How to install the xPack prerequisites

Overview

All xPack Core Tools are Node.js CLI application available from the npmjs.com public repository and are installed via npm which uses Node.

Prerequisites

A recent Node.js (>=12.x), since some dependencies require new features. Detailed instructions for each supported platform are available in the next section.

$ node --version
v16.14.2

If this is your first encounter with npm, you need to install the Node.js JavaScript run-time. The process is straightforward and does not pollute the system locations significantly; there are two Node versions, LTS (Long Term Service) and Current; generally it is safer to use LTS, especially on Windows.

The Node Download page

The general procedure is to download the package suitable for your platform and install it as usual. For GNU/Linux and macOS, the recommended procedure is to use a version manager (see below). The result is a binary program named node (that can be used to execute JavaScript code from the terminal), and a symbolic link named npm, pointing to the npm-cli.js script, which is part of the Node module that implements the npm functionality (on Windows, where symbolic links are problematic, .cmd stubs are used).

Tip: Due to a misconception, some distributions offer to install Node with administrative rights; this is not a problem for Node itself, but will also require administrative rights for using npm and xpm; to simplify maintenance, the preferred method is to install Node/npm in a custom location in the home folder, using a version manager or by directly unpacking the archive distributions. Regardless how and where it is installed, the node executable must be in the curent path.

Manual install

`node` install

Download the Windows Installer (.msi) from the Node.js download page and install it as usual, with administrative rights.

Tip: If you are using a 64-bit machine, download the node-v*-x64.msi file.

The result is a folder like C:\Program Files\nodejs, added to the system path since it includes the node.exe binary.

C:\>where node.exe
C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe
C:\>node --version
v16.14.2

`npm` update

A version of npm, usually a bit older, comes packed with Node.

C:\>where npm.cmd
C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd
C:\>npm --version
16.14.2

It is recommended to update it to the latest version:

C:\>npm install --global npm@latest
C:\Users\ilg\AppData\Roaming\npm\npm -> C:\Users\ilg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\bin\npm-cli.js
C:\Users\ilg\AppData\Roaming\npm\npx -> C:\Users\ilg\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\bin\npx-cli.js
+ npm@8.6.0
added 435 packages from 816 contributors in 72.64s

Surprisingly, checking the version usually shows the old version:

C:\>where npm.cmd
C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd
C:\>npm --version
16.14.2

This is because on Windows, by default, global node packages are installed in the user home folder, in %APPDATA%\npm (like C:\Users\ilg\AppData\Roaming\npm); and this path is not in the default environment.

C:\>echo %Path%

It must be added manually in front of the current path:

C:\>set Path=%APPDATA%\npm;%Path%

To make this setting persistent, also issue the following:

C:\>setx Path "%APPDATA%\npm;%Path%"

Note: Please note the syntax differences, no equal sign and double quotes, specific to setx but harmful to set.

Note: These commands are valid when using the cmd.exe terminal; for PowerShell or other terminals, please adjust the syntax to match their specifics.

After this, the new version of the program should be visible:

C:\>npm --version
8.6.0

Git

Although not mandatory for using the xPack tools alone, on Windows it is recommended to also install the Git for Windows package.

The xPack Core Tools can run either in the Windows cmd.exe terminal, or in the Git shell terminal.

PowerShell Execution Policies

Recent Windows versions use PowerShell, which has a more restrictive execution policy intended to prevent the execution of malicious scripts; unfortunatelly this also prevents the execution of node.js applications.

If you get a message in the console as the one below:

xpm : File C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\npm\xpm.ps1 cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system. For more information, see about_Execution_Policies at
https:/go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170.
At line:1 char:1
+ xpm init --template @xpack/hello-world-template@latest --property lan ...
+ ~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : SecurityError: (:) [], PSSecurityException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess
The terminal process "C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -Command xpm init --template @xpack/hello-world-template@latest --property language

then run the following command in a PowerShell terminal:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope CurrentUser

For more details please read the Microsoft about_Execution_Policies page.

TL;DR

If you prefer a shortcut, copy/paste the following script into a terminal:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xpack/assets/master/scripts/install-nvm-node-npm-xpm.sh | bash

exit

Command Line Tools

The system C/C++ headers and most development tools are not in the standard macOS distribution, and need to be installed separately; they are provided by Apple as the separate Command Line Tools package.

