On EC2: sudo node command not found, but node without sudo is ok

Question

I have just installed nodejs on a new EC2 micro instance.

I installed it normally, ./configure -> make -> sudo make install.

Problem: When I run "node" under ec2-user, it runs perfectly. When I run "sudo node", it fails.

I found out that node is in:

[ec2-user@XXXX ~]$ whereis node
node: /usr/local/bin/node /usr/local/lib/node

and the current path is

[ec2-user@XXXX ~]$ echo $PATH
/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/opt/aws/bin:/home/ec2-user/bin

but, the sudo path is

[root@ip-10-112-222-32 ~]# echo $PATH
/usr/local/sbin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/opt/aws/bin:/root/bin

then I tried to edit the root PATH to include the paths to node, so "node" runs when I'm logged in as root - but it still won't work when I log in as ec2-user and run "sudo node".

I need this to install npm properfly. Any idea on how to include the node path while running "sudo node"?

After much trying, I did this and it works:
sudo su export PATH=$PATH:usr/local/node/ curl http://npmjs.org/install.sh | sh — , Jun 20 '11 at 14:20

score 322 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 21 '11 at 05:38

322

Yes, it is a bit annoying but you can fix it with some links:

sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/node /usr/bin/node
sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/node /usr/lib/node
sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/npm /usr/bin/npm
sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/node-waf /usr/bin/node-waf

There might be more but that is all I have run across so far. Lack of node-waf will cause some npm installs to fail with a rather cryptic error message.

answered Feb 21 '11 at 05:38

Michael Dillon

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I am just curious, does this linking has to be done only in Amazon AMI system? Does Amazon AMI system separate root path from user path? – user482594 Feb 22 '12 at 20:45
Lack of `node-waf` causes `npm rebuild` to error out. Is there a clean way to remedy this? Do I need to? – user730569 Jun 06 '12 at 02:34
1

This didn't work for me for a couple reasons. 1) I don't have sudo access. I'm on a shared host. 2) `/usr/local` doesn't exist. I made a directory ~/local, though. 3) After removing `/usr` and `sudo` from each of these lines of code and running them through my console, nothing had changed. – Wolfpack'08 Jul 05 '13 at 22:15
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That was helpfull. But can anybody expalin why and how it gets things working ? – Tarun Gupta Dec 27 '13 at 07:02
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@Tarun: read up on the shell's PATH variable and how it is used to find which binary to execute for any given command. The ln command just links a second name to the same file. – Michael Dillon Dec 27 '13 at 08:01
Thanks @MichaelDillon. "ln" means giving a another link for the a path. right? – Tarun Gupta Dec 28 '13 at 04:52
Helped me with similar issue with composer on an EC" instance. Installed globally `composer self-update` gave permissions error `[ErrorException] rename(/home/ec2-user/.composer/cache/composer-temp.phar,/usr/local/bin/composer): Permission denied` BUT sudo composer self-update couldn't find composer. Adding link as suggested worked a treat. – Tofuwarrior May 13 '15 at 09:10
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I'm using Amazon Linux. Is the line 'sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/node /usr/lib/node' meant to be 'sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/node_modules /usr/lib/node_modules'? – stevejay Jul 18 '15 at 12:45
Woah! Saved my life (Y) – softvar Jan 24 '16 at 21:10
I wish I could upvote this twice, I've been using it several times within 2 days – christophetd Mar 22 '16 at 16:16
`sudo ln -s $(which node) /usr/bin/node` if you're afraid of typos and you use nvm like me. I also added the `sudo ln -s /path/to/lib/node_modules /usr/lib/node_modules` and `sudo ln -s $(which npx) /usr/bin/npx` symlinks to be safe. – Stardust Feb 02 '21 at 05:56

score 33 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 02 '14 at 19:10

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I added /usr/local/bin to secure_path in /etc/sudoers

$ sudo visudo

Then change this line:

Defaults    secure_path = /sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

To:

Defaults    secure_path = /sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin

answered Jan 02 '14 at 19:10

Jack Frost

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Jeff Pal · Answer 3 · 2018-02-03T22:38:54.197

