Windows: Cannot update global npm version after using setup-node

Description: Up until now, updating the global npm version after setting up the node version using npm install -g npm worked on all operating systems without issues.

Now I’m receiving the following errors:

npm ERR! code EPERM
npm ERR! syscall rename
npm ERR! path C:\npm\prefix\node_modules\npm\node_modules\.node-gyp.DELETE\node_modules\@tootallnate
npm ERR! dest C:\npm\prefix\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\node_modules\@tootallnate
npm ERR! errno -4048
npm ERR! Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, rename 'C:\npm\prefix\node_modules\npm\node_modules\.node-gyp.DELETE\node_modules\@tootallnate' -> 'C:\npm\prefix\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\node_modules\@tootallnate'
npm ERR!  [OperationalError: EPERM: operation not permitted, rename 'C:\npm\prefix\node_modules\npm\node_modules\.node-gyp.DELETE\node_modules\@tootallnate' -> 'C:\npm\prefix\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\node_modules\@tootallnate'] {
npm ERR!   cause: [Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, rename 'C:\npm\prefix\node_modules\npm\node_modules\.node-gyp.DELETE\node_modules\@tootallnate' -> 'C:\npm\prefix\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\node_modules\@tootallnate'] {
npm ERR!     errno: -4048,
npm ERR!     code: 'EPERM',
npm ERR!     syscall: 'rename',
npm ERR!     path: 'C:\\npm\\prefix\\node_modules\\npm\\node_modules\\.node-gyp.DELETE\\node_modules\\@tootallnate',
npm ERR!     dest: 'C:\\npm\\prefix\\node_modules\\npm\\node_modules\\node-gyp\\node_modules\\@tootallnate'
npm ERR!   },
npm ERR!   errno: -4048,
npm ERR!   code: 'EPERM',
npm ERR!   syscall: 'rename',
npm ERR!   path: 'C:\\npm\\prefix\\node_modules\\npm\\node_modules\\.node-gyp.DELETE\\node_modules\\@tootallnate',
npm ERR!   dest: 'C:\\npm\\prefix\\node_modules\\npm\\node_modules\\node-gyp\\node_modules\\@tootallnate',
npm ERR!   parent: 'npm'
npm ERR! }
npm ERR! 
npm ERR! The operation was rejected by your operating system.
npm ERR! It's possible that the file was already in use (by a text editor or antivirus),
npm ERR! or that you lack permissions to access it.
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:
npm ERR!     C:\npm\cache\_logs\2022-01-29T07_32_14_023Z-debug.log

Action version: 2.5.1 (pinned at @2)

Platform:

• Ubuntu
• macOS
• Windows

Runner type:

• Hosted
• Self-hosted

Tools version: Trying to set up node 12, likely also an issue with other node versions.

Repro steps:

You can see an example action run here. The failed workflow runs npm install -g npm after using the setup-node action, the passing run runs it without using the setup-node action.

Workflow configuration used in the example above:

name: github-actions-windows-npm-install-test
on:
  push:
jobs:
  win-setup-node-action:
    name: "WIN: Global npm install with setup-node action"
    runs-on: windows-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: 12
      - name: Install latest npm version
        run: npm install --global npm
  win-preinstalled-node:
    name: "WIN: Global npm install without setup-node action"
    runs-on: windows-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Install latest npm version
        run: npm install --global npm

Expected behavior:

npm install -g npm should globally install the newest npm version and overwrite the default version that comes with node 12, 14 etc.

Actual behavior:

npm install -g npm fails due to permissions errors on Windows and breaks the workflow run.

[dmitry-shibanov]

Hello everyone. Thank you for your report. I think it should be related to this issue. As a workaround for now you can specify npm version as 8.3.1.

      - name: Install latest npm version
        run: npm install --global npm@8.3.1

[michael-strother-wth]

I ran into the same issue… installing 8.3.1 as a workaround worked for me.