How to install npm in alpine linux

Question

So I can't get to install npm in alpine linux. I thought perhaps I can just do a apk add npm but apparently apk search npm returns nothing, even after a apk update. I'm experimenting with all this from the nginx:alpine docker image, i.e. docker run -it nginx:alpine /bin/sh

Edit 1: I can see how the nodejs:alpine dockerfile builds node, but I don't understand how it builds npm

Edit 2: now that I know that npm gets installed with nodejs on alpine, and just for clarification, the reason this wasn't evident to me at first is that on ubuntu 14.04 a sudo apt-get install nodejs would still require a sudo apt-get install npm (which installs development packages e.g. gcc)

score 205 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 13 '17 at 09:03

205

I had an issue with the apk manager.

The package nodejs is no longer installing NPM (see pkgs.alpinelinux.org) You have to install nodejs-npm

apk add --update nodejs nodejs-npm

edited Aug 13 '17 at 09:03

Panthro

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answered Mar 10 '17 at 10:40

Faisal HUSSAIN

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I do not understand it. Npm should be the core dependency of node, npm install npm@latest might be impacted by the node version itself so they would not be compatible... – dmi3y May 30 '17 at 19:47
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This should be the accepted answer with the latest alpine image. npm was not installed for me with just nodejs – kevinc Jul 29 '17 at 15:35
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Agreed, this is _normally_ a dependency, but if you're installing nodejs manually (I was installing it from the 'edge' repo as well because as of now 6.7 is deprecated) then you need to install nodejs-npm separately Here's what I ran: apk add nodejs=6.11.2-r0 nodejs-npm=6.11.2-r0 --update-cache --repository http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/ --allow-untrusted – Anton Babushkin Aug 22 '17 at 23:53
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Side question: while this answer works just fine, I can't seem to find `nodejs-npm` on https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/packages. There is `npm` package which also does the job. Is it some kind of alias? – Tad Lispy Jul 25 '18 at 14:28
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the correct answer is the correct answer – Stephen Mar 29 '20 at 21:58
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nodejs-npm is no longer available, now it's just "npm" https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/package/v3.14/main/x86_64/npm – BotanMan Jul 07 '21 at 09:33

score 190 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 13 '19 at 07:58

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For the recent versions of Alpine (v3.8+) the correct way to install nodejs with npm is:

apk add --update nodejs npm

However, npm package depends on nodejs, so you can do:

apk add --update npm

Note: since Alpine 3.8 there is no nodejs-npm package.

answered Apr 13 '19 at 07:58

Ruslan Isay

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How do we install a specific version of nodejs? – JollyRoger Oct 29 '20 at 14:26
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@JollyRoger specify the version to the apk command `apk add --update nodejs=12.20.1-r0` – eemelipa Jan 10 '21 at 07:13
@eemelipa Just wanted to note that this is not a good idea when containerizing your application. – S. Saeid Hosseini Jan 12 '22 at 07:43
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@S.SaeidHosseini could you elaborate a bit more why specifying exact version is not good idea with containers? – eemelipa Jan 13 '22 at 10:18
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@eemelipa since not all versions of node.js will be available through alpine repositories forever, you'll need to continuously update your Dockerfile with the latest available version, to docker/CI build errors. – S. Saeid Hosseini Jan 23 '22 at 09:38
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In 2022, `apk add --update nodejs npm` works for me. – Eyong Kevin Enowanyo Jul 25 '22 at 16:01

score 31 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 30 '16 at 21:01

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I could be wrong, but I think npm is actually a dependency of nodejs.

I've never seen any flavor of package manager install npm alone. Always seems to come packaged with yum install nodejs, or apt-get install nodejs, or apk add --update nodejs.

edited Dec 30 '16 at 21:01

Kamil Maciorowski

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answered Dec 30 '16 at 20:50

Joseph Roberts

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this is no longer accepted, as apk does not installs npm by default when installing nodejs – Panthro Aug 12 '17 at 22:52
upvoted just because nobody provided a better answer – Alexander Mills Aug 31 '17 at 01:01
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I believe it is 'apk add --update nodejs-npm' for Alpine 3.6+ – Ali Cheaito Feb 13 '19 at 15:14
`npm` isn't a dependency of `nodejs`. Some using `node` might prefer to use `yarn` instead as package manager. – cefigueiredo Nov 26 '20 at 17:15

score 9 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 06 '17 at 11:39

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apk update && apk add nodejs installed the npm binary for me.

answered Jan 06 '17 at 11:39

John Delaney

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Disputing if something works should include versions of things... – Eric Swanson Jan 03 '19 at 22:00

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 01 '17 at 23:14

The issue here is a recent one and is due to changes in Alpine's package repositories between v3.5 and v3.6 or edge.

In v3.5 nodejs included npm In v3.6 nodesjs does not include npm and the new nodejs-npm package exists.

See here for Alpine packages. To see what version of packages you are pulling from look at the contents of /etc/apk/repositories

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 20 '17 at 04:04

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npm comes hand in hand with nodejs. In the case you cant install node with apk add nodejs, you need fix that first. Step 1 - do you have the community repo added to your /etc/apk/repositories list? If not, it is very useful to do so. Further details: https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Enable_Community_Repository

answered Sep 20 '17 at 04:04

vizmi

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Can you explain the down vote? – vizmi Sep 20 '17 at 04:20

score 3 · Answer 7 · edited Aug 09 '22 at 11:37

I could successfully install nodejs and npm in alpine Linux with the below commands. Added benefit for this method is we can choose different node version with nvm

apk add -U curl bash ca-certificates openssl ncurses coreutils python2 make gcc g++ libgcc linux-headers grep util-linux binutils findutils

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.1/install.sh | bash

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"

[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"

nvm install -s <version>

For reference visit here

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 22 '19 at 17:40

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I have just had to this and can confirm that npm is not a dependency of node.js (at least right now on alpine) and must be installed seperately

i.e apk add --update npm

answered Jul 22 '19 at 17:40

0xsegfault

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Aug 16 '23 at 18:07

I needed latest/current node (v20 at time of writing), but right now I only see node v18 on https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/packages?name=nodejs&branch=edge&repo=&arch=&maintainer=

However, digging around nodejs.org download options, I found this:

apk add --update nodejs-current npm

NOTE: nodejs-current doesn't seem to include npm, so I needed to add npm to end of the command.

How to install npm in alpine linux

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