Updating npm's bundled node gyp

npm bundles its own, internal, copy of node-gyp. This internal copy is independent of any globally installed copy of node-gyp that you may have installed via npm install -g node-gyp.

This means that while node-gyp doesn't get installed into your $PATH by default, npm still keeps its own copy to invoke when you attempt to npm install a native add-on.

Sometimes, you may need to update npm's internal node-gyp to a newer version than what is installed. A simple npm install -g node-gyp won't do the trick since npm will still continue to use its internal copy over the global one.

So instead:

Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, etc.

Unix is easy. Just run the following command. Use sudo if necessary.

$ [sudo] npm explore npm/node_modules/npm-lifecycle -g -- npm install node-gyp@latest

Windows

Windows is a bit trickier, since npm might be installed to the "Program Files" directory, which needs admin privileges in order to modify on current Windows. Therefore, run the following commands inside a cmd.exe started with "Run as Administrator":

First we need to find the location of node. If you don't already know the location that node.exe got installed to, then run:

$ npm install -g which
$ which node

As an alternative to the above, those on Windows Server 2003 and later (this includes Windows 7) can run:

$ where node

Now cd to the directory that node.exe is contained in, and with node_modules\npm at the end. i.e.:

$ cd "C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules\npm"

Now you can run:

$ npm install node-gyp@latest

Now cd to the npm-lifecycle directory:

$ cd node_modules\npm-lifecycle

Now you can finally run (again):

$ npm install node-gyp@latest