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Troubleshooting mabl CLI installation

Molly Exten
  • Updated

If you encounter issues when installing the mabl CLI, use this guide to troubleshoot common problems that prevent mabl CLI commands from working:

Permissions errors

If you see an “Access denied” message when installing the mabl CLI, such as EACCES: permission denied, you are likely encountering a permissions error. Permissions errors indicate that you lack permissions to install the mabl CLI Node package globally.

To resolve this issue, update npm so that it installs global packages in a directory that you own and have full access to. Here are a few ways you can do this:

  • Use a Node Version Manager, such as nvm or nvm-windows. NVMs automatically manage global package installations in user-owned directories.
  • Manually update npm’s global package directory by adjusting npm’s configuration with commands like npm config set or by directly editing the .npmrc. file

Updating npm prevents the need for sudo commands and avoids the most common permissions errors. After updating npm, try installing the mabl CLI again.

“Command not found” errors

If you see “Command not found”-type errors when you run mabl commands in the terminal or command prompt, your operating system (OS) cannot locate what you are trying to run.

When you run commands in the terminal, your OS searches for directories listed in your system’s PATH environment variable. For example, if you run mabl --version, your OS looks in the PATH variable for the directory where the mabl CLI is installed. If that directory isn’t installed or isn’t included in the PATH variable, your system doesn’t know where to find it and returns a message like mabl: Command not found.

To resolve this issue, you can manually add the npm global packages directory to your system’s PATH:

Mac and Linux users

  1. In the terminal, run npm root -g to find the directory for npm global packages.
  2. Run echo $PATH and check if the directory from step 1 is included in the list.
  3. If the directory isn’t listed, add it to the PATH variable. The PATH variable is often located in your shell’s configuration file (e.g. .zshrc, .bashrc, or .profile) in the home directory (~). Open the configuration file in a text editor and add a line like this, replacing /path/to/your/npm/global/packages with the output from step 1:
export PATH="/path/to/your/npm/global/packages:$PATH
  1. After saving the configuration file, restart your terminal to apply the changes.
  2. To confirm that your OS can find mabl CLI commands, run mabl -v in the terminal.

Windows users

  1. In the command prompt, run npm root -g to get the directory for npm global packages.
  2. Search for “Environment Variables’”in the Windows search bar, then click on Edit the system environment variables.
  3. In System Properties, click on Environment Variables
  4. Select the PATH variable for the logged-in user and click on Edit
  5. Add the directory from step 1 to the PATH variable
  6. Save your changes
  7. To confirm that your OS can find mabl CLI commands, run mabl -v in the command prompt.

If "Command not found" errors persist

If you still get "Command not found" errors after updating the PATH, the mabl CLI might not be installed correctly or at all. In this situation, the best next step is to try installing the mabl CLI again.

Unsupported Node.js version

If you see messages indicating Node.js version requirements when installing the mabl CLI, such as npm WARN notsup Unsupported engine, the Node version that is currently active in your command line does not meet the minimum requirements for the mabl CLI.

If this happens, try the following troubleshooting steps:

  1. Run node -v to check which version of Node is active in your command line. The mabl CLI requires an actively supported Long Term Support (LTS) version of Node.
  2. If your version is out of date, download and install a supported version from the Node.js website.
  3. If there are multiple versions of Node on your machine, consider using a Node Version Manager (NVM), such as nvm or nvm-windows, to simplify management. Alternatively, you can manually adjust your system’s PATH to ensure the desired Node version comes before older versions.

After installing/updating Node, try installing the mabl CLI again.

Proxy issues

If you see errors like this when you install the mabl CLI, you may need to configure proxy settings for npm:

  • ETIMEDOUT - connection timeout
  • ECONNREFUSED - connection refused
  • UNABLE_TO_GET_ISSUER_CERT_LOCALLY - SSL certificate issues, often related to proxies
  • SELF_SIGNED_CERT_IN_CHAIN - another common SSL proxy error

If you aren’t sure whether your organization uses a corporate firewall or proxy server to control Internet access, check with your IT department or network administrator. They can provide the correct proxy address and port.

Configure proxy settings for npm

Use the following commands to set proxies for npm. Replace http://proxy.example.com:8080 with your actual proxy address and port.:

# Set HTTP proxy  
npm config set proxy http://proxy.example.com:8080
# Set HTTPS proxy  
npm config set https-proxy http://proxy.example.com:8080

After configuring npm with your proxy settings, try installing the mabl CLI again.

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