NodeJS - Error installing with NPM - node.js

Question

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600]
(c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Windows\system32>npm install caress-server
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/caress-server
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/caress-server
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/jspack/0.0.1
npm http GET https://registry.npmjs.org/buffertools
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/jspack/0.0.1
npm http 304 https://registry.npmjs.org/buffertools
> buffertools#2.0.1 install C:\Windows\system32\node_modules\caress-server\node_
modules\buffertools
> node-gyp rebuild
C:\Windows\system32\node_modules\caress-server\node_modules\buffertools>node "G:
\nodejs\node_modules\npm\bin\node-gyp-bin\\..\..\node_modules\node-gyp\bin\node-
gyp.js" rebuild
gyp ERR! configure error
gyp ERR! stack Error: Can't find Python executable "python", you can set the PYT
HON env variable.
gyp ERR! stack at failNoPython (G:\nodejs\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node
-gyp\lib\configure.js:101:14)
gyp ERR! stack at G:\nodejs\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\lib\confi
gure.js:64:11
gyp ERR! stack at Object.oncomplete (fs.js:107:15)
gyp ERR! System Windows_NT 6.2.9200
gyp ERR! command "node" "G:\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\node_modules\\node-gyp\\
bin\\node-gyp.js" "rebuild"
gyp ERR! cwd C:\Windows\system32\node_modules\caress-server\node_modules\buffert
ools
gyp ERR! node -v v0.10.25
gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v0.12.2
gyp ERR! not ok
npm ERR! buffertools#2.0.1 install: `node-gyp rebuild`
npm ERR! Exit status 1
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the buffertools#2.0.1 install script.
npm ERR! This is most likely a problem with the buffertools package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR! node-gyp rebuild
npm ERR! You can get their info via:
npm ERR! npm owner ls buffertools
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.
npm ERR! System Windows_NT 6.2.9200
npm ERR! command "G:\\nodejs\\\\node.exe" "G:\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\n
pm-cli.js" "install" "caress-server"
npm ERR! cwd C:\Windows\system32
npm ERR! node -v v0.10.25
npm ERR! npm -v 1.3.24
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR! C:\Windows\system32\npm-debug.log
npm ERR! not ok code 0
C:\Windows\system32>
I am installing a certain NodeJS script - Caress. But i am not unable to. I am using Windows 8.1, can anyone tell me what is the problem i am facing, and why is this installation not working. There seems to be a problem with the buffertools dependency, thats far as i can think. Dont know how maybe fix this?
If i download the build from github and place it in node-modules, nothing seems to work. when i try to start, using npm start, or during implementation either.
G:\nodejs\node_modules\caress-server>npm install
G:\nodejs\node_modules\caress-server>npm start
> caress-server#0.1.1 start G:\nodejs\node_modules\caress-server
> node examples/server.js
info - socket.io started
module.js:340
throw err;
^
Error: Cannot find module './build/Release/buffertools.node'
at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:338:15)
at Function.Module._load (module.js:280:25)
at Module.require (module.js:364:17)
at require (module.js:380:17)
at Object.<anonymous> (G:\nodejs\node_modules\caress-server\node_modules\buf
fertools\buffertools.js:16:19)
at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:474:10)
at Module.load (module.js:356:32)
at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
at Module.require (module.js:364:17)
npm ERR! caress-server#0.1.1 start: `node examples/server.js`
npm ERR! Exit status 8
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the caress-server#0.1.1 start script.
npm ERR! This is most likely a problem with the caress-server package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR! node examples/server.js
npm ERR! You can get their info via:
npm ERR! npm owner ls caress-server
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.
npm ERR! System Windows_NT 6.2.9200
npm ERR! command "G:\\nodejs\\\\node.exe" "G:\\nodejs\\node_modules\\npm\\bin\\n
pm-cli.js" "start"
npm ERR! cwd G:\nodejs\node_modules\caress-server
npm ERR! node -v v0.10.25
npm ERR! npm -v 1.3.24
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR! G:\nodejs\node_modules\caress-server\npm-debug.log
npm ERR! not ok code 0
G:\nodejs\node_modules\caress-server>

Answer 1

As commented below you may not need to install VS on windows, check this out
https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp/issues/629#issuecomment-153196245
UPDATED 02/2016
Some npm plugins need node-gyp to be installed.
However, node-gyp has its own dependencies (from the github page):
UPDATED 09/2016
If you're using Windows you can now install all node-gyp dependencies with single command (NOTE: Run As Admin in Windows PowerShell):
$ npm install --global --production windows-build-tools
and then install the package
$ npm install --global node-gyp
UPDATED 06/2018
https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp/issues/809#issuecomment-155019383
Delete your $HOME/.node-gyp directory and try again.
See full documentation here: node-gyp

