Resolution Steps for the Now Cli installation failure because of the Error: EACCES: permission denied error (Now UI Experience)

[jitesh_malik]

Hi There,

Recently while installing the Now Cli on my Mac laptop, I got the below error:

npm ERR! code EACCES
npm ERR! syscall symlink
npm ERR! path ../lib/node_modules/@servicenow/cli/src/index.js
npm ERR! dest /usr/bin/tectonic
npm ERR! errno -13
npm ERR! Error: EACCES: permission denied, symlink '../lib/node_modules/@servicenow/cli/src/index.js' -> '/usr/bin/tectonic'
npm ERR!  [OperationalError: EACCES: permission denied, symlink '../lib/node_modules/@servicenow/cli/src/index.js' -> '/usr/bin/tectonic'] {
npm ERR!   cause: [Error: EACCES: permission denied, symlink '../lib/node_modules/@servicenow/cli/src/index.js' -> '/usr/bin/tectonic'] {
npm ERR!     errno: -13,
npm ERR!     code: 'EACCES',
npm ERR!     syscall: 'symlink',
npm ERR!     path: '../lib/node_modules/@servicenow/cli/src/index.js',
npm ERR!     dest: '/usr/bin/tectonic'
npm ERR!   },
npm ERR!   stack: "Error: EACCES: permission denied, symlink '../lib/node_modules/@servicenow/cli/src/index.js' -> '/usr/bin/tectonic'",
npm ERR!   errno: -13,
npm ERR!   code: 'EACCES',
npm ERR!   syscall: 'symlink',
npm ERR!   path: '../lib/node_modules/@servicenow/cli/src/index.js',
npm ERR!   dest: '/usr/bin/tectonic'
npm ERR! }
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! The operation was rejected by your operating system.
npm ERR! It is likely you do not have the permissions to access this file as the current user
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! If you believe this might be a permissions issue, please double-check the
npm ERR! permissions of the file and its containing directories, or try running
npm ERR! the command again as root/Administrator.

npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:

So, after researching this error, I found the steps in bits and pieces. So thought of summarizing the steps here:

Reason for the error: With the implementation of the System Integrity Protection (a security technology in OS X El Capitan, and later that's designed to help prevent potentially malicious software) you can not modify the protected files and folders on your Mac.

System Integrity Protection includes protection for these parts of the system:

• /System
• /usr
• /bin
• /sbin
• /var
• Apps that are pre-installed with OS X

Resolution Steps:

1. Remove the node and npm.

2. Re-install the node and npm using nvm. You can find the steps here. 

3. Upgrade npm to the latest version using "npm install -g npm".

4. Install the Now Cli using the steps given on the Developer site. This will install the Now Cli globally without any issue.