npm check and update package if needed

Question

We need to integrate Karma test runner into TeamCity and for that I'd like to give sys-engineers small script (powershell or whatever) that would:

pick up desired version number from some config file (I guess I can put it as a comment right in the karma.conf.js)
check if the defined version of karma runner installed in npm's global repo
if it's not, or the installed version is older than desired: pick up and install right version
run it: karma start .\Scripts-Tests\karma.conf.js --reporters teamcity --single-run

So my real question is: "how can one check in a script, if desired version of package installed?". Should you do the check, or it's safe to just call npm -g install everytime?

I don't want to always check and install the latest available version, because other config values may become incompatible

score 747 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 05 '19 at 17:26

747

To check if any module in a project is 'old':

npm outdated

'outdated' will check every module defined in package.json and see if there is a newer version in the NPM registry.

For example, say xml2js 0.2.6 (located in node_modules in the current project) is outdated because a newer version exists (0.2.7). You would see:

xml2js@0.2.7 node_modules/xml2js current=0.2.6

To update all dependencies, if you are confident this is desirable:

npm update

Or, to update a single dependency such as xml2js:

npm update xml2js

edited Oct 05 '19 at 17:26

Ninjakannon

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answered May 13 '13 at 23:40

dublx

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Be careful with `npm update` especially with `npm update -g` ... it does not what most peaole expect it to do! See: https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/6247 and https://gist.github.com/othiym23/4ac31155da23962afd0e – jbandi Dec 23 '14 at 15:10
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@jbandi As of npm@2.6.1, `npm -g update` is safe to use again. https://github.com/npm/npm/issues/6247#issuecomment-92182814 – Chuck Le Butt Jul 06 '16 at 10:03
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Please be aware that npm update will not update your package.json file as stated by the answer from @Erik Olson. – Ehtesham Hasan Oct 26 '17 at 19:00
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`As of npm@5.0.0, 'npm update' will change package.json to save the new version as the minimum required dependency` https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/update.html – Sidney Apr 02 '19 at 20:40
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just did `npm update` on my npm 5.6.0 and it broke all code; luckily I backed up my files before doing that – Armand Jul 18 '20 at 12:18

score 399 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 23 '19 at 13:42

399

npm outdated will identify packages that should be updated, and npm update <package name> can be used to update each package. But prior to npm@5.0.0, npm update <package name> will not update the versions in your package.json which is an issue.

The best workflow is to:

Identify out of date packages
Update the versions in your package.json
Run npm update to install the latest versions of each package

Check out npm-check-updates to help with this workflow.

Install npm-check-updates
Run npm-check-updates to list what packages are out of date (basically the same thing as running npm outdated)
Run npm-check-updates -u to update all the versions in your package.json (this is the magic sauce)
Run npm update as usual to install the new versions of your packages based on the updated package.json

edited Sep 23 '19 at 13:42

Corey

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answered Jun 01 '14 at 13:13

Erik Olson

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`npm outdated` will show ALL packages.. even inside other packages.. but those won't get updated with this procedure so they will always appear.. so just use `npm-check-updates` (as you actually recommended) which only shows main packages from `package.json` ... this is relevant – davidhq Feb 06 '15 at 22:42
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With yarn this is much easier just type 'yarn upgrade'. – Christopher Grigg Apr 09 '18 at 00:06
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Why must I install an update manager to manage my package manager? Do we not agree this is silly? It should be as simple as `npm install --all-outdated` but it isn't... – ADJenks Jan 24 '19 at 05:40
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You can always run `npm update --save package_name` to save the latest change to package.json. – trungk18 Apr 09 '19 at 08:56
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Erik, can you kindly reply [this related SO question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57069622/command-npm-update-vs-package-npm-check-updates), because it's still a bit confusing to me the difference between both commands, that is, `npm update` vs `npm-check-updates`? – João Pimentel Ferreira Jul 17 '19 at 06:22

score 164 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 13 '20 at 21:36

164

There is also a "fresh" module called npm-check:

npm-check

Check for outdated, incorrect, and unused dependencies.

enter image description here

It also provides a convenient interactive way to update the dependencies with npm-check -u.

edited Aug 13 '20 at 21:36

Paolo

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answered Dec 14 '14 at 07:07

alecxe

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score 103 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

103

One easy step:

$ npm i -g npm-check-updates && ncu -u && npm i

That is all. All of the package versions in package.json will be the latest major versions.

Edit:

What is happening here?

Installing a package that checks updates for you.

Use this package to update all package versions in your package.json (-u is short for --updateAll).

Install all of the new versions of the packages.

