problem about installing nvm on ubuntu 1310

[amdoing]

I tried to install nvm on ubuntu 1310. first I run command below:
curl https://raw.github.com/creationix/nvm/v0.4.0/install.sh | sh

and then i activated nvm:
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

intsalled nodejs:
nvm install 0.10

finally I could use node normal. but after i had restarted system, the nvm didn't work,when run command such as "nvm ls", i got error prompt:

user@ubuntu:~$ nvm ls
sbin
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/usr/sbin/alias’: Permission denied

[ljharb]

i'm not familiar with "sbin". What shell are you using?

[amdoing]

It's bash which is default shell on ubuntu.and Thanks for reply.

[koenpunt]

You did activate nvm after you restarted? Because source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh has to run in every instance of the shell you use, thus the recommendation to add it to your .profile or alike.

[vicnala]

Hi!,

I think I have the same problem. In Ubuntu 14.04 I run:

git clone https://github.com/creationix/nvm.git ~/.nvm

And then I add source $HOME/.nvm/nvm.sh to .bashrc, restart shell and run:

$ echo $NVM_DIR 
/usr/sbin

Then nvm install (and others) command fails due permission errors.

I think the NVM_DIR env variable is setting wrong.

If I add export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm" just before the source ... line in .bashrc, the install (and all the other) commands works as expected.

I have to add a nvm use ... in .bashrc to enable at least one version when shell starts (because there is none by default).

Recap: I have to add 3 lines to my .bashrc in Ubuntu:

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
source $HOME/.nvm/nvm.sh
nvm use 0.11

[ljharb]

@vicnala can you use the install script? ./install.sh in the cloned repo.

[vicnala]

Hi @ljharb, the ./install.sh works fine setting NVM_DIR.

I only have to move the line added from .profile to .bashrc (I think Ubuntu does not load it).

Thanks!

[inetufo]

+1 ubuntu 12.04 echo $NVM_DIR is /usr/sbin, don't know why.

[inetufo]

use ./install.sh still gets the $NVM_DIR to /usr/sbin.It's very weird

[koenpunt]

what does the line in your .profile look like?

[pervezfunctor]

This problem still persists for me. $NVM_DIR is /usr/sbin. The line in my .profile
[ -s "/home/pervez/.nvm/nvm.sh" ] && . "/home/pervez/.nvm/nvm.sh"

[pau4o]

Similar problem in Debian after fresh install.
In my case error is:

nvm ls
        gdm3
mkdir: cannot create directory '/etc/gdm3/alias': Permission denied

And $NVM_DIR is incorrectly set to /etc/gdm3

[koenpunt]

A temporary fix would be to add export NVM_DIR=/home/pervez/.nvm to your profile before the source line:

export NVM_DIR=/home/pervez/.nvm
[ -s "/home/pervez/.nvm/nvm.sh" ] && . "/home/pervez/.nvm/nvm.sh"

But it seems that directory discovery is not working correctly in all shells...

[igregson]

Was having this same problem on a fresh install of Elementary OS Luna. Adding the "temporary fix" @koenpunt suggests did the trick (though it required a reboot).

[ghost]

I've implemented the solution vicnala suggested and have since rebooted. But I still have to run source ~/.profile every time I open a terminal window to get nvm working. Weird.

[hokkaido]

Just as an information, I think most of these problems probably come from the fact that people are using Ubuntu's standard Gnome Terminal.

Gnome Terminal does not run bash as a login shell by default, and as such .profile is ignored by bash.

So you either put the information into .bashrc or you tell Gnome Terminal to run bash as a login shell (See the first link below). If you tell Gnome Terminal to run bash as a login shell, .bashrc won't be read. Of course there are options to circumvent this behavior: the second and third link below provide some answers.

More info:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/279180/nvm-command-not-found-issue
http://askubuntu.com/questions/132276/configure-gnome-terminal-to-start-bash-as-a-login-shell-doesnt-read-bashrc
http://askubuntu.com/questions/121073/why-bash-profile-is-not-getting-sourced-when-opening-a-terminal

[creationix]

I usually use ubuntu with gnome-terminal when in linux, but then again, I always manually added the line to my .bashrc instead of using the installer script. I can see how this would be for a problem for people who don't know .profile doesn't get run.

[lesterzone]

What about:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.24.1/install.sh | bash
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
nvm install v0.12.2
nvm alias default v0.12.2
nvm use v0.12.2

[ljharb]

That will work, except you'll need to source nvm.sh in the appropriate profile file, if you're not already.

[typefish]

Ok, so I finally figured out the problem - I wasn't running nvm use stable after installing node. To test I removed the PATH stuff from .profile and then ran nvm use stable and it automatically added the path. I don't know if it is suppose to or not but nvm could run this when you install node for the first time.

Thanks

[ljharb]

@jasonabullard you may also wish to use nvm alias default stable which will auto-use for you.

[crtormen]

I'm having the same problem.
First my shell wasnt recognizing nvm command, so I added the line
<[[ -s /home/$USER/.nvm/nvm.sh ]] && . /home/$USER/.nvm/nvm.sh>
to my .bashrc, restarted console, and then it recognize nvm command.
But now, when I try <nvm install> or <nvm alias> commands, it output this:
mkdir: it's not possible create dir “/home/crtormen/.nvm/bin/node-v5.1.0-linux-x64”: Permission denied

obs: <echo $NVM_DIR> is correctly outputing "/home/crtormen/.nvm"

Anybody could help me?

[ljharb]

@crtormen you should have full permissions and ownership on everything inside $HOME - perhaps ensure that these are correct?

[ljharb]

Closing this for now - happy to reopen if more debug or repro info can be provided.