npm ERR! code ENETUNREACH

Your network cannot route to npm servers.

Frequently documented in developer and vendor support forums.

• No internet connection
• VPN blocking
• Network misconfiguration

1. Check internet connection
2. Disable VPN temporarily
3. Try different network

Last reviewed: March 2026 How we review solutions

ENETUNREACH is a system-level network error meaning "network unreachable"—the operating system cannot find a route to the destination IP address. When npm reports this, it means the machine literally cannot establish a TCP connection to the registry server. This is different from ENOTFOUND (DNS failure) or ETIMEDOUT (connection timeout): ENETUNREACH means the kernel's routing table has no path to the target network. The most common cause is a complete lack of internet connectivity—Wi-Fi disconnected, Ethernet unplugged, or VPN not connected when the registry is only accessible through VPN. In corporate environments, this often indicates that the VPN tunnel dropped mid-install or that the network configuration changed. Docker containers that use custom bridge networks may encounter ENETUNREACH if the container's network is not properly connected to the host's internet gateway. IPv6 misconfigurations are another common source: if the DNS resolver returns an IPv6 address for the registry but your network does not support IPv6 routing, the connection attempt fails with ENETUNREACH before falling back to IPv4. Cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure) can produce this error when security group rules, NACLs, or route tables block outbound traffic to the registry's IP range.

1. Test basic connectivity: ping 8.8.8.8 or ping google.com
2. Check if VPN is connected (if the registry requires VPN)
3. Verify DNS resolution: nslookup registry.npmjs.org
4. Check your network interface is up: ip addr show (Linux) or ifconfig (macOS)
5. For Docker: verify the container has network access: docker exec ping 8.8.8.8

IPv6-only DNS response with no IPv6 route

Some DNS resolvers return AAAA (IPv6) records before A (IPv4) records. If your network has no IPv6 connectivity, the first connection attempt fails with ENETUNREACH. Set npm to prefer IPv4: npm config set prefer-ipv4 true.

AWS EC2 in private subnet without NAT Gateway

EC2 instances in a private VPC subnet have no direct internet access. npm install fails because there is no route to the npm registry. Set up a NAT Gateway in the public subnet and update the private subnet route table.

Docker build with no network access

Docker BuildKit may disable network access during certain build stages. Ensure your Dockerfile runs npm install in a stage with network access, or use --network=host during the build: docker build --network=host .

How to test connectivity?

Try ping registry.npmjs.org.

Can I work offline?

Use npm pack for offline installs.

What is the difference between ENETUNREACH and ENOTFOUND?

ENOTFOUND means DNS could not resolve the hostname to an IP address. ENETUNREACH means DNS succeeded but the OS has no network route to reach that IP. ENOTFOUND is a name resolution problem; ENETUNREACH is a routing or connectivity problem.

Can a firewall cause ENETUNREACH?

Firewalls typically cause ETIMEDOUT (packets dropped) or ECONNREFUSED (packets rejected), not ENETUNREACH. ENETUNREACH specifically means the OS routing table has no path to the target network—it is almost always a local network configuration issue.

How do I use npm offline?

If you have a populated npm cache from a previous install, npm install will use cached packages. You can also use npm pack to create tarballs of packages and install them locally: npm install ./package-1.0.0.tgz.

• npm install – Official npm Docs
• package.json Reference – npm Docs