Permission denied when installing npm module

Question

I'm getting a strange permission error when I try to install an npm module. I'm starting it with sudo so I'm sure I do have access, but for some reason it keeps complaining with an error:

stack Error: EACCES: permission denied, mkdir '/usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3/build'

I've tried restarting my computer, and creating a directory /usr/lib/node_modules/joplin with chmod 777, but it still doesn't work.

$ sudo npm install -g joplin
/usr/bin/joplin -> /usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/main.js

> sqlite3@3.1.9 install /usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3
> node-pre-gyp install --fallback-to-build

node-pre-gyp ERR! Tried to download(undefined): https://mapbox-node-binary.s3.amazonaws.com/sqlite3/v3.1.9/node-v48-linux-x64.tar.gz
node-pre-gyp ERR! Pre-built binaries not found for sqlite3@3.1.9 and node@6.11.2 (node-v48 ABI) (falling back to source compile with node-gyp)
gyp ERR! configure error
gyp ERR! stack Error: EACCES: permission denied, mkdir '/usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3/build'
gyp ERR! stack     at Error (native)
gyp ERR! System Linux 4.4.0-43-Microsoft
gyp ERR! command "/usr/bin/nodejs" "/usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js" "configure" "--fallback-to-build" "--module=/usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3/lib/binding/node-v48-linux-x64/node_sqlite3.node" "--module_name=node_sqlite3" "--module_path=/usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3/lib/binding/node-v48-linux-x64"
gyp ERR! cwd /usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3
gyp ERR! node -v v6.11.2
gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v3.6.2
gyp ERR! not ok
node-pre-gyp ERR! build error
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack Error: Failed to execute '/usr/bin/nodejs /usr/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/node-gyp/bin/node-gyp.js configure --fallback-to-build --module=/usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3/lib/binding/node-v48-linux-x64/node_sqlite3.node --module_name=node_sqlite3 --module_path=/usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3/lib/binding/node-v48-linux-x64' (1)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (/usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3/node_modules/node-pre-gyp/lib/util/compile.js:83:29)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at emitTwo (events.js:106:13)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:191:7)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at maybeClose (internal/child_process.js:891:16)
node-pre-gyp ERR! stack     at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:226:5)
node-pre-gyp ERR! System Linux 4.4.0-43-Microsoft
node-pre-gyp ERR! command "/usr/bin/nodejs" "/usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3/node_modules/.bin/node-pre-gyp" "install" "--fallback-to-build"
node-pre-gyp ERR! cwd /usr/lib/node_modules/joplin/node_modules/sqlite3
node-pre-gyp ERR! node -v v6.11.2
node-pre-gyp ERR! node-pre-gyp -v v0.6.36
node-pre-gyp ERR! not ok

Edit

I've also tried sudo npm i sqlite3 -g --build-from-source but getting the same error Error: EACCES: permission denied, mkdir '/usr/lib/node_modules/sqlite3/build' so it seems to be something to do with sqlite3.

Answer 1

You need to reclaim ownership of the .npm directory.

sudo chown -R $(whoami) ~/.npm

and need the write permission in node_modules directory:

sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/lib/node_modules

Answer 2

Give full permission to node modules folder

command

sudo chmod 777 -R node_modules/

Answer 3

A rule of thumb as I have learned is to never run npm install with sudo. That creates items with root being the owner as opposed to your username.