiple errors. have a look at the image
the errors in the terminal
Thanks all.
When you install any global package just add sudo prefix. sudo npm install -g express
If you want to install packages globally with the "g"-parameter you must be root.
It's easy to just run sudo npm install -g express to successfully install express.
But a long time solution for the permission access, run chown -R YOUR_USERNAME /usr/lib/node_modules from your terminal so that you will not have to include sudo in your subsequent installation using -g

Is `prefix ~/.npm-packages` the same as `prefix=${HOME}/.npm-packages`

I am not able to run npm install npm#latest -g without running into permissions errors and being forced to use sudo npm install npm#latest -g. I had been able to run this without using sudo, however, I followed an answer on StackOverflow that suggested using sudo and this seemed to mess things up. (I was never able to upgrade npm.)
Trying to rectify this sudo issue, I found a potential solution follow here, "Install npm packages globally without sudo on macOS and Linux"
https://github.com/sindresorhus/guides/blob/master/npm-global-without-sudo.md
Step 2 says: "2. Indicate to npm where to store globally installed packages. In your ~/.npmrc file add: prefix=${HOME}/.npm-packages"
When I open the ~/.npmrc file, I see prefix=~/.npm-packages. Is prefix ~/.npm-packages the same as prefix=${HOME}/.npm-packages, or do I need to add ${HOME}?
I am running Mac 10.11.6. My npm is at v 5.6.0.
In many shells "~" is an alias for ${HOME}. Using ${HOME} gets the shell to insert the Home environment variable and is more universal then "~".

How do I know whether I have Node.js and npm successfully installed on Ubuntu 14.04?

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

NPM modules won't install globally without sudo

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

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