If you followed the TL;DR steps, it was already installed. Otherwise, to install the Command Line Tools only if they are not already in the expected location, use:

if [ ! -d "/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/" ]
then
  xcode-select --install
fi

Note: Please note that although the C/C++ headers are also part of Xcode, their location is not fixed, hence the Command Line Tools package must still be installed, for the xPack toolchains to find them in the expected location.

Install `nvm` (node version manager)

Node.js can be installed manually, but for a greater flexibility, on POSIX platforms it is possible to automate this process by using nvm, which not only simplifies the install procedure, but also allows advanced users to install multiple versions of Node.js in parallel. For details, see the Using a Version Manager to install Node.js and npm page.

In short, nvm changes the install location to ~/.nvm and allows to install multiple instances of node in the ~/.nvm/versions/node folder.

If you have a previous version of npm installed with a local prefix, remove it:

npm config delete prefix
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/node-modules /usr/local/bin/node /usr/local/bin/npm /usr/local/bin/npm
rm -rf ~/Library/npm ~/opt/npm

Also remove ${HOME}/Library/npm/bin or ${HOME}/opt/npm/bin from the PATH.

When everything is clean, run the install script:

touch ~/.zshrc

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

This will install the version manager in ~/.nvm, and add a few lines to the shell profile (.zshrc, which must be present).

Warning: Please note that without these shell settings nvm is not functional.

To install the latest node, after updating the shell profile, open a new terminal (to make use of the new environment variables) and issue the following:

$ nvm install --lts node
Downloading and installing node v16.14.2...
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v12.13.0/node-v12.13.0-darwin-x64.tar.gz...
######################################################################## 100.0%
Computing checksum with shasum -a 256
Checksums matched!
Creating default alias: default -> lts/* (-> v12.13.0)

$ nvm ls
->     v12.13.0
         system
default -> lts/* (-> v12.13.0)
node -> stable (-> v12.13.0) (default)
stable -> 12.13 (-> v12.13.0) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/erbium (-> v12.13.0)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.16.2 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.17.0 (-> N/A)
lts/erbium -> v12.13.0

$ nvm use node
Now using node v12.13.0 (npm v6.12.1)

$ node --version
v12.13.0

$ nvm install-latest-npm
Attempting to upgrade to the latest working version of npm...
* Installing latest `npm`; if this does not work on your node version, please report a bug!
/Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/bin/npm -> /Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js
/Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/bin/npx -> /Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npx-cli.js
+ npm@6.13.0
added 2 packages from 2 contributors, removed 2 packages and updated 15 packages in 3.293s
* npm upgraded to: v6.13.0

$ which npm
/Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/bin/npm

Note: Please note that this will install the latest LTS version; to install the very latest Current version, remove the --lts option.

To explicitly install a previous version and to switch to it:

$ nvm install 10
Downloading and installing node v10.17.0...
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v10.17.0/node-v10.17.0-darwin-x64.tar.gz...
######################################################################## 100.0%
Computing checksum with shasum -a 256
Checksums matched!
Now using node v10.17.0 (npm v6.11.3)

$ nvm ls
nvm ls
->     v10.17.0
       v12.13.0
         system
default -> lts/* (-> v12.13.0)
node -> stable (-> v12.13.0) (default)
stable -> 12.13 (-> v12.13.0) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/erbium (-> v12.13.0)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.16.2 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.17.0
lts/erbium -> v12.13.0

$ nvm use 10
Now using node v10.17.0 (npm v6.11.3)

$ node --version
v10.17.0

$ nvm install-latest-npm
Attempting to upgrade to the latest working version of npm...
* Installing latest `npm`; if this does not work on your node version, please report a bug!
/Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/bin/npm -> /Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js
/Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/bin/npx -> /Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npx-cli.js
+ npm@6.13.0
added 3 packages from 2 contributors, removed 3 packages and updated 20 packages in 3.081s
* npm upgraded to: v6.13.0

$ which npm
/Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/bin/npm

At any time, to switch between any of the installed versions, use nvm use <version>.

TL;DR

If you prefer a shortcut, copy/paste the following script into a terminal:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xpack/assets/master/scripts/install-nvm-node-npm-xpm.sh | bash

exit

Note: The official Node.js distribution no longer provides Intel 32-bit images. The version manager is still able to install node, by compiling it from sources, but the process takes quite a while.

Note: Arm platforms, like the Raspberry Pi, are supported, currently in both 32/64-bit variants.

