Question

8

How can I completely reverse all changes by npm in Ubuntu

rated 0 times [ 8] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 1703 / 3 Years ago, wed, may 5, 2021, 8:49:48

The Question is similar to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11177954/how-do-i-completely-uninstall-node-js-and-reinstall-from-beginning-mac-os-x but for Ubuntu, and mainly concerns the cleanup part.

Installation was done as usual by: sudo apt-get install node, however I later used the npm command to install multiple packages as more than one users.

How do I completely remove npm along with all libraries, packages and any other files installed by npm on my system by e.g. npm install -g @vue/cli? I would probably have to uninstall from apt, but the main question has to do with all the changes npm did.

Notes:

I am on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS npm version 7.5.6 if that matters

As there seems to be some fights about people uninstalling npm going on currently, please do not downvote just because I want to uninstall, I plan to reinstall :)

Edit-Reminder to future self and others:
For reinstalling without sudo , a link with recipes can be found here. It is still unclear to me what's best but https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10081293/install-npm-into-home-directory-with-distribution-nodejs-package-ubuntu on the other hand there is README.md#debinstall so possibly use apt to install node, then use prefix...

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answered 3 Years ago bunsistent · Accepted Answer

This will be messy ...

The simplest solution that I have found to this problem when trying to "fix" a broken development server that couldn't be formatted and rebuilt from scratch due to "management" is this:

remove the globally installed packages

delete the locally installed packages from the various /home directories and /root

remove Node

Here's the basic process:

Open Terminal (if it's not already open) or SSH into the machine (if you don't have physical access)

List all globally installed packages:
```
npm list -g --depth 0
```

Uninstall the global packages one by one with:
```
sudo npm uninstall -g <package-name>
```
If you'd like to also do this for locally installed packages from your account, you can do this:
```
npm list

npm uninstall -S <package-name>
```
The -S flag will also remove the reference in your package.json file

Remove the following directories:
⇢ /etc/npmrc
⇢ /home/youruser/.npmrc
⇢ /root/.npmrc
⇢ ./.npmrc in any project directory next to package.json (search by using locate .npmrc)

Remove the Node package:

sudo apt remove nodejs --purge  

sudo apt remove npm --purge

Finally, remove the straggling files and directories:

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/npm  

            /usr/local/share/man/man1/node* 

            /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d 

            ~/.npm 

            ~/.node-gyp 

            /opt/local/bin/node 

            /opt/local/include/node 

            /opt/local/lib/node_modules

... and the modules:

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/node*

... and the include modules:

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/include/node*

... and the files in the local /bin:

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/node*

Enjoy a 15-minute break, because you're done

At this point, you can reinstall Node and its package manager if you wish to start over with a clean slate.