I installed two different versions of a node package:
npm install sails -g
npm install sails#beta -g
What could I use to use these versions according what is specified in package.json in a directory basis?
First of all, when you are doing
npm install sails -g
npm install sails#beta -g
it installs the packages globally, and the second command will override the first. One of the main purposes of global installs is having the executable command (sails in our case) available in the PATH. And this command, basically, defines for which version of Sails you will generate the new application when you type sails new ....
Long story short, if you really need to be able to use two different versions of the package, you can install one of them locally and then provide the full path to the executable. Something like:
npm install sails -g
mkdir -p ~/tmp
cd ~/tmp
npm install sails#beta
cd ~/Sites
sails new thisWillBeAStableApp
../tmp/node_modules/.bin/sails new thisWillBeABetaApp
The generators are supposed to configure package.json files accordingly.
Related
The Node.js npm (Node Package Manager) has a -g command line argument, which I often see referenced. For example, the documentation for the Microsoft Azure x-plat (cross-platform) CLI tool says to install it by using npm install -g azure-cli.
Question: What does the -g option do?
What options do I have to install node modules?
After writing this I quickly found and old but still applicable post by Isaac (yes, the npm #isaacs). But I still think the below post is informational.
You can install npm modules globally or locally - you already know that, but why?
Globally: npm install -g some-module-a: This module is intended to be used as an executable (i.e. CLI, file watcher, code minifier, logger, etc.).
Locally: npm install some-module-b: To be imported and used in your app via import, var someModule = require('some-module)
global modules are one of the best ideas of npm. We can easily create executables using node/javascript. If your node app is meant to be run as an executable, then you will want others to install it globally. If it's a utility, helper, application, etc. then you usually don't want it installed globally. So, unless the module explicitly states that you should install it with -g, then don't.
One more time: if you are wanting to use some module called some-module in your node app - var someModule = require('some-module'), then npm install some-module from the root of your node app to pull it into your local node_modules directory. If you've installed some-module globally and not locally, it will usually not load and will show you an error about not finding the module (even though it can be made to load the global module - hint: just don't!)
So what exactly happens when you install globally?
npm install -g [some module] installs the specified node module in a directory higher up in your file system (i.e. usually /usr/local/lib/node_modules in unix systems). The biggest use case for global modules is for CLIs written using node (think npm, bower, gulp, grunt, et. al.).
Let's look at what happens when you install bower globally:
*follow these steps in your command line/terminal
step: npm install -g bower
explanation: the module - all of it's files and dependencies - are saved in your global directory (e.g. /usr/local/lib/node_modules/bower).
Something else happened here. Somehow you can now run bower in your command line. Awesome!
step: bower -v --> results in the installed bower version (i.e. 1.6.5)
explanation: It's now a fully executable node app using bower as the keyword. Inside bower's package.json file you'll find a bin property:
"bin": {
"bower": "bin/bower"
}
So how did that all work?
npm will create a symlink from where most executables live, /usr/local/bin/bower over to /usr/local/lib/node_modules/bower/bin/bower, where the module lives. That symlink makes it so when the executable runs, it can reference other files in the original module, including it's local node_modules. Pretty cool, huh?
*Note on executables: If you create a file called awesomeness in /usr/local/bin/ and chmod u+x (user + executable) it. Then write some scripting in it (in this case javascript using #!/usr/bin/env node at the top). Then you can run it anywhere in your command line/terminal just by typing awesomeness.
Hope that helped. I know doing a deeper dive into it helped me early on.
Node.js packages can be installed one of two ways:
Globally
Locally
The -g option instructs npm to install the package globally. You would install a Node.js package globally, if you want to be able to call the command directly from the terminal.
From the documentation:
There are two ways to install npm packages: locally or globally. You choose which kind of installation to use based on how you want to use the package.
If you want to use it as a command line tool, something like the grunt CLI, then you can want to install it globally. On the other hand, if you want to depend on the package from your own module using something like Node's require, then you want to install locally.
To download packages globally, you simply use the command npm install -g , e.g.:
Kinda 2 questions related to each other here.
When doing a brew install node, should I first navigate to the root of whatever folder I'm going to hold all my future web projects/apps then run it? Or does it not matter where I run the install initially for Node? Because I notice it creates a node_modules folder in /local/lib/node_modules
I assume it doesn't matter, and when you start installing node packages using npm install [package] it'll create a separate node_modules folder under the context you're in so lets say /www/MyApplication run npm install and it'll create /www/MyApplication/node_modules....and that the one under /local/lib/node_modules just serves as the one for npm itself because it needs its own root node_modules folder which is how npm runs?
Correct, it makes no difference where you run brew install node, it will install into your Homebrew folder.
When you use npm to install a Node module, it will install into the current directory, unless you use the -g global flag. Normally you will install modules that are project dependencies into your project folder, and global modules are for global utilities.
For example, to use Grunt you would install the grunt-cli package globally for the command-line utility.
npm install -g grunt-cli
And for each project that uses Grunt you will install a version of the grunt module for use with the project.
npm install grunt
I have node.js 0.8.14 installed on Ubuntu 12.10. I created a directory in my home directory with a sub directory node_modules. I want to install some local node modules there but running
npm install myModule
in this directory installs this module in /usr/local/lib/node_modules/ (same behavior as installing the module with the -g flag
There is no node path in .bashrc.
