Can't `brew link` an unlinked keg

Question

$: which node
$: node
-bash: node: command not found
$: brew install node
Error: node-0.6.18 already installed
$: brew doctor
Error: You have unlinked kegs in your Cellar
Leaving kegs unlinked can lead to build-trouble and cause brews that depend on
those kegs to fail to run properly once built.

node

$: brew link node
Error: No such file or directory - /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.6.5
$: brew uninstall node
Error: No such file or directory - /usr/local/Cellar/node/0.6.5
$: brew install node
Error: node-0.6.18 already installed

How do I get my node back on track??

What does `brew doctor` says? If nothig helpful, you should consider [sending bug report](https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/wiki/Reporting-Bugs). — Aleksei Zabrodskii, Jun 03 '12 at 18:41
Error: You have unlinked kegs in your Cellar Leaving kegs unlinked can lead to build-trouble and cause brews that depend on those kegs to fail to run properly once built. geos node postgis proj — Jordan Warbelow-Feldstein, Jun 03 '12 at 20:30
For anyone else experiencing this problem, I think this is worth looking at too: [Error: The 'brew link' step did not complete successfully](http://stackoverflow.com/q/12607155/320399) — blong, Feb 26 '13 at 19:07

score 55 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 03 '12 at 20:53

55

I was able to relink the correct version of node by running:

brew cleanup
brew link node
brew uninstall node
brew install node

answered Jun 03 '12 at 20:53

Jordan Warbelow-Feldstein

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1

I had to run the uninstall as sudo for some reason. But thanks, this worked. – Christian Bankester Aug 03 '12 at 01:43
70

Not helped. "brew link node" Error: No such keg: /usr/local/Cellar/node – Anton Danilchenko Aug 06 '13 at 17:23
@AamirAfridi doesn't work. after run this command and run `brew uninstall node` this error occurred again – TomSawyer Aug 11 '16 at 17:59
if you are like me and need to switch between node versions. simply install them and then switch with `brew link node@4` or `brew link node@6` – ste Mar 27 '17 at 07:54

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered May 23 '18 at 08:52

7

I was getting:

$ brew link node
Error: No such keg: /usr/local/Cellar/node
$ brew link node@8
Warning: node@8 is keg-only and must be linked with --force

That command helped to get everything working again:

brew link --overwrite --force node@8

answered May 23 '18 at 08:52

Adam Chwedyk

418
4
8

Thanks! I could solve a similar unlink error for gcc ```% brew unlink gcc``` ```Error: No such keg: /usr/local/Cellar/gcc``` by using ```% brew unlink gcc@12``` – Devharsh Trivedi Aug 08 '22 at 20:16

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 12 '17 at 03:43

0

To force the link and overwrite all conflicting files:

brew link --overwrite node

edited Jun 12 '17 at 03:43

Nathan Tuggy

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answered Jun 12 '17 at 03:20

user3681732

1
2

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 15 '19 at 10:06

0

I personally had to work some sudo chmod magic for node files that were not writable. Brew didn't take care of them by default even after --force was enabled.

answered Aug 15 '19 at 10:06

L_Sonic

594
6
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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered May 06 '21 at 15:08

0

echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/node@12/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

answered May 06 '21 at 15:08

Fares ATOUI

1

Hi, welcome to StackOverflow! Could you explain what this code does and why it is the answer to the question? – Tvde1 May 07 '21 at 08:04
when you do the 'brew link node ' commande you have to tap this command before to tell him where the node path is ! – Fares ATOUI May 10 '21 at 13:06

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 27 '21 at 12:14

I puzzled over this for a long time. Nothing worked. I'm using macOS.

In a terminal, execute the following command to get nvm setup with appropriate node.js settings (for further details on what the script does read this https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.37.0/install.sh):

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.37.0/install.sh | zsh

Restart your terminal and run the following:

nvm -v You should see a version.

Now let's install node:

nvm install 14.15 When the installation is finished, run:

node -v

You should be good to go.

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 05 '21 at 07:34

I had the same problem with ruby. I wanted to uninstall it. Here is the fix that worked for me

brew install ruby

Then

echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/ruby/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

Then When I tried uninstall it worked.

brew uninstall ruby

So you can do the same by replacing ruby with node. Then install it again and it will be fixed.

Can't `brew link` an unlinked keg

7 Answers7

Linked