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it happens because the node executable is not found in /usr/bin. So follow the steps:

find node:

whereis node

in my case: node: /home/<my_user>/.nvm/versions/node/v8.9.4/bin/node

make a symbolic link for node:

sudo ln -s /home/<my_user>/.nvm/versions/node/v8.9.4/bin/node /usr/bin/node

It's done!

edited Feb 03 '18 at 22:38

answered Jan 31 '18 at 00:42

Jeff Pal

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great tip - I also did `sudo ln -s /home/ec2-user/.nvm/versions/node/v8.11.3/bin/npm /usr/bin/npm` as I was trying to do sudo `npm install` on my aws ec2 instance after following [link](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-javascript/v2/developer-guide/setting-up-node-on-ec2-instance.html) – NULL pointer Aug 14 '18 at 06:10

score 12 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 16 '11 at 06:03

12

Why not use the absolute path to node? If you planning to use an upstart script it is going to need an absolute path anyways.

sudo /usr/local/bin/node server.js

answered Feb 16 '11 at 06:03

Shripad Krishna

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best solution, works and doesn't mess with the system like all `ln` solutions do. – SidOfc May 21 '20 at 16:27
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Seems to be the only solution that works – KylianMbappe Dec 20 '20 at 18:35

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 09 '17 at 09:33

5

You could pass full path to node executable from parent (non-sudo shell) using which command.

sudo `which node`

answered Feb 09 '17 at 09:33

Pavel Zubkou

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score 5 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 12 '11 at 14:51

5

try the following:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin
sudo node --version

answered Feb 12 '11 at 14:51

Amro

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Won't work for distributions which has `secure_path` set in `sudoers` file. – kenorb Dec 24 '15 at 17:53

score 4 · Answer 7 · answered Feb 26 '13 at 11:23

For me, it worked to just change ownership of node folder from root to ec2-user (logged in as ec2-user).

(Note: I created my node folder in /var/lib/)

sudo chown -R ec2-user /var/lib/node/

Then

npm install mongojs

should work fine (provided you have installed npm ok of course!)

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 25 '19 at 12:43

3

How about using "sudo $(which node)" instead of "sudo node" ?

answered Jan 25 '19 at 12:43

Will Voelcker

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score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Feb 21 '12 at 04:48

Here's an approach that doesn't use symlinks, or require root:

$ git clone https://github.com/joyent/node.git
$ cd node
$ mkdir ~/opt
$ export PREFIX=~/opt; ./configure
$ make
$ make install
$ echo 'export PATH=~/opt/bin:${PATH}' >> ~/.bashrc

Then I did:

$ git clone https://github.com/isaacs/npm.git
$ cd npm
$ make install

The benefits of not running node as root are discussed here:

http://increaseyourgeek.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/install-node-js-without-using-sudo/

Its inline with:

https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/Installation

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 26 '17 at 04:47

1

In my case, Node was installed without sudo prefix. So node was unavailable for the superuser that why it is not working sudo node server

answered Oct 26 '17 at 04:47

shubham

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score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 11 '20 at 20:24

0

Enter as root with

sudo su

and then do standard steps

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.34.0/install.sh | bash
. ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
nvm install node
node -e "console.log('Running Node.js ' + process.version)"

answered Aug 11 '20 at 20:24

Baimyrza Shamyr

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered May 24 '21 at 12:03

This is what I did to solve a similar issue. Note: I had installed node via snap.

Step 1: Install node via snap

sudo snap install node --classic

Step 2: Find where node has been installed

whereis node

In my case

/snap/bin/node.npm 
/snap/bin/node.npx 
/snap/bin/node.yarn 
/snap/bin/node 
/snap/bin/node.yarnpkg

Step 3: Create symbolic links to node, npm, npx and yarn

sudo ln -s /snap/bin/yarn /usr/bin/yarn
sudo ln -s /snap/bin/node /usr/bin/node
sudo ln -s /snap/bin/npm /usr/bin/npm

Finally node is accessible for all users, even sudo group

sudo node

score -1 · Answer 13 · answered Mar 22 '11 at 20:22

I don't know if this is the right way, but this is what i did...

sudo su
export PATH=$PATH:/home/ec2-user/local/node/bin
curl http://npmjs.org/install.sh | sh
chown -R ec2-user /home/ec2-user/local/node
exit

This installed npm, and I can now install any packages I want.

On EC2: sudo node command not found, but node without sudo is ok

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