`nvm install node` is unsuccessful on `Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS`

[hamirmahal]

Operating system and version:

No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS
Release:	24.04
Codename:	noble

nvm debug output:

Details

nvm --version: v0.40.2
$SHELL: /bin/bash
$SHLVL: 1
whoami: 'hamir'
${HOME}: /home/hamir
${NVM_DIR}: '${HOME}/.nvm'
${PATH}: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/snap/bin
$PREFIX: ''
${NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX}: ''
$NVM_NODEJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
$NVM_IOJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
shell version: 'GNU bash, version 5.2.21(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)'
uname -a: 'Linux 6.11.0-21-generic #21~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Feb 24 16:52:15 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux'
checksum binary: 'sha256sum'
OS version: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS  
awk: /usr/bin/awk, mawk 1.3.4 20240123
curl: /snap/bin/curl, curl 8.13.0 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) libcurl/8.13.0 OpenSSL/3.4.1 zlib/1.3 brotli/1.1.0 zstd/1.5.5 libidn2/2.3.7 libpsl/0.21.2 libssh2/1.11.0 nghttp2/1.59.0 nghttp3/1.8.0 librtmp/2.3 OpenLDAP/2.6.7
wget: /usr/bin/wget, GNU Wget 1.21.4 built on linux-gnu.
git: /usr/bin/git, git version 2.43.0
grep: /usr/bin/grep (grep --color=auto), grep (GNU grep) 3.11
sed: /usr/bin/sed, sed (GNU sed) 4.9
cut: /usr/bin/cut, cut (GNU coreutils) 9.4
basename: /usr/bin/basename, basename (GNU coreutils) 9.4
rm: /usr/bin/rm, rm (GNU coreutils) 9.4
mkdir: /usr/bin/mkdir, mkdir (GNU coreutils) 9.4
xargs: /usr/bin/xargs, xargs (GNU findutils) 4.9.0
nvm current: none
which node: 
which iojs: 
which npm: 
npm config get prefix: Command 'npm' not found, but can be installed with:
sudo apt install npm
npm root -g: Command 'npm' not found, but can be installed with:
sudo apt install npm

nvm ls output:

Details

            N/A
iojs -> N/A (default)
node -> stable (-> N/A) (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/jod (-> N/A)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.17.0 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.24.1 (-> N/A)
lts/erbium -> v12.22.12 (-> N/A)
lts/fermium -> v14.21.3 (-> N/A)
lts/gallium -> v16.20.2 (-> N/A)
lts/hydrogen -> v18.20.8 (-> N/A)
lts/iron -> v20.19.0 (-> N/A)
lts/jod -> v22.14.0 (-> N/A)

How did you install nvm?

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/master/install.sh | bash

What steps did you perform?

nvm install node

What happened?

node didn't install.

What did you expect to happen?

node should be installed.

Is there anything in any of your profile files 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?

Details

* Host nodejs.org:443 was resolved.
* IPv6: 2606:4700:10::ac42:8074, 2606:4700:10::6814:306
* IPv4: 172.66.128.116, 104.20.3.6
*   Trying [2606:4700:10::ac42:8074]:443...
* Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:10::ac42:8074: Network is unreachable
*   Trying [2606:4700:10::6814:306]:443...
* Immediate connect fail for 2606:4700:10::6814:306: Network is unreachable
*   Trying 172.66.128.116:443...
* ALPN: curl offers h2,http/1.1
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello (1):
*  CAfile: /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
*  CApath: /etc/ssl/certs
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Server hello (2):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS change cipher, Change cipher spec (1):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Encrypted Extensions (8):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Certificate (11):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, CERT verify (15):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS change cipher, Change cipher spec (1):
* TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS handshake, Finished (20):
* SSL connection using TLSv1.3 / TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 / x25519 / RSASSA-PSS
* ALPN: server accepted h2
* Server certificate:
*  subject: CN=*.nodejs.org
*  start date: Mar 12 00:00:00 2025 GMT
*  expire date: Apr 12 23:59:59 2026 GMT
*  subjectAltName: host "nodejs.org" matched cert's "nodejs.org"
*  issuer: C=GB; ST=Greater Manchester; L=Salford; O=Sectigo Limited; CN=Sectigo RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA
*  SSL certificate verify ok.
*   Certificate level 0: Public key type RSA (4096/152 Bits/secBits), signed using sha256WithRSAEncryption
*   Certificate level 1: Public key type RSA (2048/112 Bits/secBits), signed using sha384WithRSAEncryption
*   Certificate level 2: Public key type RSA (4096/152 Bits/secBits), signed using sha384WithRSAEncryption
* Connected to nodejs.org (172.66.128.116) port 443
* using HTTP/2
* [HTTP/2] [1] OPENED stream for https://nodejs.org/dist/
* [HTTP/2] [1] [:method: HEAD]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [:scheme: https]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [:authority: nodejs.org]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [:path: /dist/]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [user-agent: curl/8.13.0]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [accept: */*]
* [HTTP/2] [1] [accept-encoding: deflate, gzip, br, zstd]
> HEAD /dist/ HTTP/2
> Host: nodejs.org
> User-Agent: curl/8.13.0
> Accept: */*
> Accept-Encoding: deflate, gzip, br, zstd
> 
* Request completely sent off
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Newsession Ticket (4):
* TLSv1.3 (IN), TLS handshake, Newsession Ticket (4):
< HTTP/2 200 
HTTP/2 200 
< date: Sat, 12 Apr 2025 19:20:05 GMT
date: Sat, 12 Apr 2025 19:20:05 GMT
< content-type: text/html
content-type: text/html
< cache-control: public, max-age=3600, s-maxage=14400
cache-control: public, max-age=3600, s-maxage=14400
< last-modified: Sat, 12 Apr 2025 15:35:20 GMT
last-modified: Sat, 12 Apr 2025 15:35:20 GMT
< cf-cache-status: HIT
cf-cache-status: HIT
< age: 8223
age: 8223
< vary: Accept-Encoding
vary: Accept-Encoding
< strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
< x-content-type-options: nosniff
x-content-type-options: nosniff
< server: cloudflare
server: cloudflare
< cf-ray: 92f5143b4f43eb29-SJC
cf-ray: 92f5143b4f43eb29-SJC
< content-encoding: br
content-encoding: br
< 

