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How to resolve the `Could not download` github because of a connectivity issue between your machine and GitHub problem?

Cowrie
Cowrie
Dev @ Bswen

1. Purpose

In this post, I will demonstrate how to resolve the following problem when using npx create-next-app:

Terminal window
➜  nextjs npx create-next-app nextjs-blog --use-npm --verbose --example "https://github.com/vercel/next-learn/tree/master/basics/learn-starter"
Creating a new Next.js app in /Users/bswen/private/bw/nextjs/nextjs-blog.


Downloading files from repo https://github.com/vercel/next-learn/tree/master/basics/learn-starter. This might take a moment.


? Could not download "https://github.com/vercel/next-learn/tree/master/basics/learn-starter" because of a connectivity issue between your machine and GitHub.
Do you want to use the default template instead? › (Y/n)

2. The Solution

Open your HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy, then start the command again:

Terminal window
➜  nextjs npx create-next-app nextjs-blog --use-npm --example "https://github.com/vercel/next-learn/tree/master/basics/learn-starter"
Creating a new Next.js app in /Users/bswen/private/bw/nextjs/nextjs-blog.


Downloading files from repo https://github.com/vercel/next-learn/tree/master/basics/learn-starter. This might take a moment.


Installing packages. This might take a couple of minutes.


npm ERR! code ECONNRESET
npm ERR! syscall read
npm ERR! errno -54
npm ERR! network read ECONNRESET
npm ERR! network This is a problem related to network connectivity.
npm ERR! network In most cases you are behind a proxy or have bad network settings.
npm ERR! network
npm ERR! network If you are behind a proxy, please make sure that the 'proxy' config is set properly.  See: 'npm help config'


npm ERR! A complete log of this run can be found in:
npm ERR!     /Users/bswen/.npm/_logs/2021-12-10T08_42_39_145Z-debug.log


Aborting installation.
  npm install has failed.


➜  nextjs

You can see that there still exist problems connecting to the GitHub repo. This problem is a network issue, and we should try to debug it like this:

Terminal window
➜  nextjs ping github.com
PING github.com (20.205.243.166): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1

After setting the proxy, you can see this result:

Terminal window
➜  nextjs ping github.com
PING github.com (192.30.255.113): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.30.255.113: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.316 ms
64 bytes from 192.30.255.113: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.259 ms
^C

I think the proxy is not used correctly by the npm command, so I set the npm proxy like this:

Terminal window
npm config set proxy=http://127.0.0.1:8087
npm config set registry=http://registry.npmjs.org

Notice that you should change the port 8087 to your own proxy port. Then try again:

Terminal window
➜  nextjs npx create-next-app nextjs-blog --use-npm --example "https://github.com/vercel/next-learn/tree/master/basics/learn-starter"
Creating a new Next.js app in /Users/bswen/private/bw/nextjs/nextjs-blog.


Downloading files from repo https://github.com/vercel/next-learn/tree/master/basics/learn-starter. This might take a moment.


Installing packages. This might take a couple of minutes.


⸨#####⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂⸩ ⠸ idealTree:jest-worker: sill fetch manifest color-convert@^1.9.0


....
Installing packages. This might take a couple of minutes.


npm notice Beginning October 4, 2021, all connections to the npm registry - including for package installation - must use TLS 1.2 or higher. You are currently using plaintext http to connect. Please visit the GitHub blog for more information: https://github.blog/2021-08-23-npm-registry-deprecating-tls-1-0-tls-1-1/


added 295 packages in 3m


51 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details


Initialized a git repository.


Success! Created nextjs-blog at /Users/bswen/private/bw/nextjs/nextjs-blog
Inside that directory, you can run several commands:


  npm run dev
    Starts the development server.


  npm run build
    Builds the app for production.


  npm start
    Runs the built app in production mode.


We suggest that you begin by typing:


  cd nextjs-blog
  npm run dev


➜  nextjs

It succeeds! Then reset your npm settings (reset proxy/registry etc.):

Terminal window
npm config delete proxy
npm config delete https-proxy
npm config delete registry

3. Summary

In this post, I demonstrated how to resolve the npx/npm download github repo error when using npm create-next-app. The key point is to open your proxy to github.com and set the npm to use that proxy. Additionally, ensure that your npm settings are correctly configured to avoid TLS issues. That’s it, thanks for your reading.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others who might be considering solving such a problem. So I hope that’s been the case here. If you still have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!

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