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

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answered Apr 13 '17 at 18:51

Matt

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@imnickvaughn `ncu` stands for node-check-updates and `-a` is the 'upgradeAll' option. Find all options here: https://www.npmjs.com/package/npm-check-updates – Arian Acosta Jun 05 '18 at 17:09
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And what if I want to do it in one line without using another package like ncu? – ADJenks Jan 24 '19 at 05:37
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Or without the global install, `npx -p npm-check-updates ncu -u` – entozoon Apr 30 '20 at 16:45

score 73 · Answer 5 · edited May 26 '17 at 03:16

To update a single local package:
1. First find out your outdated packages:
  
  npm outdated
2. Then update the package or packages that you want manually as:
  
  npm update --save package_name

This way it is not necessary to update your local package.json file.

Note that this will update your package to the latest version.

If you write some version in your package.json file and do:

npm update package_name

In this case you will get just the next stable version (wanted) regarding the version that you wrote in your package.json file.

And with npm list (package_name) you can find out the current version of your local packages.

Smit Patel · Answer 6 · 2020-05-29T20:20:40.477

NPM commands to update or fix vulnerabilities in some dependency manifest files

Use below command to check outdated or vulnerabilities in your node modules.

npm audit
If any vulnerabilities found, use below command to fix all issues.

npm audit fix
If it doesn't work for you then try

npm audit fix -f, this command will almost fix all vulnerabilities. Some dependencies or devDependencies are locked in package-lock.json file, so we use -f flag to force update them.
If you don't want to use force audit fix then you can manually fix your dependencies versions by changing them in package-lock.json and package.json file. Then run

npm update && npm upgrade

MikeMajara · Answer 7 · 2019-12-19T17:19:08.777

19

No additional packages, to just check outdated and update those which are, this command will do:

npm install $(npm outdated | cut -d' ' -f 1 | sed '1d' | xargs -I '$' echo '$@latest' | xargs echo)

edited Dec 19 '19 at 17:19

answered Mar 28 '19 at 20:51

MikeMajara

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This is a great answer because it can be put in any shell script to automate this step without relying on having any further package installed. – Jankapunkt Mar 18 '20 at 07:44

Long Tran · Answer 8 · 2018-09-11T08:56:07.710

15

Check outdated packages

npm outdated

Check and pick packages to update

npx npm-check -u

npm oudated img

npx npm-check -u img

edited Sep 11 '18 at 08:56

answered Sep 11 '18 at 08:50

Long Tran

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score 6 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 08 '19 at 18:28

As of npm@5.0.0+ you can simply do:

npm update <package name>

This will automatically update the package.json file. We don't have to update the latest version manually and then use npm update <package name>

You can still get the old behavior using

npm update --no-save

(Reference)

score 5 · Answer 10 · answered May 13 '13 at 16:17

When installing npm packages (both globally or locally) you can define a specific version by using the @version syntax to define a version to be installed.

In other words, doing: npm install -g karma@0.9.2 will ensure that only 0.9.2 is installed and won't reinstall if it already exists.

As a word of a advice, I would suggest avoiding global npm installs wherever you can. Many people don't realize that if a dependency defines a bin file, it gets installed to ./node_modules/.bin/. Often, its very easy to use that local version of an installed module that is defined in your package.json. In fact, npm scripts will add the ./node_modules/.bin onto your path.

As an example, here is a package.json that, when I run npm install && npm test will install the version of karma defined in my package.json, and use that version of karma (installed at node_modules/.bin/karma) when running the test script:

{
 "name": "myApp",
 "main": "app.js",
 "scripts": {
   "test": "karma test/*",
 },
 "dependencies": {...},
 "devDependencies": {
   "karma": "0.9.2"
 }
}

This gives you the benefit of your package.json defining the version of karma to use and not having to keep that config globally on your CI box.

what's in the `test` script? Can you please give me a clue how you install it with a script. — iLemming, May 13 '13 at 18:04
Look at the package.json. Under the "scripts" property, you can define another property, "test" whose value is a command you want to be run when you type `npm test`. npm docs are pretty good here: https://npmjs.org/doc/scripts.html — addisonj, May 14 '13 at 17:23

score 2 · Answer 11 · edited Jan 29 '19 at 17:12

2

To really update just one package install NCU and then run it just for that package. This will bump to the real latest.

npm install -g npm-check-updates

ncu -f your-intended-package-name -u

edited Jan 29 '19 at 17:12

Community

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answered Dec 28 '18 at 10:21

regisbsb

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Low quality post, some better explanation would help. – linuxfan says Reinstate Monica Dec 28 '18 at 16:20

score -1 · Answer 12 · answered Apr 24 '21 at 06:01

A very nice approach is to update the version names(version number) of packages in package.json file using,

ncu -u

the above command will update the names(version number) of the packages to the latest version in package.json file and then we just have to install the updated version of all the packages as,

npm install

after this all the packages will be updated to the latest version.

npm check and update package if needed

12 Answers12

NPM commands to update or fix vulnerabilities in some dependency manifest files

Linked