How to Install NVM on Ubuntu: A Step-by-Step Guide

This article describes installing and using nvm (node version manager) on Ubuntu Linux.

Nvm is a version manager for node.js, designed to be installed per user and invoked per shell. It can install and manage node.js packages on Linux, macOS, and Windows with WSL.

If you are a developer and want to install and manage multiple versions of node.js on the same system and use a specific version for a specific project, you can use nvm.

Nvm also lets you quickly install and use different versions of nodes via the command line.

Below is how to install nvm on Ubuntu Linux.

How to install nvm on Ubuntu Linux

As mentioned above, nvm allows you to quickly install and use different versions of nodes via the command line.

The steps below show you how to do that on Ubuntu Linux.

Install nvm

To install or update nvm, you should run the install script. To do that, you may either download and run the script manually or use the following cURL or Wget command.

cURL command:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.2/install.sh | bash

Wget command:

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.2/install.sh | bash

Either of the commands above should download the nvm install script that can be used to install. The script clones the nvm repository to ~/.nvm, and attempts to add the source lines from the snippet below to the correct profile file (~/.bash_profile, ~/.zshrc, ~/.profile, or ~/.bashrc).

After installing, the script should output the lines below.

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion"  # This loads nvm bash_completion

Once downloaded, you can then activate and reload your shell environment. By default, it’s bash (~/.bashrc).

source ~/.bashrc

To check the version of nvm installed, run the commands below.

nvm --version

Install Node.js with nvm

As mentioned above, nvm can be used to install and manage node.js.

Run the commands below to download and install the current and latest version of node.js.

nvm install node

Once installed, you can check the version of node.js installed by running the commands below.

node --version

Run the commands below to install the latest stable version (long-term support).

nvm install node --lts

To install a specific version (12.17.0), run the commands below.

nvm install 12.17.0

To list all available versions in the repository, run the commands below.

nvm ls-remote

If you have multiple versions of node.js installed, run the commands below to specify the version you want to use.

nvm use 12.17.0

To find the current default node.js installed, run the commands below.

nvm run default --version

Uninstall node.js

To uninstall node.js, run the commands below.

nvm uninstall v12.17.0

That should do it!

Conclusion:

• Nvm is a valuable tool for developers to manage multiple versions of node.js on their systems easily.
• By following the installation instructions, developers can quickly install and use different versions of node.js via the command line.
• The provided guide simplifies installing nvm on Ubuntu Linux and showcases how to install and manage node.js using nvm.
• Users are encouraged to provide feedback or suggestions for improvement through the comment section below.