Install `nvm` (node version manager)

In short, nvm changes the install location to ~/.nvm and allows to install multiple instances of node in the ~/.nvm/versions/node folder.

If you have a previous version of npm installed with a local prefix, remove it:

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/nodejs
rm -rf ~/opt/npm
npm config delete prefix

Also remove ${HOME}/opt/npm/bin from the PATH.

When everything is clean, run the install script:

$ curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/master/install.sh | bash

This will install the version manager in ~/.nvm, and add a few lines to the shell profile, for example to .bash_profile on most distributions.

To install the latest node, after updating the shell profile, open a new terminal (to make use of the new environment variables) and issue the following:

$ nvm install --lts node
Downloading and installing node v12.13.0...
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v12.13.0/node-v12.13.0-linux-x64.tar.xz...
####################################################################################################################### 100.0%
Computing checksum with sha256sum
Checksums matched!
Creating default alias: default -> lts/* (-> v12.13.0)

$ nvm ls
->     v12.13.0
         system
default -> lts/* (-> v12.13.0)
node -> stable (-> v12.13.0) (default)
stable -> 12.13 (-> v12.13.0) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/erbium (-> v12.13.0)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.16.2 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.17.0 (-> N/A)
lts/erbium -> v12.13.0

$ nvm use node
Now using node v12.13.0 (npm v6.12.0)

$ node --version
v12.13.0

$ nvm install-latest-npm
Attempting to upgrade to the latest working version of npm...
* Installing latest `npm`; if this does not work on your node version, please report a bug!
/home/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/bin/npm -> /home/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js
/home/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/bin/npx -> /home/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npx-cli.js
+ npm@6.13.0
added 2 packages from 2 contributors, removed 2 packages and updated 15 packages in 8.68s
* npm upgraded to: v6.13.0

$ which npm
/home/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v12.13.0/bin/npm

Note: Please note that this will install the latest LTS version; to install the very latest Current version, remove the --lts option.

To explicitly install a previous version and to switch to it:

$ nvm install 10
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v10.17.0/node-v10.17.0-linux-x64.tar.xz...
####################################################################################################################### 100.0%
Computing checksum with sha256sum
Checksums matched!
Now using node v10.17.0 (npm v6.11.3)

$ nvm ls
->     v10.17.0
       v12.13.0
         system
default -> lts/* (-> v12.13.0)
node -> stable (-> v12.13.0) (default)
stable -> 12.13 (-> v12.13.0) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/erbium (-> v12.13.0)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.16.2 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.17.0
lts/erbium -> v12.13.0

$ nvm use 10
Now using node v10.17.0 (npm v6.11.3)

$ node --version
v10.17.0

$ nvm install-latest-npm
Attempting to upgrade to the latest working version of npm...
* Installing latest `npm`; if this does not work on your node version, please report a bug!
/Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/bin/npm -> /Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js
/Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/bin/npx -> /Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npx-cli.js
+ npm@6.13.0
added 3 packages from 2 contributors, removed 3 packages and updated 20 packages in 3.081s
* npm upgraded to: v6.13.0

$ which npm
/Users/ilg/.nvm/versions/node/v10.17.0/bin/npm

At any time, to switch between any of the installed versions, use nvm use <version>.

Note: These commands were tested with bash on Ubuntu 18 LTS and Manjaro 18; for other shells they may need small adjustments.

The GCC development headers and libraries

Although not a requirement for the node/npm/xpm tools themselves, if the xPack toolchains are used for software development, including for running tests, the system C/C++ headers and libraries will be needed.

Install them according to the distribution specifics.

Install xpm

The next step is to install the xPack Project Manager.

If you followed the TL;DR steps, it was already installed. Otherwise, if you already know what this is all about, issue the following command:

npm install --global xpm@latest

Miscellaneous

The official page explaining how to install npm in a custom folder is Resolving EACCES permissions errors when installing packages globally.

For less common platforms, it is also posible to install from unofficial builds, or to build it from sources; for more details see the downloads page.

Comments on the content of this page that might be useful for other readers are welcomed here. For question and general support, please use the project forums.

How to install the xPack prerequisites

Overview

Prerequisites

Manual install

node install

npm update

Git

PowerShell Execution Policies

TL;DR

Command Line Tools

Install nvm (node version manager)

TL;DR

Install nvm (node version manager)

The GCC development headers and libraries

Install xpm

Miscellaneous

`node` install

`npm` update

Install `nvm` (node version manager)

Install `nvm` (node version manager)