When installing Laravel I got an error: "./composer.json is not writable."

Question

This is the command I run:

composer global require "laravel/installer"

and this is the text and error I got after that:

Changed current directory to /home/dimitar/.composer
./composer.json is not writable.

I'm running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and PHP 7 and Composer version 1.3.0 and running this command from my home folder.

score 51 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 27 '19 at 14:08

51

Check the owner of composer.json.

ls -lh ~/.composer/composer.json

If it's 'root', run:

sudo chown -R yourusername:yourusername ~/.composer/composer.json

While in the .composer folder, check the 'cache' folder owner. If it's 'root', re-run above command but switch composer.json to the cache. Otherwise, you may end up with a 'Cannot create cache directory' warning.

edited Apr 27 '19 at 14:08

Lin Du

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answered May 03 '17 at 02:54

PelleLV

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l believe changing the whole `.composer` file to be the owner would be the best thing. To avoid future error like when install laravel you can get into issues when the script may try to write something to like the vendor file. `sudo chown -R yourusername:yourusername .composer` – herbertug Oct 28 '18 at 15:59
Dont need to typing `-R` flag if u try to set permissions on one file – eldario Feb 23 '19 at 07:04

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 03 '17 at 17:29

5

The error says it all, there is a problem with permissions. I guess easiest way to fix this is running this command:

sudo chmod -R 775 /home/dimitar

answered Jan 03 '17 at 17:29

Alexey Mezenin

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Try `777`, but do not do this on production server. – Alexey Mezenin Jan 03 '17 at 17:33
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it worked! thanks a lot!! i can bring it back to 775 permissions after the installation, right? – Dimitar Jan 03 '17 at 17:46
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I'm not sure mate, but you can try and if it'll brake something, do 777 again. ) – Alexey Mezenin Jan 03 '17 at 17:49

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 19 '17 at 09:14

2

I think this code is missing in your composer file which doesn't allows Packagist to find the package of Laravel.

Put this is in your composer.json file and try again:

"repositories": {
    "packagist": { "url": "https://packagist.org", "type": "composer" }
 }

edited Nov 19 '17 at 09:14

clemens

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answered Nov 19 '17 at 08:51

Divyesh pal

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 04 '19 at 11:52

0

Your command is being ran as vagrant user, which hasn't enough permissions.

It can be run as www-data user:

sudo -u www-data composer global require "laravel/installer"

answered Dec 04 '19 at 11:52

azurecorn

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 27 '20 at 18:41

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anther case. if you are using dual boot operating system make sure other operating system is shut down/power off properly. for instance in my case if windows 10 is hibernated this error will happen to ubuntu os

answered Oct 27 '20 at 18:41

user10620381

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score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 14 '22 at 07:53

0

You are not the file owner, however, you can change it by typing on your console the following command

 sudo chown -R ~/.composer/composer.json

answered Apr 14 '22 at 07:53

Cheikh Saliou TALLA

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score -4 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 24 '17 at 17:27

-4

sudo composer global package_name

Example:

sudo composer global require "laravel/installer"

your password

enter

answered Mar 24 '17 at 17:27

ztvmark

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Yes, its just a case of needing to use: sudo. – Robert Byers Jul 14 '17 at 00:46
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Don't run composer with sudo. It will give the plugin or whatever you're installing full access to root and that is a potential security issue. – PelleLV Aug 10 '20 at 03:09

score -6 · Answer 8 · answered Mar 03 '17 at 09:03

-6

You can run with sudo privilege without change folder permission because you install in global.

answered Mar 03 '17 at 09:03

Angga Ari Wijaya

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Doesn't even allow. – dresh Oct 25 '18 at 09:14
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Do not run Composer as root/super user! See https://getcomposer.org/root for details Everybody can see this shit after typing `sudo composer` – eldario Feb 23 '19 at 07:03

When installing Laravel I got an error: "./composer.json is not writable."

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