Error: EACCES: permission denied, access '/usr/local/lib/node_modules'

What might be causing the error Error: EACCES: permission denied, access '/usr/local/lib/node_modules'?

npm ERR! path /usr/local/lib/node_modules
npm ERR! code EACCES
npm ERR! errno -13
npm ERR! syscall access
npm ERR! Error: EACCES: permission denied, access '/usr/local/lib/node_modules'
npm ERR!  { Error: EACCES: permission denied, access '/usr/local/lib/node_modules'
npm ERR!   errno: -13,
npm ERR!   code: 'EACCES',
npm ERR!   syscall: 'access',
npm ERR!   path: '/usr/local/lib/node_modules' }
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! Please try running this command again as root/Administrator.

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     /Users/macbookmd101/.npm/_logs/2018-02-21T16_26_08_421Z-debug.log

Change your file permissions... Like this

First check who owns the directory

ls -la /usr/local/lib/node_modules

it is denying access because the node_module folder is owned by root

drwxr-xr-x   3 root    wheel  102 Jun 24 23:24 node_modules

so this needs to be changed by changing root to your user but first run command below to check your current user https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1104972/how-do-i-get-the-name-of-the-active-user-via-the-command-line-in-os-x

id -un OR whoami

Then change owner

sudo chown -R [owner]:[owner] /usr/local/lib/node_modules

OR

sudo chown -R ownerName: /usr/local/lib/node_modules

OR

sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib/node_modules

To minimize the chance of permissions errors, you can configure npm to use a different directory. In this example, you will create and use a hidden directory in your home directory.

Back up your computer. On the command line, in your home directory, create a directory for global installations:

mkdir ~/.npm-global

Configure npm to use the new directory path:

npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'

In your preferred text editor, open or create a

~/.profile

file and add this line:

export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH

On the command line, update your system variables:

source ~/.profile

To test your new configuration, install a package globally without using sudo

All you need to do is to add USER to the owner of /local/lib

sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib

EDIT :

To target precisely and only the node_modules folder, try using this command before using the previous one :

sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib/node_modules

I tried the solution of the answer given by @okanda but it didn't work for me.

However it worked perfectly when I did it for several folders like mentioned in this thread: https://github.com/angular/angular-cli/issues/9676#issuecomment-464857493

sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib/node_modules/
sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/bin/
sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/share/

try appending sudo before whatever command you are trying.

like this : sudo npm install

Using sudo with a command in Linux/UNIX generally elevates your permissions to superuser levels. In Windows, the superuser account is usually called 'Administrator.' In Linux/Unix the superuser account is generally named 'root'.

The root user has permission to access, modify or delete almost any file on your computer. Normal user accounts can access, modify or delete many fewer files. The restrictions on a normal account protect your computer from unauthorized or harmful programs or users. Some processes require you to perform actions on files or folders you don't normally have permissions to access. Installing a program that everyone can access is one of these actions.

In your case, running the installation command with sudo gives you the permissions of the superuser, and allows you to modify files that your normal user doesn't have permission to modify.

You can install npm through Node version manager or a Node installer. In the docs it states:

> We do not recommend using a Node installer, since the Node > installation process installs npm in a directory with local > permissions and can cause permissions errors when you run npm packages > globally.

NPM actually recommends using a Node Version Manager to avoid these errors.

Since you have the permission error, you probably installed npm through a Node installer and now you need to reinstalled it with a nvm (node version manager).

Luckily, this is very simple. You do not even need to remove your current version of npm or Node.js.

All you need to do is

1. Install nvm. For OSX or Linux Node use:

    curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.37.2/install.sh | bash
   

This creates a nvm folder in your home directory.

Then

2. Install npm and node.js through nvm. To do so, just call

    nvm install node 
   

("node" is an alias for the latest version)

Now you can install your package globally without using sudo or changing the owner of node_modules in usr folder.

If you are facing this issue on you Mac. Follow these steps

First checking who is owner of this file by using below command

ls -la /usr/local/lib/node_modules

you will find some file like below one of them is below

drwxr-xr-x   3 root    wheel  768 May 29 02:21 node_modules

have you notice that above file is own by root, for make changes inside for you need to change owner ship of path.

you can use check who is current user by this command

id -un (in my case user is yamsol)

and then you can change by calling this command (just replace your user name with ownerName)

sudo chown -R ownerName: /usr/local/lib/node_modules

in my case as you know user is "yamsol" i will call this command in this way

sudo chown -R yamsol: /usr/local/lib/node_modules

thats it.

It looks like you're running into permission issues. If you are installing npm-packages then it might possible that you are getting an EACCES error when trying to install a package globally. This means you do not have permission to write to the directories npm uses to store global packages and commands.

Try running commands: sudo chmod u+x -R 775 ~/.npm and sudo chown $USER -R ~/.npm or you can just run any npm command with sudo, that should get resolve your issue.

If you are installing an npm-package locally, then you should be in your local project directory and can try running sudo npm install <pkg-name> command to install required package. the purpose of using sudo is that it will change your owner permissions so you can make your current user authorized to run npm commands.

