Configure global NPM defaults

The location of npm-cli.js can be supplied in four possible ways:

build.gradle

npm {
    executableByPath('/path/to/npm') (1)
}

npm {
    executableBySearchPath('npm') (2)
}

1	Supply a path to the `npm` executable. This works for people that have `npm` installed in predefined locations.
2	Tell Gradle to look for `npm` (or `npm.cmd`) in the system search path, then infer location of `npm-cli.js`.

Gradle does not use the npm or npm.cmd scripts. It uses npm-cli.js directly.

By default, the default local configuration is always set to an npmrc file located in the root of the root project and the global configuration is set to ~/.gradle/npmrc. This is specifically done so that configuration can be set on a project-wide basis for a Gradle project without interference from a possible globally installed Node.js. Placement of global configuration in the Gradle User Home allows a person to set specific global options for Node projects that are built by Gradle. The location of the global and local npmrc files can also be set.

build.gradle

npm {
  localConfig = "${projectDir}/npmrc2" (1)
  globalConfig = "${project.rootProject.projectDir}/npmrc2" (2)
  homeDirectory = 'src/node' (3)

  localConfig = useLocalUserProfileLocation() (4)
  localConfig = useLocalProjectLocation() (5)

  globalConfig = useGlobalSystemLocation() (6)
  globalConfig = useGlobalGradleLocation() (7)
}

1	Set location of local configuration file.
2	Set location of global configuration file.
3	Set the location of the Node project code. This is the directory into which `node_modules` will be generated into and per convention the parent directory of the actual Node.js source directories.
4	Set the local configuration file to the user’s configuration file.
5	Set the local configuration file to the project directory.
6	Set the global configuration file to use the one from the global installation. If the file cannot be located, the build will fail.
7	Set the global configuration file to be in the Gradle home directory. This is also the default behaviour.

If Node.js project development plugin is applied, then localConfig = useLocalUserProfileLocation().