I've taken some shared code and put it in an NPM module, one I don't want to upload to the central registry. The question is, how do I install it from other projects?
The obvious way is probably to set up my own NPM registry, but according to the documentation, that involves a lot of hassle.
Can I just install an NPM module that sits on the local filesystem, or perhaps even from git?
npm install --from-git git@server:project
In your private npm modules add
"private": true
to your package.json
Then to reference the private module in another module, use this in your package.json
{
"name": "myapp",
"dependencies": {
"private-repo": "git+ssh://[email protected]:myaccount/myprivate.git#v1.0.0",
}
}
Can I just install an NPM package that sits on the local filesystem, or perhaps even from git?
Yes you can! From the docs https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/install
A package is:
- a) a folder containing a program described by a package.json file
- b) a gzipped tarball containing (a)
- c) a url that resolves to (b)
- d) a
<name>@<version>that is published on the registry with (c)- e) a
<name>@<tag>that points to (d)- f) a
<name>that has a "latest" tag satisfying (e)- g) a
<git remote url>that resolves to (b)
Isn't npm brilliant?
Update January 2016
In addition to other answers, there is sometimes the scenario where you wish to have private modules available in a team context.
Both Github and Bitbucket support the concept of generating a team API Key. This API key can be used as the password to perform API requests as this team.
In your private npm modules add
"private": true
to your package.json
Then to reference the private module in another module, use this in your package.json
{
"name": "myapp",
"dependencies": {
"private-repo":
"git+https://myteamname:[email protected]/myprivate.git",
}
}
where team name = myteamname, and API Key = aQqtcplwFzlumj0mIDdRGCbsAq5d6Xg4
Here I reference a bitbucket repo, but it is almost identical using github too.
Finally, as an alternative, if you really don't mind paying $7 per month (as of writing) then you can now have private NPM modules out of the box.
FWIW: I had problems with all of these answers when dealing with a private organization repository.
The following worked for me:
npm install -S "git+https://[email protected]/orgname/repositoryname.git"
For example:
npm install -S "git+https://[email protected]/netflix/private-repository.git"
I'm not entirely sure why the other answers didn't work for me in this one case, because they're what I tried first before I hit Google and found this answer. And the other answers are what I've done in the past.
Hopefully this helps someone else.
I had this same problem, and after some searching around, I found Reggie (https://github.com/mbrevoort/node-reggie). It looks pretty solid. It allows for lightweight publishing of NPM modules to private servers. Not perfect (no authentication upon installation), and it's still really young, but I tested it locally, and it seems to do what it says it should do.
That is... (and this just from their docs)
npm install -g reggie
reggie-server -d ~/.reggie
then cd into your module directory and...
reggie -u http://<host:port> publish
reggie -u http://127.0.0.1:8080 publish
finally, you can install packages from reggie just by using that url either in a direct npm install command, or from within a package.json... like so
npm install http://<host:port>/package/<name>/<version>
npm install http://<host:port>/package/foo/1.0.0
or..
dependencies: {
"foo": "http://<host:port>/package/foo/1.0.0"
}
Structure your code in an accessible fashion like below. If this is possible for you.
NodeProjs\Apps\MainApp\package.json
NodeProjs\Modules\DataModule\package.json
Within MainApp @ NodProjs\Apps\MainApp\
npm install --S ../../Modules/DataModule
You may need to update package.json as:
"dependencies": {
"datamodule": "../../Modules/DataModule"
}
This worked for my situation.
Npm now provides unlimited private hosted modules for $7/user/month used like so
cd private-project
npm login
in your package json set "name": " @username/private-project"
npm publish
then to require your project:
cd ../new-project
npm install --save @username/private-project
This was what I was looking for:
# Get the latest from GitHub, public repo:
$ npm install username/my-new-project --save-dev
# Bitbucket, private repo:
$ npm install git+https://token:[email protected]/username/my-new-project.git#master
$ npm install git+ssh://[email protected]/username/my-new-project.git#master
# … or from Bitbucket, public repo:
$ npm install git+ssh://[email protected]/username/my-new-project.git#master --save-dev
# Bitbucket, private repo:
$ npm install git+https://username:[email protected]/username/my-new-project.git#master
$ npm install git+ssh://[email protected]/username/my-new-project.git#master
# Or, if you published as npm package:
$ npm install my-new-project --save-dev
Starting with arcseldon's answer, I found that the team name was needed in the URL like so:
npm install --save "git+https://myteamname@[email protected]/myteamname/myprivate.git"
And note that the API key is only available for the team, not individual users.
You can use Verdaccio for this purpose which is a lightweight private npm proxy registry built in Node.js. Also it is free and open-source. By using Verdaccio it does not involve that much hassle as a plain private npm registry would.
You can find detailed information about how to install and run it on their website but here are the steps:
It requires node >=8.x.
// Install it from npm globally
npm install -g verdaccio
// Simply run with the default configuration that will host the registry which you can reach at http://localhost:4873/
verdaccio
// Set the registry for your project and every package will be downloaded from your private registry
npm set registry http://localhost:4873/
// OR use the registry upon individual package install
npm install --registry http://localhost:4873
It also has a docker so you can easily publish it to your publicly available docker and voila you have a private npm repository that can be distributed to others in a way as you configure it!
