Can't update NPM version (EACCES permission denied)

[alexbu92]

Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19041.1288]

WSL Version

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

Linux version 4.4.0-19041-Microsoft (Microsoft@Microsoft.com) (gcc version 5.4.0 (GCC) ) #1237-Microsoft Sat Sep 11 14:32:00 PST 2021

Distro Version

Ubuntu-20.04

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

In wsl terminal:
nvm install-latest-npm

Expected Behavior

NPM is installed/updated to latest supported version

Actual Behavior

Command exits out with this output:

npm ERR! code EACCES
npm ERR! syscall rename
npm ERR! path /home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/npm-5bc2ba18/node_modules/string-width
npm ERR! dest /home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/string-width-27ab7c66
npm ERR! errno -13
npm ERR! Error: EACCES: permission denied, rename '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/npm-5bc2ba18/node_modules/string-width' -> '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/string-width-27ab7c66'
npm ERR!  [OperationalError: EACCES: permission denied, rename '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/npm-5bc2ba18/node_modules/string-width' -> '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/string-width-27ab7c66'] {
npm ERR!   cause: [Error: EACCES: permission denied, rename '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/npm-5bc2ba18/node_modules/string-width' -> '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/string-width-27ab7c66'] {
npm ERR!     errno: -13,
npm ERR!     code: 'EACCES',
npm ERR!     syscall: 'rename',
npm ERR!     path: '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/npm-5bc2ba18/node_modules/string-width',
npm ERR!     dest: '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/string-width-27ab7c66'
npm ERR!   },
npm ERR!   errno: -13,
npm ERR!   code: 'EACCES',
npm ERR!   syscall: 'rename',
npm ERR!   path: '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/npm-5bc2ba18/node_modules/string-width',
npm ERR!   dest: '/home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/lib/node_modules/.staging/string-width-27ab7c66'
npm ERR! }
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/alexbu92/.npm/_logs/2021-10-29T14_04_41_047Z-debug.log
* npm upgraded to: v6.14.15

Update: Don't know if it matters but whereis npm gives me this:

alexbu92@LAPTOP-R8SQE3K7:/mnt/c/Users/alexb$`` whereis npm
npm: /usr/bin/npm /usr/share/npm /home/alexbu92/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/bin/npm /mnt/c/Program Files/nodejs/npm /mnt/c/Program Files/nodejs/npm.cmd /usr/share/man/man1/npm.1.gz

Diagnostic Logs

No response

[Biswa96]

Does any Windows program access those files in WSL1 realm?

[alexbu92]

Does any Windows program access those files in WSL1 realm?

No, I'm aware of the issue with having VSCode open while performing this operation, everything is closed, just a PowerShell instance where I access wsl.

[OneBlue]

Thanks for reporting this @alexbu92. It looks like a linux permission issue.

Does running the same command as sudo works ? If so the issue is most likely that some of the files under /home/alexbu92/.nvm are not writable by your user.

[alexbu92]

Sudo doesn't work, gives nvm: command not found.

[OneBlue]

Looks like nvm isn't in the $PATH for sudo. You might need to call it with its full path. You can get it with whereis nvm

This issue has been automatically closed since it has not had any author activity for the past 7 days. If you're still experiencing this issue please re-open it.

Thank you!

[douglasg14b]

I also have the same issue:

 ERR_PNPM_LINKING_FAILED  Error: EACCES: permission denied, rename

Literally cannot use pnpm in WSL, at all.