I'd recommend you to take a look at https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/fixing-npm-permissions

While installing global packages in ubuntu, you need special write permissions as you are writing to the usr/bin folder. It is for security reasons. So, everytime you install a global package, use:

sudo npm install -g [package-name]

For your specific case, it will be:

sudo npm install -g typescript

Be careful with all responses that change the owner of all directories under /usr/local Basically, don't mess the Linux system!!!

Using sudo for your local stuff is a really bad recommendation as well.

The original link from www.competa.com is broken, so this is the original approach from there:

npm config set prefix ~/.npm

# open your .bashrc (Linux) or .bash_profile (Mac) file for editing:
nano ~/.bashrc # for Linux
# or...
nano ~/.bash_profile # for Mac if you haven't created a .bashrc file

# add these lines:
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/npm/bin"
export NODE_PATH="$NODE_PATH:$HOME/npm/lib/node_modules"

# save the file and then enter this command or logout and login to make the changes take effect:
. ~/.bashrc
# or...
. ~/.bash_profile

Option B: Use a version manager like NVM

I was trying to install react expo and apart from sudo I had to add --unsafe-perm

like this. This resolves my Issue

sudo npm install -g expo-cli --unsafe-perm

If it is still not working after giving permissions try running these commands:

mkdir ~/.npm-global

npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'

export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH

source ~/.profile

and finally test with this command

npm install -g jshint

This does not work for Windows.

Review this carefully:

https://ionicframework.com/docs/developing/tips#resolving-permission-errors

sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/{lib/node_modules,bin,share}
sudo chown -R $(whoami) ~/.npm ~/.npmrc

For nvm users

sudo chown -R $USER /home/bereket/.nvm/versions/node/v8.9.1/lib/node_modules 

and

sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib/node_modules/

replace v8.9.1 with your node version you are using.

This occurred as a result of npm not being able to access your global node_modules directory locally, running

sudo chown -R Name: /usr/local/lib/node_modules

e.g.

sudo chown -R developerayo: /usr/local/lib/node_modules

fixes the issue, now you can run the command you ran again.

Use this command to install npm as the sudo user:

sudo npm install -g create-react-app 

instead of npm install -g create-react-a pp.

Seems like you tried to install a npm package globally rather than locally, as the man npm install describes:

> The -g or --global argument will cause npm to install the package globally rather than locally.

Generally, when you are setting up a npm project (among many others that you could have), it's not a good idea to install packages on Node.js global modules (/usr/local/lib/node_modules), as your the debug log suggested.

Instead of using -g, use --save, which will automatically save the package as a dependency for your package.json file:

Like this:

$ npm install express-generator --save

$ cat package.json 
{
  "name": "first_app_generator",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
},
  "author": "ivanleoncz",
  "license": "MIT",
  "dependencies": {
    "express-generator": "^4.16.0"
  }
}

But as the other answers mentioned, if you're going to use -g, you have to use sudo (if your user has sudo privileges: see /etc/sudoers) when performing npm install express-generator -g, but indeed, it's not a good idea, possibly causing permission problems.

NOTICE

There are instructions for installing express-generator with -g option, in order to have the script express-cli.js available on the system path, but you can use the locally installed script as well, located at the node_modules if your npm project:

$ ./node_modules/express-generator/bin/express-cli.js --view=pug myapp

> If a message like /usr/bin/env: ‘node’: No such file or directory shows up, install nodejs-legacy (Debian/Ubuntu)

IMHO, using -g (also using sudo) is like hic sunt dracones, if you are unsure of the consequences.

For further information:

• Creating NPM Package (npm init)

• Express.js Generator

I was able to fix the issue using the following in mac.

sudo npm install -g @aws-amplify/cli --unsafe-perm=true

It is work 100%

sudo chown -R $(whoami) $(npm config get prefix)/{lib/node_modules,bin,share}

Encountered in CentOS 8 stream

Solution

(1/4) Creating node_modules folder

$ sudo mkdir /usr/local/lib/node_modules

(2/4) Own with Current User

$ sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib/node_modules/

(3/4) Own the bin folder

$ sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/bin/

(4/4) Own the share folder

$ sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/share/

For those of you still unable to fix the problem after using the above mentioned solutions. Try this

sudo chown -R $(whoami) $(npm config get prefix)/{lib/node_modules,bin,share}

That should do the trick, cheers!

Below command worked for me:

sudo npm install -g appium --unsafe-perm=true --allow-root

Simply you can change the owner or just use sudo before you command like this

sudo chown -R [owner]:[owner] /usr/local/lib/node_modules (change owner)

or

sudo npm install -g json-server

that's it.

You need the permission of superuser levels to install React. In Linux/Unix the superuser account is generally named 'root'.

