Error: The 'brew link' step did not comple

Question

I'm trying to install node.js via Homebrew. Unfortunately, I get this error:

➜  ~  brew install node
==> Downloading http://nodejs.org/dist/v0.8.10/node-v0.8.10.tar.gz
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/node/0.8.10
==> make install
==> Caveats
Homebrew installed npm.
We recommend prepending the following path to your PATH environment
variable to have npm-installed binaries picked up:
  /usr/local/share/npm/bin
Warning: Could not link node. Unlinking...
Error: The `brew link` step did not complete successfully
The formula built, but is not symlinked into /usr/local
You can try again using `brew link node'
==> Summary
/usr/local/Cellar/node/0.8.10: 856 files, 13M, built in 103 seconds

So then I try to link node manually...

➜  ~  brew link node
Linking /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.8.10... Warning: Could not link node. Unlinking...

Error: Could not symlink file: /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.8.10/lib/node_modules/npm/scripts/relocate.sh
Target /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/scripts/relocate.sh already exists. You may need to delete it.
To force the link and delete this file, do:
  brew link -f formula_name

To list all files that would be deleted:
  brew link -n formula_name

No luck, so I try forcefully linking node...

➜  ~  brew link -f node
Linking /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.8.10... Warning: Could not link node. Unlinking...

Error: Permission denied - /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d

I'm not familiar with dtrace in any regard and I'm afraid to mess with permissions, so I tried to sudo..

➜ ~ git:(master) sudo brew link -f node
Password:
Error: Cowardly refusing to `sudo brew link'
You can use brew with sudo, but only if the brew executable is owned by root.
However, this is both not recommended and completely unsupported so do so at
your own risk.

I've tried uninstalling node via brew uninstall node and retrying the install with no luck.

Answer 1

My problem had a slightly different solution. The directory in which brew wanted to create the symlinks were not owned by the current user.

ls -la /usr/local/bin/lib/node | grep node yielded:

drwxr-xr-x    3 24561  wheel   102 May  4  2012 node
drwxr-xr-x    7 24561  wheel   238 Sep 18 16:37 node_modules

For me, the following fixed it:

sudo chown $(users) /usr/local/bin/lib/node_modules
sudo chown $(users) /usr/local/bin/lib/node

ps. $(users) will get expanded to your username, went a little out of my way to help out lazy copy pasters ;)

Answer 2

thx @suweller.

I fixed the problem:

➜  bin git:(master) ✗ brew link node
Linking /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.10.25... Warning: Could not link node. Unlinking...

Error: Permission denied - /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm

I had the same problem as suweller:

➜  bin git:(master) ✗ ls -la /usr/local/lib/ | grep node
drwxr-xr-x   3 24561  wheel   102 11 Okt  2012 node
drwxr-xr-x   3 24561  wheel   102 27 Jan 11:32 node_modules

so i fixed this problem by:

➜  bin git:(master) ✗ sudo chown $(users) /usr/local/lib/node_modules
➜  bin git:(master) ✗ sudo chown $(users) /usr/local/lib/node

after i fixed this problem I got another one:

➜  bin git:(master) ✗ brew link node
Linking /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.10.25... Warning: Could not link node. Unlinking...

Error: Could not symlink file: /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.10.25/lib/dtrace/node.d
Target /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d already exists. You may need to delete it.
To force the link and overwrite all other conflicting files, do:
  brew link --overwrite formula_name

To list all files that would be deleted:
  brew link --overwrite --dry-run formula_name

So I removed node.d by:

➜  bin git:(master) ✗ sudo rm /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d

got another permission error:

➜  bin git:(master) ✗ brew link node
Linking /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.10.25... Warning: Could not link node. Unlinking...

Error: Could not symlink file: /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.10.25/lib/dtrace/node.d
/usr/local/lib/dtrace is not writable. You should change its permissions.

and fixed it:

➜  bin git:(master) ✗ sudo chown $(users) /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.10.25/lib/dtrace/node.d

and finally everything worked:

➜  bin git:(master) ✗ brew link node
Linking /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.10.25... 1225 symlinks created

Answer 3

Try this. Got from another reference and worked for me.

sudo brew uninstall node
brew update
brew upgrade
brew cleanup
brew install node
sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local
brew link --overwrite node
sudo brew postinstall node

Answer 4

the ultimate answer: change the owner of that directory to whoever you are

sudo chown -R `whoami` /usr/local/include

which is also recommended by brew if you run brew doctor

Answer 5

I'm a bit late, what worked for me was this:

* npm uninstall npm -g

* brew uninstall node

* brew install node

* sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d

* brew link node (caused error with permissions)

* sudo chmod 777 /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d

* brew link node

Everything was successful after this sequence

Answer 6

Had been wrecking my head on symlinking node .. and nothing seemed to work...but finally what worked is setting the right permissions . This 'sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local' did the work for me.