pm2: command not found error [Solved]

# Table of Contents

1. pm2: command not found error
2. 'pm2' is not recognized as an internal or external command

# pm2: command not found error

Use npx to solve the error "pm2: command not found", e.g. npx pm2 start app.js or install the package globally by running npm install -g pm2 to be able to use the command without the npx prefix.

The fastest way to solve the error is to use the npx command.

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# 👇️ use npx prefix
npx pm2 start app.js

# 👇️ list all running applications
npx pm2 list

Alternatively, you can install pm2 globally.

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# 👇️ install pm2 globally
npm install -g pm2

pm2 start app.js

pm2 list

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# 👇️ if you got permissions error
sudo npm install -g pm2

pm2 start app.js

pm2 list

For other examples of commands, refer to the official npm page of the pm2 package.

If that doesn't help, run the following command:

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npm config get prefix

The command will show you the path where npm puts your globally installed packages. The global packages will be in the bin directory at the specified path.

Look at the PATH environment variable on your operating system and add the path that the npm config get prefix command outputs if it's not already there.

If that didn't work, try to add the path to the bin folder (from npm config get prefix) to your PATH environment variable and restart your terminal.

For example, on macOS, you can update your path with the following command:

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# make sure path matches with npm config get prefix
export PATH=/usr/local/share/npm/bin:$PATH

And on Windows, the output of the npm config get prefix command will look something like: C:\Users\Your_User_Name\AppData\Roaming\npm.

Edit the environment variable on your machine and add the specified path (replacing the placeholder with your username).

If you are on Linux, you can add the output from the npm config get prefix command to your .bashrc file.

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# 👇️ make sure to update the path with the output
# from the command
export PATH="/usr/local/share/npm/bin:$PATH"

If that doesn't help try to reinstall Node.js on your machine and then install pm2 globally by running npm install -g pm2.

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# 👇️ install pm2 globally
npm install -g pm2

pm2 start app.js

pm2 list

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# 👇️ if you got a permissions error
sudo npm install -g pm2

pm2 start app.js

pm2 list

Alternatively, you can see how you can fix the permissions error on this page in the official npm docs.

# 'pm2' is not recognized as an internal or external command

The error "'pm2' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file" occurs when we use the pm2 module without installing it first. To solve the error, run the npm install pm2 -g command.

Open your terminal in your project's root directory (where your package.json file is) and run the following command.

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# 👇️ install pm2 globally
npm install -g pm2

pm2 start app.js

pm2 list

To open CMD as an administrator:

1. Click on the Search bar and type CMD.

2. Right-click on the Command Prompt application and click "Run as administrator".

3. Rerun the installation command.

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npm install -g pm2

pm2 start app.js

pm2 list

Alternatively, you can prefix any pm2 command with npx.

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# 👇️ use npx prefix
npx pm2 start app.js

# 👇️ list all running applications
npx pm2 list

If you get an error that npx is not installed, install it by running the following command.

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#   👇️ for Windows
npm install -g npx

#   👇️ for macOS or Linux
sudo npm install -g npx

If the error persists, add npm to your PATH environment variable manually.

# Add npm to your PATH environment variable

To add npm to your PATH environment variable:

1. Click on the Search bar and type "environment variables".
2. Click on "Edit the system environment variables".

3. Click on the "Environment Variables" button.

4. In the "System variables" section, select the "Path" variable and click "Edit".

5. Click on "New" and then click "Browse".

6. Your npm directory is most likely located under %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\npm or in other words, C:\Users\YOUR_USER\AppData\Roaming\npm.

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%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\npm

# 👇️ same as below (make sure to replace YOUR_USER)
C:\Users\YOUR_USER\AppData\Roaming\npm

If you can't find it, run the npm config get prefix command.

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npm config get prefix

7. Add the path to npm and click on "OK" twice to confirm.

8. Close your Command prompt application and then reopen it.

You might also have to restart your PC, but that's not always necessary.

9. Try to issue a pm2 command after you've restarted your shell.