Error upgrading npm - Error: EACCES: permission denied,

Question

My webapp is deployed through Azuer OpenAI and I am trying to upgrade npm on Azure webapp kudu console (myapp.scm.azurewebsites.net/newui/kududebug) using the command: npm install -g npm

However, I am getting the following error with permission denied. If I try to install with sudo command, it says -bash: sudo: command not found.

Is there any way to upgrade npm on kudu console?

npm ERR! code EACCES
npm ERR! syscall access
npm ERR! path /usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/ansi-align
npm ERR! errno -13
npm ERR! Error: EACCES: permission denied, access '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/ansi-align'
npm ERR!  [Error: EACCES: permission denied, access '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/ansi-align'] {
npm ERR!   errno: -13,
npm ERR!   code: 'EACCES',
npm ERR!   syscall: 'access',
npm ERR!   path: '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/ansi-align'
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.

Answer 1

@Sikder Tahsin Al Amin we're sorry to hear you're facing this issue. The Kudu console does not support the sudo command, which is why you're seeing the -bash: sudo: command not found error.

To upgrade npm on Azure Web App's Kudu console without using sudo (which isn't available), you have a few options:

1. Use npm with the -g flag and the --unsafe-perm option:

npm install -g npm --unsafe-perm

2. If that doesn't work, you can try using the --user flag to install npm globally for your user:

npm install -g npm --user

3. Another approach is to use the npm-windows-upgrade method if you're on a Windows-based Azure Web App:

npm install -g npm-windows-upgrade
npm-windows-upgrade

4. If you're specifically on a Node.js app service, you might be able to change the npm prefix:

npm config set prefix ~/.npm
export PATH=$HOME/.npm/bin:$PATH
npm install -g npm

If none of these work, you might want to check your Azure Web App's Node.js version, verify that you have write permissions in the deployment environment or consider updating the Node.js runtime version in your App Service configuration.

Hope that helps. Please let us know if you have further questions

-Grace