npm prune bad PATH? Failed to exec install script - npm

Question

When I run npm prune I get the following (verbose) error
npm info lifecycle elm#0.19.0-bugfix2~install: elm#0.19.0-bugfix2
> elm#0.19.0-bugfix2 install node_modules/elm
> binwrap-install
sh: 1: binwrap-install: not found
npm verb lifecycle elm#0.19.0-bugfix2~install: unsafe-perm in lifecycle true
npm verb lifecycle elm#0.19.0-bugfix2~install: PATH: /tmp/build/.heroku/node/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-lifecycle/node-gyp-bin:/tmp/build/apps/web/node_modules/elm/node_modules/.bin:/tmp/build/.heroku/node/bin:/tmp/build/.platform_tools:/tmp/build/.platform_tools/erlang/bin:/tmp/build/.platform_tools/elixir/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
npm verb lifecycle elm#0.19.0-bugfix2~install: CWD: node_modules/elm
npm info lifecycle elm#0.19.0-bugfix2~install: Failed to exec install script
npm timing action:install Completed in 79ms
npm verb unlock done using /app/.npm/_locks/staging-4628ace6b39e4e32.lock for /tmp/build/apps/web/node_modules/.staging
npm timing stage:rollbackFailedOptional Completed in 62ms
npm timing stage:runTopLevelLifecycles Completed in 6364ms
npm WARN optional SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: fsevents#1.2.4 (node_modules/fsevents):
npm WARN notsup SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Unsupported platform for fsevents#1.2.4: wanted {"os":"darwin","arch":"any"} (current: {"os":"linux","arch":"x64"})
npm verb notsup SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Valid OS: darwin
npm verb notsup SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Valid Arch: any
npm verb notsup SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Actual OS: linux
npm verb notsup SKIPPING OPTIONAL DEPENDENCY: Actual Arch: x64
npm verb stack Error: elm#0.19.0-bugfix2 install: `binwrap-install`
npm verb stack spawn ENOENT
npm verb stack at ChildProcess.<anonymous> (/tmp/build/.heroku/node/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/npm-lifecycle/lib/spawn.js:48:18)
npm verb stack at ChildProcess.emit (events.js:182:13)
npm verb stack at maybeClose (internal/child_process.js:961:16)
npm verb stack at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (internal/child_process.js:248:5)
npm verb pkgid elm#0.19.0-bugfix2
npm verb cwd /tmp/build/apps/web
npm verb Linux 4.15.0-36-generic
npm verb argv "/tmp/build/.heroku/node/bin/node" "/tmp/build/.heroku/node/bin/npm" "prune" "--verbose"
npm verb node v10.7.0
npm verb npm v6.1.0
npm ERR! file sh
npm ERR! code ELIFECYCLE
npm ERR! errno ENOENT
npm ERR! syscall spawn
npm ERR! elm#0.19.0-bugfix2 install: `binwrap-install`
npm ERR! spawn ENOENT
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Failed at the elm#0.19.0-bugfix2 install script.
npm ERR! This is probably not a problem with npm. There is likely additional logging output above.
npm verb exit [ 1, true ]
npm timing npm Completed in 6866ms
It can't find binwrap-install and I think it's because the PATH is incorrect. I verified that the binary exists here.
ls -l node_modules/.bin/binwrap-install
lrwxrwxrwx 1 js js 30 Nov 9 23:48 node_modules/.bin/binwrap-install -> ../binwrap/bin/binwrap-install
But, the PATH in the error output above does not include
node_modules/.bin
Instead it includes
node_modules/elm/node_modules/.bin
Higher up in the verbose logging, I saw this which might be relevant.
npm info linkStuff binwrap#0.2.0
npm verb linkBins [ { 'binwrap-install': 'bin/binwrap-install',
npm verb linkBins 'binwrap-prepare': 'bin/binwrap-prepare',
npm verb linkBins 'binwrap-test': 'bin/binwrap-test' },
npm verb linkBins '/tmp/build/apps/web/node_modules/elm-format/node_modules/.bin',
npm verb linkBins false ]
npm info linkStuff fstream#0.1.31
npm info linkStuff unzip#0.1.11
npm info linkStuff binwrap#0.1.4
npm verb linkBins [ { 'binwrap-install': 'bin/binwrap-install',
npm verb linkBins 'binwrap-test': 'bin/binwrap-test' },
npm verb linkBins '/tmp/build/apps/web/node_modules/.bin',
npm verb linkBins false ]
Is this expected behavior or is it a bug somewhere? Is there something I can do to make the PATH for npm prune include the node_modules/.bin folder?

Answer 1

Try switching to Elm 0.19.1.
I was having this same issue and now with Elm 0.19.1 it seems to have stopped happening. The latest npm installer no longer relies on binwrap, which I think may have been the issue.

Answer 2

My initial command was:
$ sudo npm install elm -g
The log was:
npm ERR! elm#0.19.0-bugfix2 install: binwrap-install
I attempted to remove npm.
Then I took a drastic measure:
$ cd /usr/local/lib
$ sudo rm -R node_modules
Then:
$ sudo apt install npm
Then:
$ sudo apt install elm -g
I now have elm 0.19.0 installed.