Any idea how I can install local node modules?
After some further research I found the solution.
Running the command npm config ls revealed that the default config global=false (you see the default config with npm config ls -l) was overwritten by global=true in /home/vsdev/.npmrc and /usr/local/etc/npmrc.
Reverting this to global=false solved the issue.
That is odd.
FYI you don't need to create the node_modules directory, npm will do that for you
npm normally just installs to the current directory. Even if the package you are installing is configured to prefer global installation, npm will install it locally unless you explicitly pass the -g parameter.
can you run the following shell commands and confirm npm is really the real npm?
which npm
alias | grep npm
npm install load all in node_modules then it might be version 3 behaviour http://blog.npmjs.org/post/110924823920/npm-weekly-5 or as mentioned by #vsdev so once you make sure it version 3 behaviour and u want to go with it then its fine else follow below
1- uninstall all modules.. into the node_modules folder in your project then execute: npm uninstall *
2- Tell npm to install with legacy bundling for this one install:
npm install --legacy-bundling
A "permanent" alternative:
Set your npm config to always use legacy bundling...
npm set legacy-bundling=true
.. and run as usual:
npm install
*fetching dependencies with legacy bundling will take a lot more time because many several different versions of the same dependencies will be installed.
Can I install multiple versions of the same node module globally with npm?
I don't think there is a (good) way to do this.
However, I'm guessing that your use case is this: You have two projects, which require different versions of a globally installed package.
For cases like this, I usually avoid installing packages globally altogether, and install them locally instead (without -g). For example, if you wanted to install a specific older version of the "mocha" package for a given project, you'd do
cd ~/src/myproject
npm install --save-dev mocha#^1.0.0
(Note that we're not using -g here.) Then call it like so:
./node_modules/.bin/mocha
While it is possible, it's probably going to be difficult to maintain without writing your own scripts to manage it. For this, I'm going to assume that you are using MacOS or Linux, and you have node installed in /usr/local/bin
When you install a global module, npm places the module and its dependencies in the same location that node is installed. Usually /usr/local/lib/node_modules, then creates a symbolic link for that module's in /usr/local/bin.
For example, you want to install nodemon, so you run npm install -g nodemon. npm installs nodemon to /usr/local/lib/node_modules/nodemon and creates a symlink at /usr/local/bin/nodemon that points to /usr/local/lib/node_modules/nodemon/bin/nodemon.js
Lets assume that you just installed nodemon#1.8.1, but for some reason you also need nodemon#1.7.3.
To have them both installed at once, but not conflict, you may be able to:
rename the directory for your existing copy of nodemon from nodemon to nodemon18
create a new nodemon18 symlink using ln -s /usr/local/bin/nodemon18 /usr/local/lib/node_modules/nodemon/bin/nodemon.js (don't forget to make it executable)
install nodemon#1.7.3 via npm install -g nodemon#1.7.3
Now, running nodemon from your terminal will run nodemon#1.7.3 and running nodemon18 will run nodemon#1.8.1.
YMMV. I really don't recommend doing this.
Not currently.
(Related: You can install multiple versions of node using with NVM (Node Version Manager): https://github.com/creationix/nvm)
I've installed NVM for node.js using the instructions from this post:
http://www.backdrifter.com/2011/02/18/using-nvm-and-npm-to-manage-node-js/
When I switch between node versions and then use npm to install a module, all the modules are placed in the same 'node_modules' folder (~/node_modules/) instead of in the 'node_modules' directory specific to that version of node?
Any idea on how to remedy this?
Based on the comments from https://github.com/creationix/nvm/pull/97:
When installing packages with npm using the global switch -g the
package ends up in the proper directory (i.e.
.nvm/$VERSION/lib/node_modules), however node is unable to require it
since it somehow isn't searching on it's prefix.
So using npm install -g xxxxx will put the modules in the correct location for NVM but if you try to require one of them node can't find the module. I am still playing around with this and will update if I find a solution.
Update
Where does NPM put node_modules? (see https://docs.npmjs.com/files/folders)
Local install (default): puts stuff in ./node_modules of the current package root.
Global install (with -g): puts stuff in /usr/local or wherever node is installed.
Install it locally if you're going to require() it.
Install it globally if you're going to run it on the command line.
If you need both, then install it in both places, or use npm link.
So what I did was run npm init (see http://npmjs.org/doc/init.html) in my projects root dir which generated package.json. Now when I run npm install xxxxx it creates a node_modules dir in my project folder (which I add to my .gitignore). This works for modules that I require in my code.
For commands such as CoffeeScript I install with npm install -g coffee-script which puts it in the correct directory (.nvm/$VERSION/lib/node_modules). While I can't require these modules (npm link should solve this problem) I can run the commands - i.e. coffee.
I just installed express globally (-g) and was having problem when require("express"). Just like Jesse Vogt said I just reinstalled express but this time without the -g just like this: "sudo npm install express" and now is working perfectly!
For latest nvm window version 1.1.7.
Package was installed and placed into the respective nodejs version.
nvm use 16.8.0
npm install truffle
nvm use 16.7.0
npm install mysql