npm: command not found in sudo

Published: 11 February 2022

Category: linux

Problem

I’m attempting to upgrade node to the most recent version. I’m following http://davidwalsh.name/upgrade-nodejs/’s instructions.

However, when I do:

sudo npm install -g n

I’m getting the following error:

sudo: npm: command not found

npm works without sudo. When I do this:

whereis node

I see:

node: /usr/bin/node /usr/lib/node /usr/bin/X11/node /usr/local/node

Running:

which npm

Shows:

/usr/local/node/bin/npm

I attempted to solve the problem at https://stackoverflow.com/a/5062718/1246159.

However, I continue to receive the same error. I also checked the /etc/sudoers file and found the following line:

Defaults        secure_path="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"

This appears to be in good working order to me. How do I get NPM to operate with the sudo command?

Asked by Mark

I had to do

sudo apt-get install npm

That was effective for me.

/usr/local/bin/npm should contain the npm file. If it isn’t there, get the package from their website and reinstall node.js. In my case, it worked.

Answered by inga

The methods below worked for me as a MAC user.

If you get an Error for Brew, type the following command in the terminal first:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"

$ brew update
$ brew uninstall node
$ brew install node
$ brew postinstall

Answered by Gao

I had the same problem; here are the commands to fix it:

WARNING: Performing a chmod 777 is a drastic solution. Try these first, one at a time, and stop when one works:

The only step of the installation where I’d have a problem is $ brew postinstall node.

Permission denied - /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/.github

So I

// !! READ EDIT ABOVE BEFORE RUNNING THIS CODE !!
$ sudo chmod -R 777 /usr/local/lib
$ brew postinstall node

and there you have it, npm is now linked.

$ npm -v
3.10.10

Extra

If you used -R 777 on lib, I propose setting nested files and directories to the following default:

Answered by Jacksonkr