nvm uninstall fails due to permissions/globally installed modules via sudo

[ain]

Steps to reproduce:

1. nvm ls lists: .nvm, v0.10.26, -> v0.10.29
2. nvm uninstall v0.10.26

What happens: v0.10.26 is not removed. nvm ls still lists: .nvm, v0.10.26, -> v0.10.29.

What should happen: v0.10.26 should be removed.

Platform:

node v0.10.29
grunt-cli v0.1.13
grunt v0.4.5 

[ljharb]

if nvm ls lists .nvm, you must have an old version of nvm - what does nvm --version say?

Try installing the latest version (command is in the README) and try again.

[ain]

Tried on another machine, worked now, but wget installation strategy did not work, had to use curl. wget is installed and works though.

[ljharb]

Thanks, I'll consider that a separate issue.

[ain]

As erroneously reported under #455, here's what happens on uninstall for me:

mbpro-ain:~ ain$ nvm ls
    v0.10.26
->  v0.10.29
mbpro-ain:~ ain$ nvm uninstall v0.10.26
Uninstalled node v0.10.26
mbpro-ain:~ ain$ nvm ls
    v0.10.26
->  v0.10.29
mbpro-ain:~ ain$ nvm ls
    v0.10.26
->  v0.10.29
mbpro-ain:~ ain$ nvm --version
0.10.0

[ljharb]

What are your user permissions inside ~/.nvm (or $NVM_DIR if it's something else)?

[ain]

drwxr-xr-x

[ain]

I've just retried with the latest nvm version, here's the result:

ain$ node -v
v0.10.30
ain$ nvm --version
0.12.2
ain$ nvm list
    v0.10.26
    v0.10.29
->  v0.10.30
      system
ain$ nvm uninstall v0.10.26
Uninstalled node v0.10.26
ain$ nvm list
    v0.10.26
    v0.10.29
->  v0.10.30
      system

[ain]

I turned off rm -rf silencing and turns out it fails to kill all modules that have been installed globally, e.g. npm install -g grunt, so as presumed, a file rights issue.

[ljharb]

Definitely a permissions issue - perhaps we should remove that error silencing, so it's more apparent what's wrong? Or, we could simply print out a custom error message pointing out that some global modules weren't able to be removed.

[ain]

I'd go with the sudo fallback asking for pass if it fails.

[ljharb]

Would that work when run non-interactively? None of nvm's commands are meant to be interactive.

[ain]

No it works if you modify to sudo rm -rf.

[ljharb]

Good to know - but nvm shouldn't ever require sudo privileges. Perhaps it would be better to check permissions on $NVM_DIR on install, uninstall, and use, and report an error if they're incorrect, with another command (that used sudo) that repaired permissions?

[ain]

The problem is many Node modules advise to install them globally with sudo, e.g. sudo npm install -g yo and that results in a corrupt NVM structure where file rights are incorrect.

[ljharb]

Indeed - however, that's bad advice in any ecosystem :-( I'll think about how nvm can help ameliorate that.

[usmonster]

Any update since 2014?

[ljharb]

No, unfortunately I still don't know how nvm can help convince people to never use sudo npm install :-)

[usmonster]

In the case where the rm -rf of the uninstall doesn't succeed, maybe nvm can echo an informative message (as you suggested) that states the likely cause and recommends not using sudo with npm install? And/or a link to a wiki page or issue, e.g. this one or this page or npm/npm#3139, which suggests the best practice of using npm config set prefix /some/better/path -g and including /some/better/path/bin in the $PATH?

Maybe the root cause can eventually be addressed by a campaign to educate Node module authors to never recommend using sudo npm install, though the issue for that would have to be filed at the npm repo..

In the meantime, what do you think of the above suggestions? (Also, thanks for the quick response!)

[ljharb]

Definitely do not set an npm prefix - that will break nvm, and in the near future, nvm will simply refuse to work if a prefix exists.

A message would be great - PRs are welcome :-)

[usmonster]

Ah, I did not realize that.. Yep, it's right there in the README and in #606. 😁

Yeah, maybe I'll see about a PR, though it's much more likely that someone else would be able to get to it first. Thanks for adding the label!