NPM install resulting in 401 Unauthorized for private repo

Question

I have the following line in my dependencies in package.json:

"log": "https://git.mydomain.com/myproject/myrepo/repository/archive.tar.gz?ref=0.1.0",

I get the following:

km@Karls-MBP ~/dev/vertica (km/ref) $ npm install
npm ERR! code E401
npm ERR! 404 401 Unauthorized: log@https://git.mydomain.com/myproject/myrepo/repository/archive.tar.gz?ref=0.5.0

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     /Users/km/.npm/_logs/2018-02-16T08_49_38_669Y-debug.log

I don't know if the issue is GitLab (where the repo exists) or NPM.

Node v8.9.4
NPM v5.6.0

Is the tarball publicly available? If not, you'll need to provide an auth strategy in the package URL. Have you seen [this](https://stackoverflow.com/a/28729646/382982) question/answer? Also, it seems unlikely that it'd be an NPM issue, but just in case: try `npm logout && npm login`, ensure there isn't either a stale `$NPM_TOKEN` env var or `_authToken` set in an .npmrc (look in your home directory and the project directory). — pdoherty926, Feb 16 '18 at 11:53
I had to follow these steps to fix the error: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/artifacts/npm/npmrc?view=azure-devops&tabs=windows — David Klempfner, Jul 13 '20 at 07:02

score 73 · Answer 1 · answered May 23 '18 at 13:46

73

Remove .npmrc from the Home Directory, it should be able to work. I did the same and it works for me.

answered May 23 '18 at 13:46

Abdullah Faruk

913
8
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3

That worked for me. In my case, it was "npm install -g @vue/cli" that was printing 401. What's the purpose of this solution? – Tuna Yagci Nov 28 '18 at 07:02
12

What if you need the .npmrc file for authentication to a service on a vpn? – sdfsdf Dec 04 '18 at 19:30
4

This will never work with a private repo – Philip Rego Aug 23 '22 at 21:10

score 18 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 28 '18 at 02:41

18

My user directory .npmrc file had a stale authtoken as below.

//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=3615fa68-123a-4d72-b99a-772b5b1edc48

By removing this line, the npm installation works fine and no longer throws an authentication error.

answered Nov 28 '18 at 02:41

santon

1,654
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26

score 16 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 08 '19 at 10:28

16

You need to add user to npm registery

>> npm whoami [ it will return not authorized ]

To add new user follow below steps :-

>> npm adduser  (then enter your name and complex password and your email)

>> npm whoami   (return your registered name)

answered Oct 08 '19 at 10:28

Salah Atwa

1,648
2
12
13

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 09 '22 at 13:51

I got the same error but the reason in my case was different than the above answers:

I discovered that the package-lock.json had some of the packages resolved to a private url instead of the typical public npm urls, so deleting the npm lock file and running npm install again solved it

But if this is the case, you need to check with the team still why this private url resolution happened instead of the normal one

Günter Zöchbauer · Answer 5 · 2021-12-29T17:45:34.613

0

I got this when I used --prefer-offline

- npm ci --cache .npm --prefer-offline --unsafe-perm --no-optional

Removing that option fixed it.

edited Dec 29 '21 at 17:45

answered Dec 10 '21 at 14:30

Günter Zöchbauer

623,577
216
2,003
1,567

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 10 '22 at 13:41

0

In my case I have to change the content of .npmrc file to package-lock=false.

Now it works fine!

answered Jan 10 '22 at 13:41

Allan Almeida

90
1
2
8

score -1 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 28 '22 at 06:59

-1

removing the .npmrc from the root directory worked for me

answered Jan 28 '22 at 06:59

aadesh singh

1
1

score -1 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 07 '22 at 02:49

-1

removing the .npmrc from the root directory worked perfectly for me as well

answered Oct 07 '22 at 02:49

Lucas Gabriel de Jesus

1
1

score -3 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 10 '19 at 08:41

-3

I noticed this error for a public github repo. Removed the entry always-auth = true and was able to proceed.

answered Sep 10 '19 at 08:41

Vivek Kodira

2,764
4
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49

NPM install resulting in 401 Unauthorized for private repo

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