The error message “your cache folder contains root-owned files, due to a bug in npm err! previous versions of npm which has since been addressed” indicates that there is a bug in previous versions of npm that caused root-owned files to be present in your cache folder.
The cache folder in npm is used to store various dependencies, modules, and other files fetched from the internet during the package installation process. It is usually located at “~/.npm” for Unix-based systems or “%APPDATA%/npm-cache” for Windows systems.
The bug in previous versions of npm allowed these files to be owned by the root user instead of the regular user. This can cause permission issues and unexpected behavior when you try to use npm with your regular user privileges.
To resolve this issue, you can follow the steps below:
- Open your command line or terminal.
- Change to your home directory by running the command
cd. - Remove the cache folder by running the command
rm -rf .npmfor Unix-based systems orrmdir /s %APPDATA%/npm-cachefor Windows systems. - Reinstall npm by following the official installation instructions specific to your operating system.
After reinstalling npm, the bug should be fixed and the cache folder will be properly owned by your regular user. You should no longer encounter the error message mentioned.
Here is an example of removing the cache folder for Unix-based systems:
cd ~
rm -rf .npm
And here is an example for Windows systems:
cd %HOMEPATH%
rmdir /s %APPDATA%/npm-cache