Option 3: Use a package manager that takes care of this for you. if you don't want to modify ~/.profile): NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=~/.npm-global npm install -g jshint Instead of steps 2-4 you can also use the corresponding ENV variable (e.g. Test: Download a package globally without using sudo. Open or create a ~/.profile file and add this line: export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATHīack on the command line, update your system variables: source ~/.profile Make a directory for global installations: mkdir ~/.npm-globalĬonfigure npm to use the new directory path: npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global' In our case, this will be a hidden directory in our home folder. Instead, you can configure npm to use a different directory altogether. usr) as this could cause some problems, for example if you are sharing the system with other users. There are times when you do not want to change ownership of the default directory that npm uses (i.e. Option 2: Change npm's default directory to another directory This changes the permissions of the sub-folders used by npm and some other tools ( lib/node_modules, bin, and share). WARNING: If the displayed path is just /usr, switch to Option 2 or you will mess up your permissions.Ĭhange the owner of npm's directories to the name of the current user (your username!): sudo chown -R $(whoami) $(npm config get prefix)/ Option 1: Change the permission to npm's default directoryįind the path to npm's directory: npm config get prefixįor many systems, this will be /usr/local. You should back-up your computer before moving forward. Install node with a package manager that takes care of this for you.

Change npm's default directory to another directory.

Change the permission to npm's default directory.

You can fix this problem using one of three options: This indicates that you do not have permission to write to the directories that npm uses to store global packages and commands. You may receive an EACCES error when you try to install a package globally.

Npm config set registry to default