Npm install failed with “cannot run in wd”

Question

I am trying to get my node environment set up on a new Ubuntu 12.04 instance, with Node 0.8.14 already installed, but I ran into problems when I try to run npm install. So when I try npm install, it says that I need to run it as root or adminisrator:

Error: EACCES, mkdir '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/coffee-script'
npm ERR!  { [Error: EACCES, mkdir '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/coffee-script']
npm ERR!   errno: 3,
npm ERR!   code: 'EACCES',
npm ERR!   path: '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/coffee-script',
npm ERR!   fstream_type: 'Directory',
npm ERR!   fstream_path: '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/coffee-script',
npm ERR!   fstream_class: 'DirWriter',
npm ERR!   fstream_stack: 
npm ERR!    [ 'DirWriter._create                 (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/fstream/lib/dir-writer.js:36:23)',
npm ERR!      '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/mkdirp/index.js:37:53',
npm ERR!      'Object.oncomplete (fs.js:297:15)' ] }
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! Please try running this command again as root/Administrator.

But when try to run it as sudo, it says the following:

npm WARN cannot run in wd PackNodeDev@0.0.1-166 npm install -g coffee-script node-gyp (wd=/home/ubuntu/PackNode)

In my package.json, it contains the following scripts:

"scripts": {
    "preinstall": "npm install -g coffee-script node-gyp",
    "start": "node server.js",
    "test": "mocha --require should --compilers coffee:coffee-script --colors"
 },

The rest of devdependencies are valid since I have been installing it all right on my own machine (Mac) Does anyone have a clue why this is happening?

Answer 1

The documentation says (also here):

If npm was invoked with root privileges, then it will change the uid to the user account or uid specified by the user config, which defaults to nobody. Set the unsafe-perm flag to run scripts with root privileges.

Your options are:

1. Run npm install with the --unsafe-perm flag:

   [sudo] npm install --unsafe-perm
   

2. Add the unsafe-perm flag to your package.json:

   "config": {
       "unsafe-perm":true
   }
   

3. Don't use the preinstall script to install global modules, install them separately and then run the regular npm install without root privileges:

   sudo npm install -g coffee-script node-gyp
   npm install
   

---

Related:

• package.json for global module installation

Answer 2

The only thing that worked for me was adding a .npmrc file containing:

unsafe-perm = true

Adding the same config to package.json didn't have any effect.

Answer 3

I have experienced the same problem when trying to publish my nodejs app in a private server running CentOs using root user. The same error is fired by "postinstall": "./node_modules/bower/bin/bower install" in my package.json file so the only solution that was working for me is to use both options to avoid the error:

1: use --allow-root option for bower install command

"postinstall": "./node_modules/bower/bin/bower --allow-root install"

2: use --unsafe-perm option for npm install command

npm install --unsafe-perm

Answer 4

OP here, I have learned a lot more about node since I first asked this question. Though Dmitry's answer was very helpful, what ultimately did it for me is to install node with the correct permissions.

I highly recommend not installing node using any package managers, but rather to compile it yourself so that it resides in a local directory with normal permissions.

This article provides a very clear step-by-step instruction of how to do so:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-an-upstream-version-of-node-js-on-ubuntu-12-04

Answer 5

I fixed this by changing the ownership of /usr/local and ~/Users/user-name like so:

sudo chown -R my_name /usr/local

This allowed me to do everything without sudo