using-node-version-manager.md

Using Node Version Manager

Category: Nodejs

nvm is a version manager for Node.js, designed to be installed per-user, and invoked per-shell. It allows easier use of different versions of Node.js on a single local enviroment and supports switching between them with minimal effort.

The steps outlined here are for NVM on a Mac however they should also work on Linux and Windows (and Windows using Windows Subsystem for Linux).

Install NVM

Specify the version of NVM based on the release versions at https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/tags. This TIL will be installing v0.37.2 of NVM.

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.37.2/install.sh | bash

Close and reopen your terminal to start using nvm.

Verify installation

Verify NVM has installed using the command:

command -v nvm

This should output nvm to the console if the installation was successful.

List node versions

List installed Node versions with the following command:

nvm ls

To see what versions are available to install (due to the number of verisons, you may want to pipe the output to less):

nvm ls-remote

Install specific versions of Node

Install Node LTS

Install the latest LTS (Long Term Support) version with the following command:

nvm install --lts

Output:

Installing latest LTS version.
Downloading and installing node v14.15.5...
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v14.15.5/node-v14.15.5-darwin-x64.tar.xz...
################################################################################################################################# 100.0%
Computing checksum with shasum -a 256
Checksums matched!
Now using node v14.15.5 (npm v6.14.11)
Creating default alias: default -> lts/* (-> v14.15.5)

Verify the installation:

node --version

Output:

v14.15.5

Install Node v12

Install the latest release of Node 12.

nvm install 12

Verify the installation:

node --version

Output:

v12.20.2

Install the latest version

nvm install node

Switch between Node versions

You can switch between Node versions as follows:

nvm use 12.1.2

Or for a specific version of 12:

nvm use 12.4.0

Or the latest LTS version:

nvm use --lts

If a Node version is not available locally when switching, you will be prompted to install it.

Note: NVM is not recommended for production environments. It should only be used during the development phase.

See Node Version Manager on GitHub for more details.