Answer 2

NOTE: This is an old answer that applied to earlier versions of NodeJS. My sincere gratitude to these open source projects that responded to this issue and resolved this former pain.
Make sure you have all the required software to run node-gyp:
https://github.com/TooTallNate/node-gyp
You can configure version of Visual Studio used by node-gyp via an environment variable so you can avoid having to set the --msvs_version=2012 property every time you do an npm install.
Examples:
set GYP_MSVS_VERSION=2012 for Visual Studio 2012
set GYP_MSVS_VERSION=2013e (the 'e' stands for FREE 'express edition')
For the full list see
https://github.com/joyent/node/blob/v0.10.29/tools/gyp/pylib/gyp/MSVSVersion.py#L209-294
This is still painful for Windows users of NodeJS as it assumes you have a copy of Visual Studio installed and many end users will never have this. So I'm lobbying Joyent to the encourage them to include web sockets as part of CORE node and also to possible ship a GNU gcc compiler as part of NodeJS install so we can permanently fix this problem.
Feel free to add your vote at:
https://github.com/joyent/node/issues/8005#issuecomment-50545326

Answer 3

I encountered the issue with the error:
gyp ERR! configure error
gyp ERR! stack Error: Can't find Python executable "python", you can set the PYTHON env variable.
Here is what I was doing and what finally worked.
Disclaimer: I am just getting my hands into Node, Angular after many years in the Java, Linux world among others...
Environment Description: Windows 8.1 64-bit; Cygwin; cygwin bash shell
Command used that led to error: npm install -g karma
Error:
gyp ERR! configure error
gyp ERR! stack Error: Can't find Python executable "python", you can set the PYT
HON env variable.
Discovery: 'which python' on bash shell clearly shows '/usr/bin/python'. Now that is annoying!
Solution: This is only applicable to those using the environment similar to what I have, i.e. using cygwin and bash shell. Hope it helps in other environments as well but keep in mind that your kettle of tea may look a little different than mine.
Firstly, need to set the $PYTHON shell env variable in .bashrc using the explicit windows path to the python executable and not the unix like root path (/usr/bin) used by cygwin.
Secondly, and this one took a lot of trial/error and here's the gotcha! Cygwin installs python under /usr/bin (which is really a mirror of /bin on windows) with the version, i.e. (in my system) /usr/bin/python2.7.exe and then adds a link /usr/bin/python --> python2.7.exe. The problem is that gyp cannot follow this link and keeps giving the annoying error that it cannot find python even though you can find it just fine from the shell command line.
With the above background now add the following line to your .bashrc
export PYTHON="C:/cygwin64/bin/python2.7.exe (or whatever is the version on your system)"
Now source your .bashrc from your home directory (on cygwin)--> 'source .bashrc'
You should be fine now and gyp will find the python executable.
I hope this helps someone stumbling on the same or similar issue.

Answer 4

should be able get all node-gyp dependencies with chocolatey for Windows
choco install python2
choco install visualstudioexpress2013windowsdesktop

Answer 5

Setup JavaScript Environment
1. Install Node.js
Download installer at NodeJs website. You can download the latest V6
2. Update Npm
Npm is installed together with Node.js. So don't worry.
3. Install Anaconda
Anaconda is the leading open data science platform powered by Python. The open source version of Anaconda is a high performance distribution of Python. It can help you to manage your python dependency. You can use it to create different python environment in the futher if you want to touch with it.
Node-gyp only support >= Python 2.7 and < Python 3.0
So just install the 2.7 version
4. Install Node-gyp
You can install with npm:
$ npm install -g node-gyp
You will also need to install:
On Windows:
Option 1: Install all the required tools and configurations using Microsoft's windows-build-tools using npm install --global --production windows-build-tools from an elevated PowerShell or CMD.exe (run as Administrator).
Option 2: Install tools and configuration manually:
Visual C++ Build Environment:
Option 1: Install Visual C++ Build Tools using the Default Install option.
Option 2: Install Visual Studio 2015 (or modify an existing installation) and select Common Tools for Visual C++ during setup. This also works with the free Community and Express for Desktop editions.
💡 [Windows Vista / 7 only] requires .NET Framework 4.5.1
Launch cmd, npm config set msvs_version 2015
If the above steps didn't work for you, please visit Microsoft's Node.js Guidelines for Windows for additional tips.
If you have multiple Python versions installed, you can identify which Python version node-gyp uses by setting the '--python' variable:
$ node-gyp --python C:/Anaconda2/python.exe
If node-gyp is called by way of npm and you have multiple versions of Python installed, then you can set npm's 'python' config key to the appropriate value:
$ npm config set python C:/Anaconda2/python.exe
Future update for Node.js and npm
Download installer from their official website and direct install it. The installer will automatic help you to remove old files.
npm update npm
Future update for Python
conda update --all