* Connection #0 to host nodejs.org left intact

[hamirmahal]

$  nvm install 20
Downloading and installing node v20.19.0...
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v20.19.0/node-v20.19.0-linux-x64.tar.xz...
Warning: Failed to open the file 
Warning: /home/hamir/.nvm/.cache/bin/node-v20.19.0-linux-x64/node-v20.19.0-linux-x64.tar.xz: 
Warning: Permission denied
curl: (23) client returned ERROR on write of 1360 bytes

download from https://nodejs.org/dist/v20.19.0/node-v20.19.0-linux-x64.tar.xz failed
grep: /home/hamir/.nvm/.cache/bin/node-v20.19.0-linux-x64/node-v20.19.0-linux-x64.tar.xz: No such file or directory
Provided file to checksum does not exist.
Binary download failed, trying source.
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v20.19.0/node-v20.19.0.tar.xz...
Warning: Failed to open the file /home/hamir/.nvm/.cache/src/node-v20.19.0/node-v20.19.0.tar.xz: 
Warning: Permission denied
curl: (23) client returned ERROR on write of 1360 bytes

download from https://nodejs.org/dist/v20.19.0/node-v20.19.0.tar.xz failed
grep: /home/hamir/.nvm/.cache/src/node-v20.19.0/node-v20.19.0.tar.xz: No such file or directory
Provided file to checksum does not exist.

[ljharb]

Are you using snap’s curl? If so, it’s broken and you’ll need to install curl from literally any other source.

[hamirmahal]

Ah, I was. I installed via apt and now nvm works without issue.

[SpacemanPete]

this did it for me too, thx!

[DanTup]

Are you using snap’s curl? If so, it’s broken and you’ll need to install curl from literally any other source.

Is there any way to detect this and give a more useful error? I also installed curl via snap because I just copy/pasted the command Ubuntu gave me when I first tried to install nvm and it failed. I did wonder why the command had snap in it, but it never occurred to me that this would be the reason for the failure as I tried to debug what was happening here 🙃

To be clear, the initial nvm installation works fine, but nvm then fails to install Node.

[ljharb]

I'm not sure because I don't have access to a snap machine. If someone suggests one, I'm happy to add it to nvm.

[hamirmahal]

A more useful error message? Maybe something along the lines of

Try do use a version of `curl` that isn't installed through `snap`.

If we can detect whether or not the user is using snap automatically, then maybe we can conditionally show this error message.

It looks like you're using a version of curlinstalled throughsnap, which can be problematic. Try installing curlthroughapt, instead. https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/issues/3566 may have more context.

[ljharb]

Right - the part I'm missing is "how to detect if they're using a snap-installed curl"

[DanTup]

the part I'm missing is "how to detect if they're using a snap-installed curl"

Gemini suggests using snap list or which curl and checking whether the path contains /snap/. Neither are pretty, but if they were done only in the case of failure, maybe it's worth it to guide users. Alternatively, maybe just noticing the error and adding a line at the end that it's not compatible with snap-installed curl and suggesting the user runs snap list to check is enough?

Although it may be better to just try and fix the issue. I did some searching and found this that perhaps is related:

https://snapcraft.io/docs/home-interface

The majority of snaps use strict confinement and do not have arbitrary access a system’s resources, including file and directories in the /home directory.

The home interface allows access to non-hidden files owned by the user in the user’s home ($HOME) directory where a user normally stores their personal files and documents.

So maybe downloading the file to somewhere that is not a hidden folder in the home directory would fix this? (for ex. downloading to a temp folder and then - outside of Snap's curl - copying it to the cache?)

Edit: This is also noted here: https://snapcraft.io/curl

With the security nature of snap, the curl snap is only allowed to access any non-hidden files (files or directory starting with '.' , except .curlrc) under the /home/$USER/ directory.