Can not install angular-cli on Ubuntu 18.04

[meightythree]

🐞 Bug report

Command (mark with an x)

I guess it affects "all" because I couldn't even install the cli.

- [ ] new
- [ ] build
- [ ] serve
- [ ] test
- [ ] e2e
- [ ] generate
- [ ] add
- [ ] update
- [ ] lint
- [ ] xi18n
- [ ] run
- [ ] config
- [ ] help
- [ ] version
- [ ] doc

Is this a regression?

It isntalls with 7.x version

Yes, the previous version in which this bug was not present was: ....

Description

Using the angular cli installation command: sudo npm install -g @angular/cli

I get this error: https://pastebin.com/aqDXNBM0

There's no such file '/home/user/.angular-config.json', I have tried creating it by the 'touch' command, but it gave another error: https://pastebin.com/xZNQUwAa

I have tried 'npm cache clean --force' command with the same results.

I tried to install a previous verison of Angular with the 'sudo npm install -g @angular/cli@7.x' and it installed it however it throws "Workspace needs to be loaded before it is used.", I guess it's because of the angular-config.json I've created...

A clear and concise description of the problem...

🔬 Minimal Reproduction

sudo npm i -g @angular/cli

🔥 Exception or Error

I have linked the errors above.

🌍 Your Environment

Couldn't run ng version with angular 8.x

ng version with 7.x
Angular CLI: 7.3.9
Node: 12.4.0
OS: linux x64
Angular: 
... 

Package                      Version
------------------------------------------------------
@angular-devkit/architect    0.13.9
@angular-devkit/core         7.3.9
@angular-devkit/schematics   7.3.9
@schematics/angular          7.3.9
@schematics/update           0.13.9
rxjs                         6.3.3
typescript                   3.2.4

Anything else relevant?

[alan-agius4]

The relevant part of the log is:

(node:5022) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Error: EACCES: permission denied, open '/home/user/.angular-config.json'
    at Object.openSync (fs.js:447:3)
    at Object.writeFileSync (fs.js:1206:35)
    at createGlobalSettings (/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/utilities/config.js:65:10)
    at Object.getWorkspaceRaw (/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/utilities/config.js:73:26)
    at setAnalyticsConfig (/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/models/analytics.js:288:43)
    at Object.promptGlobalAnalytics (/usr/lib/node_modules/@angular/cli/models/analytics.js:326:9)
    at processTicksAndRejections (internal/process/task_queues.js:89:5)
(node:5022) UnhandledPromiseRejectionWarning: Unhandled promise rejection. This error originated either by throwing inside of an async function without a catch block, or by rejecting a promise which was not handled with .catch(). (rejection id: 1)
(node:5022) [DEP0018] DeprecationWarning: Unhandled promise rejections are deprecated. In the future, promise rejections that are not handled will terminate the Node.js process with a non-zero exit code.
+ @angular/cli@8.0.1

It seems that you don't have write permissions on that path.

[meightythree]

Thanks for the response!
But how come I could install a previous version of the cli?

[alan-agius4]

Because this logic is part of version 8.

That said, we should probably handle it more gracefully and not bail out when the CLI doesn't have permission to write a global config.

//cc @clydin, thoughts?

[filipesilva]

It's worth mentioning that you should not install global npm modules with sudo. Please have a look at the fixing npm permissions page.

[meightythree]

Thank you @filipesilva, I think I will check out npx.

[mgechev]

Instead of failing can we throw a warning and fallback to default config (analytics off).

Alternatively, brew handles this really well by giving you a hint about what command you should run to fix your permissions.