npm error while trying to install polymer

Question

I am trying to test sensors using html and javascript like it's shown here but when I try to install polymer as it's written in the readme I get this error:

kupu@kupu:~/Dropbox/IOT/generic-sensor-demos/sensor-info$ npm install -g polymer-cli
npm WARN checkPermissions Missing write access to /usr/local/lib/node_modules
npm ERR! code EACCES
npm ERR! syscall access
npm ERR! path /usr/local/lib/node_modules
npm ERR! errno -13
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!   stack:
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! 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.

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     /home/kupu/.npm/_logs/2020-05-09T17_52_32_877Z-debug.log

And even if I try to run it as sudo I get this:

kupu@kupu:~/Dropbox/IOT/generic-sensor-demos/sensor-info$ sudo npm install -g polymer-cli
/usr/local/bin/polymer -> /usr/local/lib/node_modules/polymer-cli/bin/polymer.js

> wd@1.11.2 install /usr/local/lib/node_modules/polymer-cli/node_modules/wd
> node scripts/build-browser-scripts

/usr/local/lib/node_modules/polymer-cli/node_modules/mkdirp/index.js:90
                    throw err0;
                    ^

Error: EACCES: permission denied, mkdir '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/polymer-cli/node_modules/wd/build'
    at Object.mkdirSync (fs.js:753:3)
    at sync (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/polymer-cli/node_modules/mkdirp/index.js:71:13)
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/polymer-cli/node_modules/wd/scripts/build-browser-scripts.js:6:1)
    at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:689:30)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:700:10)
    at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:599:32)
    at tryModuleLoad (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:538:12)
    at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:530:3)
    at Function.Module.runMain (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:742:12)
    at startup (internal/bootstrap/node.js:283:19)
npm WARN optional SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: fsevents@1.2.9 (node_modules/polymer-cli/node_modules/fsevents):
npm WARN notsup SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Unsupported platform for fsevents@1.2.9: wanted {"os":"darwin","arch":"any"} (current: {"os":"linux","arch":"x64"})

npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
npm ERR! errno 1
npm ERR! wd@1.11.2 install: `node scripts/build-browser-scripts`
npm ERR! Exit status 1
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! Failed at the wd@1.11.2 install script.
npm ERR! This is probably not a problem with npm. There is likely additional logging output above.

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     /root/.npm/_logs/2020-05-09T17_53_02_303Z-debug.log

Is there a good soul out there that can help me?

Answer 1

You're having a typical npm EACCES permission issue. It has to do with your user not having permissions to modify the directory where npm is trying to store global packages. It can be very annoying. You should look here and see which solution fits you best: https://docs.npmjs.com/resolving-eacces-permissions-errors-when-installing-packages-globally

Answer 2

You can fix it with,

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

Unsafe-perm flag is set to true to suppress User Identifier/ Group Identifier switching when running package scripts.The flag is explicitly set to false to prevent non-root user from installing packages.

You can also try to change ownership of node_modules ,

To change ownership to current user as group -

sudo chown -R root: <YOUR_USERNAME>/usr/local/lib/node_modules/

sudo chmod -R 775 /usr/local/lib/node_modules/

And never use sudo for npm related query.