That would be a nice feature. But as a workaround you could use e.g. syncpack

Example: update React from version 16.8.6 to 16.9.0.

npm outdated

react                16.8.6  16.9.0
react-dom            16.8.6. 16.9.0

Open package.json at project root and set the new versions.

  "devDependencies": {
    "@babel/cli": "7.5.5",
    "@babel/core": "7.5.5",
    ...
    "react": "16.9.0",
    "react-dom": "16.9.0",
    ...
    "webpack": "4.39.2"
  },

Open one of the sub projectes (in ./packages) that have these dependencies and set the new versions here as well.

  "peerDependencies": {
    "classnames": "^2.2.6",
    "prop-types": "^15.7.2",
    "react": "^16.9.0",
    "react-dom": "^16.9.0"
  },

Save and run npx syncpack list --peer from project root to verify that changes are detcted.

Run npx syncpack fix-mismatches --peer to upgrade similar dependencies in all the other subprojects.

BTW: We use peerDependencies for all third party packages and dependencies for our internal packages:

{
  "name": "@brreg-frontend/button-react",
  "version": "0.0.96",
  "main": "lib/index.js",
  "author": {
    "name": "UX team",
    "url": "https://www.brreg.no/"
  },
  "license": "MIT",
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "....."
  },
  "publishConfig": {
    "access": "public"
  },
  "files": [
    "lib/",
    "src/"
  ],
  "peerDependencies": {
    "classnames": "^2.2.6",
    "prop-types": "^15.7.2",
    "react": "^16.9.0",
    "react-dom": "^16.9.0"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@brreg-frontend/button-style": "^0.0.72",
    "@brreg-frontend/icon-react": "^0.0.75"
  }
}

Something I'm playing with is using the local path file notation in the sub-package.

So, in the root package.json I have:

  "devDependencies": {
    "cli-util": "^1.4.2"
  }

And in the sub-package package.json, I have:

  "devDependencies": {
    "cli-util": "file:../../node_modules/cli-util"
  }

I'll confess I'm not sure I understand all the implications and it feels a little gross for a sub package to specify the path of deps of the root package but it seems to accomplish what I'm looking for. When I run npm ci on the root package, it installs all the deps as intended on the root package. When I run lerna bootstrap it symlinks the sub-package's node_modules entry to the one of the root package.

This would only reasonably work for dev deps where it's expected to have the whole repo, and not just a single package.

Just to check, is it possible to do something like lerna execute npm update for subfolders?

I would expect it to update all packages in each subproject package.json to the highest version possible as per the package.json.

lerna execute npx ncu -u

Can it work?

lerna exec yarn upgrade --latest not working!

@ccpu I think you need to write it slightly differently lerna exec -- yarn upgrade --latest.

If you don't separate the command with the -- it doesn't know how to tell where the parent command ends and the sub command begins.

@counterbeing thanks for the suggestion, unfortunatly it didn't work, throws ERR! lerna Unknown argument: latest error.

@ccpu no space between --latest

@mesqueeb there is no space, I'm running lerna exec -- yarn upgrade --latest command, and getting ERR! lerna Unknown argument: latest, very strange!

i am using following boilerplate:
https://github.com/ccpu/typescript-lerna-boilerplate

@ccpu Your lerna is out of date, I'd go ahead and upgrade that for a start. Not sure if it will help, but it's worth a shot.

First check to see which version you're running globally, it's possibly different than what's in your package.json file. lerna --version. 3.22.1 appears to be the latest for me. My global lerna, and the one in my package are on this version.

You can update all of your global yarn packages with yarn global upgrade (this is for ALL your global modules). Then in your project try yarn upgrade lerna to make sure that's up to date.

After that, try the command again and see what you get.

We're kind of drifting away from the original issue.

lerna exec -- npm update is working as expected. The problem is that running npm update in each subfolder will mess with the Lerna behavior (break symbolic links and re-install all dependencies).
With few sub-packages, this is fine. Running lerna boostrap will restore the previous state.

The more packages, the more time it can take. And NPM being what it is, the more disk space is used.

A wishful command would look at which dependencies are outdated, link to the local one and install the outside ones (eventually supporting the --hoist param).

You're right @GMartigny. Apologies. @ccpu, it sounds as if your problem is separate and you should probably open a new one if your problem persists.

@GMartigny On the topic of your issue: I think the same issue exists with yarn. I ran an update for all of my packages yesterday, and they weren't working until i ran a yarn install in each one after doing all of the updates. Just a clue since we're on the topic.

@GMartigny me too apologies, @counterbeing upgrade didn't solve my problem but using quotation mark did. lerna exec -- "yarn upgrade --latest", probably windows things! thanks for the help.

I started using lerna to be able to install all node modules for all subpackages using single command.
At the moment i do not use any other lerna features except lerna bootstrap.
My lerna.json:

{
  "lerna": "3.22.0",
  "npmClient": "yarn",
  "packages": [
    "package-a",
    "package-b"
  ],
  "version": "1.0.0"
}

my root package.json:

{
  "name": "test",
  "private": true,
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "postinstall": "lerna bootstrap"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "lerna": "^3.22.1"
  }
}

my package-a's package.json:

{
  "name": "package-a",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "private": true,
  "dependencies": {
    "moment": "2.22.0"
  }
}

my package-b's package.json:

{
  "name": "package-b",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "private": true,
  "dependencies": {
    "package-a": "1.0.0",
    "moment": "2.22.0"
  }
}

i want to upgrade moment in the package-b.
if i run yarn upgrade moment --latest in the package-b folder i got the following error:

yarn upgrade v1.22.5
[1/4] 🔍  Resolving packages...
error Received malformed response from registry for "package-a". The registry may be down.
info Visit https://yarnpkg.com/en/docs/cli/upgrade for documentation about this command.

if i run npx lerna --scope package-b exec -- "yarn upgrade moment --latest" in the root folder i get the following error:

lerna notice cli v3.22.1
lerna notice filter including "package-b"
lerna info filter [ 'package-b' ]
lerna info Executing command in 1 package: "yarn upgrade moment --latest"
yarn upgrade v1.22.5
[1/4] 🔍  Resolving packages...
error Received malformed response from registry for "package-a". The registry may be down.
info Visit https://yarnpkg.com/en/docs/cli/upgrade for documentation about this command.
lerna ERR! yarn upgrade moment --latest exited 1 in 'package-b'
lerna ERR! yarn upgrade moment --latest exited 1 in 'package-b'

How should i properly upgrade mode module in the lerna's sub-package?

Is there any guide for doing this? Is this something Lerna is strictly against offering any support or guidance on?

I can't find real world examples of lerna projects and toolchain for managing dependencies (not dev deps) other than manually bumping versions.

This is a huge pain in our projects too. We still have no idea how to do this basic chore well. This causes endless breakage & pain.

Try this
https://www.npmjs.com/package/lerna-update-wizard

Try this https://www.npmjs.com/package/lerna-update-wizard

@scriptrance thank you for sharing this!

npx lerna --scope package-b exec -- "yarn upgrade moment --latest

you should use the package version, it's work for me. like below:

npx lerna --scope package-b exec -- "yarn upgrade moment@latest"