cli won't install on ubuntu 16.04 without installing node-gyp manually

[rotemfogel]

Bug Report or Feature Request (mark with an x)

- [X] bug report -> please search issues before submitting
- [ ] feature request

Versions.

$ ng -v; node -v; npm -v
    _                      _                 ____ _     ___
   / \   _ __   __ _ _   _| | __ _ _ __     / ___| |   |_ _|
  / △ \ | '_ \ / _` | | | | |/ _` | '__|   | |   | |    | |
 / ___ \| | | | (_| | |_| | | (_| | |      | |___| |___ | |
/_/   \_\_| |_|\__, |\__,_|_|\__,_|_|       \____|_____|___|
               |___/
@angular/cli: 1.1.2
node: 8.1.2
os: linux x64
v8.1.2
5.0.3

Repro steps.

• install ubuntu 16.04
• install nodejs (using apt)
  sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
• install @angular/cli
  sudo npm install -g @angular/cli

The log given by the failure.

@angular/cli refuses to install, saying root user is not allowed to write into /usr/lib/node_modules/....
The install process retries endlessly.

Desired functionality.

@angular/cli to check if node-gyp is installed an either fail saying requirement missing or install it by itself

Mention any other details that might be useful.

A fix for the issue, is manually installing node-gyp prior to installing @angular/cli

$ sudo npm install -g node-gyp
$ sudo npm install -g @angular/cli

[nikoTM]

@rotemfogel you should not be installing npm packages using sudo. https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/fixing-npm-permissions

[UniK]

@nikoTM this is not a question whether "you should' or "you should not'... the default node/npm installation forces sudo usage under Ubuntu.
BTW: does your suggestion solve the issue?

[UniK]

Confirm, the sudo npm install -g @angular/cli produces an infinite installation loop under Ubuntu with default access permissions under /usr/lib/node_modules.

[hmarcelodn]

Same issue over here

[cameronfarvin]

I'm having the same issue as @UniK .

[devsparkles]

I have the same issue on Ubuntu 16.04 and installing the gyn before did not fix the problem
gyp verb install version not already installed, continuing with install 8.7.0
gyp verb ensuring nodedir is created /usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/node-sass/.node-gyp/8.7.0
gyp WARN EACCES user "root" does not have permission to access the dev dir "/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/node-sass/.node-gyp/8.7.0"
gyp WARN EACCES attempting to reinstall using temporary dev dir "/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/node-sass/.node-gyp"
gyp verb tmpdir == cwd automatically will remove dev files after to save disk space
gyp verb command install [ '8.7.0' ]
gyp verb install input version string "8.7.0"
gyp verb install installing version: 8.7.0
gyp verb install --ensure was passed, so won't reinstall if already installed
gyp verb install version not already installed, continuing with install 8.7.0
gyp verb ensuring nodedir is created /usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/node-sass/.node-gyp/8.7.0
gyp WARN EACCES user "root" does not have permission to access the dev dir "/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/node-sass/.node-gyp/8.7.0"
gyp WARN EACCES attempting to reinstall using temporary dev dir "/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/node-sass/.node-gyp"
gyp verb tmpdir == cwd automatically will remove dev files after to save disk space
gyp verb command install [ '8.7.0' ]
gyp verb install input version string "8.7.0"
gyp verb install installing version: 8.7.0
gyp verb install --ensure was passed, so won't reinstall if already installed
gyp verb install version not already installed, continuing with install 8.7.0
gyp verb ensuring nodedir is created /usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/node-sass/.node-gyp/8.7.0
gyp WARN EACCES user "root" does not have permission to access the dev dir "/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/node-sass/.node-gyp/8.7.0"
gyp WARN EACCES attempting to reinstall using temporary dev dir "/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/node-sass/.node-gyp"
gyp verb^C

[devsparkles]

I did that:
$ sudo rm -Rf @angular/ node-gyp
$ sudo npm install -g node-gyp
/usr/bin/node-gyp -> /usr/lib/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js

• node-gyp@3.6.2
  added 102 packages in 2.298s
  Then open a new terminal
  and
  sudo npm install -g @angular/cli
  Got AGAIN the LOOP Mayhem problem the retry and got a success.....
  sudo npm install -g @angular/cli
  /usr/bin/ng -> /usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/bin/ng
  npm WARN optional SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: fsevents@1.1.2 (node_modules/@angular/cli/node_modules/fsevents):
  npm WARN notsup SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Unsupported platform for fsevents@1.1.2: wanted {"os":"darwin","arch":"any"} (current: {"os":"linux","arch":"x64"})

• @angular/cli@1.4.9
  updated 2 packages in 50.573s

---

more information
node -v
v8.7.0
npm -v
5.4.2

[Bazmcl]

Experiencing the same issue and like @devsparkles found that cancelling the angular/cli install once it hits its infinite loop and re-running the same command fixes the issue.

In my case, I was running this as a gitlab build job and not interactively so I had to script this. If anyone else is this unfortunate position while waiting for the issue to be resolve... the script snippet is below (it sure is ugly but it may get you out of a hole!)

npm install -g node-gyp timeout 120 npm install -g @angular/cli > /dev/null npm install -g @angular/cli
the timeout line is the script equivalent of letting it partially install and then ctrl+C when it gets in its nasty loop state.

Repo steps:
docker run -it node:latest /bin/bash
Note: by default you will be running as root which may be part of the issue

npm install -g @angular/cli

node -v
v8.5.0
npm -v
5.3.0

[Bazmcl]

formatted script
npm install -g node-gyp
timeout 120 npm install -g @angular/cli > /dev/null
npm install -g @angular/cli

[Valerski-Emilija]

On my Ubuntu it worked fine by first installing node-gyp.
On another machine with Debian8 all solutions listed here failed, the only one which worked in this case was sudo npm install --unsafe-perm -g @angular/cli