While running nodejs, you may have encountered this new error but weren’t sure what it was. Don’t worry. This article will show you how to effectively solve npm WARN old lockfile The package-lock.json file was created with an old version of npm in the shortest time. 

Without further discussion, let’s find out more about it!

What is “npm WARN old lockfile The package-lock.json file was created with an old version of npm” ?

When we try to execute npm ci, the error appears like this.

Step 12/26 : RUN npm ci --production --package-lock && npm ci --production --package-lock --prefix ./ui-runner
---> Running in 3473c209b98c
npm WARN old lockfile
npm WARN old lockfile The package-lock.json file was created with an old version of npm,
npm WARN old lockfile so supplemental metadata must be fetched from the registry.
npm WARN old lockfile
npm WARN old lockfile This is a one-time fix-up, please be patient...
npm WARN old lockfile

Solving npm WARN old lockfile The package-lock.json file was created with an old version of npm

The main cause of the above error comes from the version of npm you are using. Maybe it is not suitable for your project or it has not been updated to the new version. Follow our solutions below for the fastest error handling.

Solution 1

Because the error occurs in the latest version of npm, the possible solution is to downgrade it to a previous version, which should fix the problem. Run the following code in the console to install the chosen version, replacing “V” with the favored version.

npm install -g npm@"V"

Solution 2

Our alternative is to ignore the alert. It’s just a warning occurring while npm tries updating the package-lock.json module. We believe it will eliminate this warning in the future version. 

Solution 3

Run this code to creat package-lock.json:

npm install --package-lock-only

then commit updated version of package-lock.jsonrepo / Docker image or whatever.

Conclusion

The npm WARN old lockfile The package-lock.json file was created with an old version of npm error is a new problem that needs a better understanding before you may try to fix it. We believe that you can find a way to resolve the problem with our suggested solutions.

Please provide us with your concerns and ideas in the comment section to help us support you with better answers. Thank you!