Cannot npm install 'mean-cli' module on Mac OS X

Question

UPDATE: Apparently, it is bad practice to use sudo to install node modules. Instead, changing folder permissions will solve this issue.

See the answer here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/31546496/2859315

ORIGINAL POST:

Currently, I have installed Node (version v0.12.7) and NPM. I am trying to install the mean-cli package from NPM.

I am following the installation instructions found here: https://github.com/linnovate/mean#installation

Also, I was taking a MEAN Stack development course on Udemy. Here is the lecture: https://www.udemy.com/mean-stack-for-beginners/#/lecture/2697540

So far, I have installed both prerequisite packages, Gulp and Bower:

$ npm install -g gulp
// and bower
$ npm install -g bower 

Firstly, I tried installing by using npm install -g mean-cli but that threw permission errors without using sudo . Then, even using sudo would not work.

Secondly, I tried updating and reinstalling node and NPM. Still have the same issue.

When I type the command sudo npm install -g mean-cli ,

I get this response:

> mean-cli@0.10.14 preinstall /usr/local/lib/node_modules/mean-cli
> node ./scripts/preinstall

shell-init: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent directories: Permission denied
node.js:720
    var cwd = process.cwd();
                  ^
Error: EACCES, permission denied
    at Error (native)
    at Function.startup.resolveArgv0 (node.js:720:23)
    at startup (node.js:63:13)
    at node.js:814:3
npm ERR! Darwin 14.4.0
npm ERR! argv "node" "/usr/local/bin/npm" "install" "-g" "mean-cli"
npm ERR! node v0.12.7
npm ERR! npm  v2.11.3
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE

npm ERR! mean-cli@0.10.14 preinstall: `node ./scripts/preinstall`
npm ERR! Exit status 1
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! Failed at the mean-cli@0.10.14 preinstall script 'node ./scripts/preinstall'.
npm ERR! This is most likely a problem with the mean-cli package,
npm ERR! not with npm itself.
npm ERR! Tell the author that this fails on your system:
npm ERR!     node ./scripts/preinstall
npm ERR! You can get their info via:
npm ERR!     npm owner ls mean-cli
npm ERR! There is likely additional logging output above.

npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
npm ERR!     /Library/WebServer/Documents/NodeJS/mean/npm-debug.log

It seems like the problem lies here: Failed at the mean-cli@0.10.14 preinstall script 'node , but I am not sure about how to debug this further.

Any insight or helpful information is appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

Apparently, it is bad practice to use sudo to install node modules. Instead, changing folder permissions will solve this issue.

See the answer here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/31546496/2859315

Answer 2

To reclaim ownership of the /usr/local use the command below

Sudo chown –r $USER /usr/local