To get superuser privilege just run the following command on your terminal:

sudo -i

and then simply run the command to install React:

npm install -g create-react-app

However, the reactjs team encourages us to use the following command instead of installing a global package.

npx create-react-app app_name

For linux / ubuntu if the command

npm install -g <package_name>

npm WARN deprecated superagent@4.1.0: Please note that v5.0.1+ of superagent removes User-Agent header by default, therefore you may need to add it yourself (e.g. GitHub blocks requests without a User-Agent header).  This notice will go away with v5.0.2+ once it is released.

npm ERR! path ../lib/node_modules/<package_name>/bin/..

npm ERR! code EACCES

npm ERR! errno -13

npm ERR! syscall symlink

npm ERR! Error: EACCES: permission denied, symlink '../lib/node_modules
/<package_name>/bin/..' -> '/usr/local/bin/<package_name>'

npm ERR!  { [Error: EACCES: permission denied, symlink '../lib/node_modules/<package_name>/bin/..' -> '/usr/local/bin/<package_name>']

npm ERR!   cause:
npm ERR!    { Error: EACCES: permission denied, symlink '../lib/node_modules/<package_name>/bin/..' -> '/usr/local/bin/<package_name>'

npm ERR!      errno: -13,

npm ERR!      code: 'EACCES',

npm ERR!      syscall: 'symlink',

npm ERR!      path: '../lib/node_modules/<package_name>/bin/..',
npm ERR!      dest: '/usr/local/bin/ionic' },

npm ERR!   stack:
npm ERR!    'Error: EACCES: permission denied, symlink \'../lib/node_modules/ionic/bin/ionic\' -> \'/usr/local/bin/ionic\'',

npm ERR!   errno: -13,

npm ERR!   code: 'EACCES',

npm ERR!   syscall: 'symlink',

npm ERR!   path: '../lib/node_modules/<package-name>/bin/<package-name>',

npm ERR!   dest: '/usr/local/bin/<package-name>' }

npm ERR! 

npm ERR! The operation was rejected by your operating system.

npm ERR! It is likely you do not have the permissions to access this file as the current user

npm ERR! 

npm ERR! If you believe this might be a permissions issue, please double-check the

npm ERR! permissions of the file and its containing directories, or try running

npm ERR! the command again as root/Administrator (though this is not recommended).


npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:

npm ERR!     /home/User/.npm/_logs/2019-07-29T01_20_10_566Z-debug.log

Fix : Install with root permissions

sudo npm install <package_name> -g

sudo chown -R $USER /usr/local/lib/node_modules

Similar to POsha's answer but this is what worked for me on ubuntu 19

sudo npm i -g ngrok --unsafe-perm=true --allow-root

From this link

https://github.com/inconshreveable/ngrok/issues/429

Just add "sudo" before npm command. Thats it.

I was able to get rid of this issue by installing nvm, then setting node to latest version.

1. Install nvm using curl (for latest version go to nvm.sh)

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.34.0/install.sh | bash

2. List available node versions

nvm ls

> v10.12.0
> default -> v10.12 (-> v10.12.0)
> node -> stable (-> v10.12.0) (default)
> stable -> 10.12 (-> v10.12.0)
> …

3. Choose which version of node to use

nvm use v10.12

> nvm is not compatible with the npm config "prefix" option: currently set to ""

4. Run this to unset the option:

nvm use --delete-prefix v10.12.0

After following the commands above, you will be able to install react/angular in Ubuntu.

Helped only this:

sudo chown -R ownerName: /usr/local/lib/node_modules

After long research i understood that nothing is required for mac OS to install angular cli just use sudo npm install -g @angular/cli your terminal will prompt password enter your password it will proceed to install cli. It worked for me.

Use 'sudo npm install xyz' it will work.

If you are running Linux(ie: Arch)

# npm -g install packageName

By default this command installs the package under /usr/lib/node_modules/npm and requires root privileges to do so.

To Allow user-wide installations

To allow global package installations for the current user, set the npm_config_prefix environment variable. This is used by both npm and yarn.

~/.profile
PATH="$HOME/.node_modules/bin:$PATH"
export npm_config_prefix=~/.node_modules

Re-login or source to update changes.

You can also specify the --prefix parameter for npm install. However, this is not recommended, since you'll need to add it every time you install a global package.

$ npm -g install packageName --prefix ~/.node_modules

So you dont have to chown folder permision

> brew uninstall node

> brew install node

> sudo npm install -g "your_package" --unsafe-perm=true --allow-root

Hopes this helps someone

The best way to solve this issue (as the solution may vary from one device to another) is to read carefully the error in order to figure out which folder needs write access.

In my case, I had to give /usr/local/lib and /usr/local/bin permissions.

I have used sudo, but it didnt solve the problem, I have fixed the issue by changing the node_modules folder permission,

sudo chmod -R 777 node_modules

If you want you can replace 777 with any other code if you dont set the permission for all user/group.

in case anyone want to make the user to have access like a root user check out this https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204012

this supposed to be the best approach if the user account is the owner of the account

in my case it works i.e i want npm link so when I hit sudo npm link it works

sudo npm install

because sudo gives you permissions to superuser levels. superuser account is usually called 'Administrator.' In Linux/Unix the superuser account is generally named 'root'.

The root user has permission to access, modify or delete almost any file on your computer. Normal user accounts can access, modify or delete many fewer files. The restrictions on a normal account protect your computer from unauthorized or harmful programs or users.

Simple solution for linux users, just add sudo in front of whatever command you're running for npm