Answer 6

Fixed with downgrading Node from v12.8.1 to v11.15.0 and everything installed successfully

Answer 7

gyp ERR! configure error gyp ERR! stack Error: Can't find Python
executable "python", you can set the PYT HON env variable.
This means the Python env. variable should point to the executable python file, in my case:
SET PYTHON=C:\work\_env\Python27\python.exe

Answer 8

For Cygwin users:
The python issue with using npm on an out-of-the-box Cygwin installation, is that node-gyp is giving a misleading error due to incomplete checking in the ../npm/node_modules/node-gyp/lib/configure.js code.
It's due to how Cygwin treats symbolic links. It doesn't do that properly in an out-of-the box installation. So the error messages from the above code become misleading, as it complains about the PYTHON path and not the existence of python.exe (or link of) file itself.
There are (at least) 2 ways to resolve this.
Installing the Cygwin package cygutils-extra and use winln.
Use native Windows CMD in Admin mode.
For (1) you can create a proper symlink from within Cygwin shell by doing these steps:
# To make the Cygwin environment treat Windows links properly:
# Alternatively add this to your `.bashrc` for permanent use.
export CYGWIN=winsymlinks:nativestrict
# Install Cygwin package containing "winln"
apt-cyg install cygutils-extra
# Make a proper Windows sym-link:
cd /cygdrive/c/cygwin64/bin/
winln.exe -s python2.7.exe python.exe
# Add PYTHON as a native Windows system wide variable (HKLM)
setx /M PYTHON "C:\cygwin64\bin\python"
(Also assuming you are running the Cygwin shell as Admin.)
Using apt-cyg is recommended and can be found in various forms on github.
For (2) the resolution for out-of-the-box Cygwin users is this:
# Open a native Windows CMD in Administrator mode and:
cd C:\cygwin64\bin\
mklink python.exe python2.7.exe
The result should look like this:
C:\cygwin64\bin>ls -al python*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 xxx xxx 13 Jun 2 2015 python -> python2.7.exe
lrwxrwxrwx 1 Administrators xxx 13 Aug 24 17:28 python.exe -> python2.7.exe
lrwxrwxrwx 1 xxx xxx 13 Jun 2 2015 python2 -> python2.7.exe
-rwxr-xr-x 1 xxx xxx 9235 Jun 2 2015 python2.7.exe

Answer 9

For windows
Check python path in system variable.
npm plugins need node-gyp to be installed.
open command prompt with admin rights, and run following command.
npm install --global --production windows-build-tools
npm install --global node-gyp

Answer 10

I was working on an old Vue 2.x project, at least 2 years old and deps were never updated. Reverting to Node v10.16.3 worked for me. Versions 14 and 12 did not work.

Answer 11

for me the solution was:
rm -rf ~/.node_gyp and
sudo npm install -g node-gyp#3.4.0
cd /usr/local/lib sudo ln -s ../../lib/libSystem.B.dylib libgcc_s.10.5.dylib
brew install gcc
npm install

Answer 12

I was installing appium by npm install -g appium and getting the same error on Windows 10.
Below command worked for me:
npm --add-python-to-path='true' --debug install --global windows-build-tools
https://github.com/felixrieseberg/windows-build-tools/issues/33

Answer 13

The question is already answered but these were not working in my case which is alpine Linux based OS so maybe this helps someone else.
I was also getting same error
gyp ERR! configure error
gyp ERR! stack Error: Can't find Python executable "python", you can set the PYTHON env variable.
So fix by single line just add this if you are working in Dockerfile or install it in OS
apk add --no-cache python nodejs
in ubuntu
sudo apt-get install python3.6
Note: Node version:8

Answer 14

install node-gyp and c++ compiler (gcc-c++).

Answer 15

npm install --global --production windows-build-tools