Failed to set up Chromium! Set "PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD"

# Failed to set up Chromium! Set "PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD"

The error "ERROR: Failed to set up Chromium r800071! Set "PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD" env variable to skip download." occurs when your environment fails to set up the Chromium browser when installing Puppeteer.

To solve the error, set the PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD environment variable to true and rerun the installation command.

Here is the complete error message.

shell

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ERROR: Failed to set up Chromium r800071! Set "PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD" env variable to skip download.
Error: self-signed certificate in certificate chain

Open your terminal in your project's root directory (where your package.json) file is and set the PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD environment variable to true.

If you are on macOS or Linux, run the following command in bash or zsh.

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# For macOS and Linux
export PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD=true
export PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=true

npm install puppeteer

set puppeteer skip download environment variable true

If you are on Windows and use CMD (Command Prompt), run the following command.

cmd

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# For Windows (Command Prompt)
SET PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD=true
SET PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD=true

npm install puppeteer

If you are on Windows and use PowerShell, use the following command instead.

PowerShell

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# For Windows (Power Shell)
$env:PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD="true"
$env:PUPPETEER_SKIP_CHROMIUM_DOWNLOAD="true"

npm install puppeteer

After you set the environment variable, try to rerun the installation command.

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npm install puppeteer

# Install `puppeteer` using `--unsafe-perm`

If the issue persists, try to install the puppeteer module using the --unsafe-perm flag.

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npm install puppeteer --unsafe-perm=true

The --unsafe-perm flag forces npm to download the package's binary.

If the error persists, try to add the --allow-root flag.

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npm install puppeteer --unsafe-perm=true --allow-root

If that didn't work either, try setting the --ignore-scripts flag.

When the flag is set, the package's pre-install and post-install scripts won't run.

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npm install puppeteer --ignore-scripts

You can also set the flag when using yarn.

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yarn add --ignore-scripts puppeteer

# Install the long-term supported version of Node.js

If the error persists, it is most likely caused by your Node.js version.

There are 2 main ways to install the LTS version of Node.js:

You can download the long-term supported Node.js version from the official nodejs.org website.
You can use the nvm module to manage your Node.js version.

If you already have nvm installed issue to following 2 commands to switch to the LTS version.

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nvm install --lts

nvm use --lts

If you don't have nvm installed, click on the link that relates to your operating system:

After you install the long-term supported version and switch to it, try to install the puppeteer package.

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npm install puppeteer

You can use the node -v command to verify that you are running the LTS version of Node.

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node -v

If none of the suggestions helped, you can try to set the PUPPETEER_DOWNLOAD_HOST environment variable before installing the module.

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npm config set PUPPETEER_DOWNLOAD_HOST=https://npm.taobao.org/mirrors

npm install puppeteer

If that doesn't resolve the issue, remove the configuration property.

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npm config rm PUPPETEER_DOWNLOAD_HOST

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

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Failed to set up Chromium! Set "PUPPETEER_SKIP_DOWNLOAD"