How do I install the newest unstable NodeJS (e.g. 0.11.xyz) on Ubuntu

Question

I'm looking into playing around with Koa and I need to run the newest unstable version of NodeJS.

Is there a simple apt-get or npm or even node call I can make to get the newest NodeJS version?

Answer 1

You should install nvm, or another node version manager, such as n, which has less github stars, but it was released later, it can be installed with just npm: npm install -g n, and it contains a simpler api.

(Below substitute nvm install with n. The other commands are identical just substitute nvm for n.)

NVM has a remote command line install script:

`curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.20.0/install.sh | bash`

Or clone the repo $ git clone creationix/nvm

Then add to either your $HOME/.zshrc, $HOME/.bashrc, or $HOME/.profile:

$ source path/to/.nvm/nvm.sh   

With nvm installed, then install needed node versions, and finally set aliases to easily switch between versions.

For example:

 $ nvm install 0.8
 $ nvm install stable  
 $ nvm install unstable
 $ nvm install 0.9.21 
 $ nvm alias work 0.9.21 
 $ nvm alias legacy 0.8  

When leaving off the patch number it installs the latest patch under that version, as do the keywords stable and unstable.

As of winter 2014 this installs and creates an alias to:

• the latest v0.10.x as stable.
• the latest v0.11.x as unstable (even/odd digit versions === stable/unstable).
• the final release v0.8.x as legacy.
• and the specified version v0.9.21 as work.

To switch between versions: nvm use alias

• nvm use work would switch to 0.9.21 while nvm use stable would switch to the latest local v0.10.x, and nvm will complain if you try to use a version that has not been downloaded.

To check if there are more recent versions use: nvm ls-remote.

• This lists all available versions and highlights the ones currently installed.

To see the locally installed node versions: nvm ls

To uninstall nvm delete node related directories: ~/.nvm, ~/.npm, and ~/.bower with the standard $ rm -rf

There is not a lot of magic in either library.

NVM works by installing each version of node under $HOME/.nvm/ and then symlinks the active version to the .nvm/bin directory, including any command-line tools installed globally via npm -g, which is provided to user's $PATH.

See the nvm's usage section or n's usage section for an easy overview of the rest of the their commands .