SSL Error: CERT_UNTRUSTED while using npm command - node.js

Question

I am trying to install express framework using npm command but getting following error.
error message is
E:\myFindings\nodejs_programs\node>npm install -g express
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/express
npm ERR! Error: SSL Error: CERT_UNTRUSTED
npm ERR! at ClientRequest.<anonymous> (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm\node_modules\request\main.js:409:26)
npm ERR! at ClientRequest.g (events.js:185:14)
npm ERR! at ClientRequest.EventEmitter.emit (events.js:88:17)
npm ERR! at HTTPParser.parserOnIncomingClient [as onIncoming] (http.js:1445:7)
npm ERR! at HTTPParser.parserOnHeadersComplete [as onHeadersComplete] (http.js:111:23)
npm ERR! at CleartextStream.socketOnData [as ondata] (http.js:1356:20)
npm ERR! at CleartextStream.CryptoStream._push (tls.js:396:27)
npm ERR! at SecurePair.cycle (tls.js:751:20)
npm ERR! at EncryptedStream.CryptoStream.write (tls.js:131:13)
npm ERR! at Socket.ondata (stream.js:38:26)
npm ERR! [Error: SSL Error: CERT_UNTRUSTED]
npm ERR! You may report this log at:
npm ERR! <http://github.com/isaacs/npm/issues>
npm ERR! or email it to:
npm ERR! <npm-#googlegroups.com>
npm ERR! System Windows_NT 6.1.7601
npm ERR! command "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\\\node.exe" "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\npm-cli.js" "install" "-g" "express"
npm ERR! cwd E:\myFindings\nodejs_programs\node
npm ERR! node -v v0.8.0
npm ERR! npm -v 1.1.32
npm ERR! message SSL Error: CERT_UNTRUSTED
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR! E:\myFindings\nodejs_programs\node\npm-debug.log
npm ERR! not ok code 0
help me to sort out

Answer 1

You can bypass https using below commands:
npm config set strict-ssl false
or set the registry URL from https or http like below:
npm config set registry="http://registry.npmjs.org/"
However, Personally I believe bypassing https is not the real solution, but we can use it as a workaround.

Answer 2

npm ERR! node -v v0.8.0
npm ERR! npm -v 1.1.32
Update your node.js installation.The following commands should do it (from here):
sudo npm cache clean -f
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n stable
Edit: okay, if you really have a good reason to run an ancient version of the software, npm set ca null will fix the issue. It happened, because built-in npm certificate has expired over the years.

Answer 3

I had same problem and finally I understood that my node version is old. For example, you can install the current active LTS node version in Ubuntu by the following steps:
sudo apt-get update
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_10.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install nodejs -y
Installation instructions for more versions and systems can be found in the following link:
https://github.com/nodesource/distributions/blob/master/README.md

Answer 4

I think I got the reason for the above error. It is the corporate proxy(virtual private network) provided in order to work in the client network. Without that connection I frequently faced the same problem be it maven build or npm install.

Answer 5

If you're behind a corporate proxy, try this setting for npm with your company's proxy:
npm --https-proxy=http://proxy.company.com install express -g

Answer 6

Since i stumbled on the post via google:
Try using npm ci it will be much than an npm install.
From the manual:
In short, the main differences between using npm install and npm ci are:
The project must have an existing package-lock.json or npm-shrinkwrap.json.
If dependencies in the package lock do not match those in package.json, npm ci will exit with an error, instead of updating the package lock.
npm ci can only install entire projects at a time: individual dependencies cannot be added with this command.
If a node_modules is already present, it will be automatically removed before npm ci begins its install.
It will never write to package.json or any of the package-locks: installs are essentially frozen.

Answer 7

Reinstall node, then update npm.
First I removed node
apt-get purge node
Then install node according to the distibution. Docs here .
Then
npm install npm#latest -g

Answer 8

Only recommended if you are running a very old version of node/npm where the certificates have expired or been replaced,
first run npm set ca null
then do your npm install