Understanding Angular CLI Versions: Global vs Local Installs

When working with the Angular framework, it’s essential to understand how the Angular Command Line Interface (CLI) versions work. The Angular CLI is a powerful tool that simplifies the process of building and maintaining Angular applications. However, you may encounter warnings or errors related to version mismatches between the global and local installs of the CLI.

In this tutorial, we’ll explore the concept of global and local Angular CLI installs, their purposes, and how to manage them effectively.

What are Global and Local Installs?

The Angular CLI can be installed globally on your system using npm (Node Package Manager). This installation is used to create new Angular projects and perform other tasks that don’t require a specific project context. On the other hand, when you create an Angular project, a local version of the Angular CLI is installed within the project directory.

Why Do We Need Both Global and Local Installs?

The global install is necessary for creating new projects and running certain commands like ng new, ng help, and ng version. When you run ng new, it uses the global installation to create a new project with the specified template.

The local install, on the other hand, is used for project-specific tasks like building, serving, and linting. Most ng commands only make sense in the context of a specific project, so they rely on the local version of the CLI.

Managing Angular CLI Versions

When you update your global Angular CLI installation, it may become outdated compared to the local version used by your project. This can lead to warnings or errors when running certain commands. To avoid these issues, it’s recommended to keep both versions in sync.

Here are some steps to manage Angular CLI versions:

1. Check the current version: Run ng --version to check the current version of the global and local Angular CLI installations.
2. Update the local installation: Run npm install --save-dev @angular/cli@latest to update the local installation to the latest version.
3. Update the global installation: Run npm uninstall -g @angular/cli followed by npm install -g @angular/cli@latest to update the global installation.

Example Use Cases

Let’s consider a scenario where you have an existing Angular project with an outdated local Angular CLI version. To update the local version, follow these steps:

# Navigate to your project directory
cd my-angular-project

# Update the local Angular CLI version
npm install --save-dev @angular/cli@latest

# Verify the updated version
ng --version

In another scenario, you might want to create a new Angular project with the latest version of the CLI. You can do this by running:

# Create a new project with the latest Angular CLI version
ng new my-new-project

# Navigate to the new project directory
cd my-new-project

# Verify the local Angular CLI version
ng --version

Best Practices

To avoid issues related to version mismatches, follow these best practices:

• Regularly update your global and local Angular CLI installations to ensure you have the latest features and bug fixes.
• Keep both versions in sync by updating the local installation whenever you update the global installation.
• Use ng --version to check the current version of the global and local Angular CLI installations.

By following these guidelines, you can effectively manage your Angular CLI versions and avoid common issues related to version mismatches.