# Notes on installing terminal application on MacOS

**URL:** <https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/notes-on-installing-terminal-application-on-macos/12076>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [29 October 2020 17:25 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/notes-on-installing-terminal-application-on-macos/12076 "2020-10-29T17:25:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![wandern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@wandern](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/wandern)\
**Post date:** [29 October 2020 17:25 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/notes-on-installing-terminal-application-on-macos/12076/1 "2020-10-29T17:25:13Z")

</div>

The page [https://joplinapp.org/terminal/](https://joplinapp.org/terminal/) simply says to install nodeJS 10+.

1. Mac Ports (port) does not install npm with a nodejs installation; it is not recommended. (Brew does)

2. Running (per the Joplin docs) "NPM\_CONFIG\_PREFIX=~/.joplin-bin npm install -g joplin" fails. You need to first do a "mkdir -p $HOME/.joplin-bin/lib" in order for the npm install to succeed. (There may be another way to get the npm install to create the required directories, but I have not investigated).

3. macOS Catalina and Big Sur do not allow writing to /usr/bin, so the symlink creation "sudo ln -s ~/.joplin-bin/bin/joplin /usr/bin/joplin" will not succeed. I recommend simply adding $HOME/.joplin-bin/bin to your $PATH: "echo export PATH='$PATH:$HOME/.joplin-bin/bin' \>\> ~/.bashrc"

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CandaceSoVan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/candacesovan/32/15905_2.png) [@CandaceSoVan](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/CandaceSoVan)\
**Post date:** [2 January 2023 12:21 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/notes-on-installing-terminal-application-on-macos/12076/2 "2023-01-02T12:21:15Z")

</div>

I tried to follow the instructions here, since the original instructions don't work. However, when I tried to run "NPM\_CONFIG\_PREFIX=~/.joplin-bin npm install -g joplin" I got 15 notices of "deprecated" attempted installations, followed by over 40 "ERR!" messages. (I have the error log, if anyone wants to see it.) Needless to say, the terminal version of Joplin is _not_ installed on my Mac. So, do I give up on it, or does anyone else have any suggestions?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Daeraxa](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/daeraxa/32/6172_2.png) [@Daeraxa](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Daeraxa)\
**Post date:** [2 January 2023 13:46 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/notes-on-installing-terminal-application-on-macos/12076/3 "2023-01-02T13:46:27Z")

</div>

Please open a new support thread, the post you replied to is really old and might no longer be relevant.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Daeraxa](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/daeraxa/32/6172_2.png) [@Daeraxa](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Daeraxa)\
**Post date:** [2 January 2023 13:46 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/notes-on-installing-terminal-application-on-macos/12076/4 "2023-01-02T13:46:31Z")

</div>


