how to avoid env: node: No such file or directory

[casprwang]

• Operating system and version:
  macOS 10.13.2 (17C88)
• nvm debug output:

nvm --version: v0.33.8
$TERM_PROGRAM: iTerm.app
$SHELL: /usr/local/bin/zsh
$HOME: /Users/song
$NVM_DIR: '$HOME/.nvm'
$PREFIX: ''
$NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX: ''
$NVM_NODEJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
$NVM_IOJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
shell version: 'zsh 5.4.2 (x86_64-apple-darwin15.6.0)'
uname -a: 'Darwin 17.3.0 Darwin Kernel Version 17.3.0: Thu Nov 9 18:09:22 PST 2017; root:xnu-4570.31.3~1/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64'
OS version: Mac 10.13.2 17C88
curl: /usr/bin/curl, curl 7.54.0 (x86_64-apple-darwin17.0) libcurl/7.54.0 LibreSSL/2.0.20 zlib/1.2.11 nghttp2/1.24.0
wget: /usr/local/bin/wget, GNU Wget 1.19.2 built on darwin15.6.0.
git: git: aliased to hub (hub), git version 2.15.0
grep: /usr/bin/grep, grep (BSD grep) 2.5.1-FreeBSD
awk: /usr/bin/awk, awk version 20070501
sed: illegal option -- -
usage: sed script [-Ealn] [-i extension] [file ...]
       sed [-Ealn] [-i extension] [-e script] ... [-f script_file] ... [file ...]
sed: /usr/bin/sed,
cut: illegal option -- -
usage: cut -b list [-n] [file ...]
       cut -c list [file ...]
       cut -f list [-s] [-d delim] [file ...]
cut: /usr/bin/cut,
basename: illegal option -- -
usage: basename string [suffix]
       basename [-a] [-s suffix] string [...]
basename: /usr/bin/basename,
rm: illegal option -- -
usage: rm [-f | -i] [-dPRrvW] file ...
       unlink file
rm: rm: aliased to trash (trash),
mkdir: illegal option -- -
usage: mkdir [-pv] [-m mode] directory ...
mkdir: /bin/mkdir,
xargs: illegal option -- -
usage: xargs [-0opt] [-E eofstr] [-I replstr [-R replacements]] [-J replstr]
             [-L number] [-n number [-x]] [-P maxprocs] [-s size]
             [utility [argument ...]]
xargs: /usr/bin/xargs,
nvm current: v8.9.4
which node: $NVM_DIR/versions/node/v8.9.4/bin/node
which iojs: iojs not found
which npm: $NVM_DIR/versions/node/v8.9.4/bin/npm
npm config get prefix: $NVM_DIR/versions/node/v8.9.4
npm root -g: $NVM_DIR/versions/node/v8.9.4/lib/node_modules

• nvm ls output:

default -> 8 (-> v8.9.4)
node -> stable (-> v8.9.4) (default)
stable -> 8.9 (-> v8.9.4) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)

• How did you install nvm? (e.g. install script in readme, homebrew):
  install script

• What steps did you perform?
  I commented the loading nvm script in shell to make my terminal loads faster, then load nvm whenever I need Node.js

• What happened?
  env: node: No such file or directory shows up every new terminal opened

• What did you expect to happen?
  nothing like that shows up even I am not loading nvm(or, I am not using Node.js)

• Is there anything in any of your profile files (.bashrc, .bash_profile, .zshrc, etc) that modifies the PATH?

• If you are having installation issues, or getting "N/A", what does curl -I --compressed -v https://nodejs.org/dist/ print out?

[ljharb]

Try nvm alias default node

[casprwang]

@ljharb thanks for the quick response, but I tried that with no luck. My guess is that aliasing in nvm would not work since I am not loading nvm when I start the terminal. Can I just symlink the /usr/bin/node with nvm's node in shell?

[ljharb]

You definitely don’t want to do that. Why aren’t you loading nvm in your profile files? That’s required to be able to use nvm.

[casprwang]

Ok, thanks for clarifying. Well, I use terminal a lot and nvm adds about 2s to my shell's starting time, which is annoying to me. I only use node occasionally.

[casprwang]

The confusing part is that I should be ok to not use node. while after installing nvm, it will always keep hinting for not having unexecutatble node in /bin.

[ljharb]

What do you mean by “hinting”? If you have something in your profile files that references node, that might do it.

[casprwang]

@ljharb sorry for the confusion, I was meaning env: node: No such file or directory. After another peek, it seems the long loading time is an issue posted by others at multiple times, so I am closing this one. FWIW, my workaround is to use nvm in bash instead of zshell.

[RyanPWalker]

On macOS High Sierra, I had to run sudo chown -R $(whoami) $(brew --prefix)/*
source
and then run brew link --overwrite node

[mrsoftware]

use this comment to create a symlink:

sudo ln -s "$(which node)" /usr/bin/node

[dcefram]

On macOS High Sierra, I had to run sudo chown -R $(whoami) $(brew --prefix)/*
source
and then run brew link --overwrite node

@RyanPWalker this would only work if you installed node through homebrew. This wouldn't work if you opted not to install node and only use nvm directly.

@mrsoftware's suggestion would work in this case assuming that you use bash, and not something else like fish. You'll have to re-link it though each time you change your node version if in case you want those shebang lines to use the selected node version.

edit: or if linking to /usr/bin/node is not permitted, you can link it to /usr/local/bin. Those shebangs should still work with that.

[wiegell]

On newer macos with readonly /usr/bin, do this instead (assuming node only installed through nvm, not brew):

sudo ln -s "$(which node)" /System/Volumes/Data/usr/local/bin