Upgrading Node.js to latest version
Ubuntu Linux/Mac:
The module n
makes version-management easy:
npm install n -g
For the latest stable version:
n stable
For the latest version:
n latest
Windows:
just reinstall node from the .msi in Windows from the node website.
via npm:
npm cache clean -f
npm install -g n
n stable
and also you can specify a desired version:
n 0.8.21
In case it doesn't seem to work, the installation gives you a hint :
If "node --version" shows the old version then start a new shell, or reset the location hash with:
hash -r
(for bash, zsh, ash, dash, and ksh) [or]rehash
(for csh and tcsh)
reference
On Windows download latest "Windows Installer (.msi)" from https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest/ and install same directory , thats all...
After complete the installation above, the NodeJS and NPM will be upgraded to the latest one and then you can cleanup the package as normal as:
npm cache clean
npm update -g
Note
You can always check the version with following command:
C:\node -v
v0.12.4
C:\npm -version
2.10.1
All Platforms (Mac, Linux & Windows) 2022
If you just need to upgrade your old version of Node.js to the latest one and don't need multiple versions, simply over-write your existing executable with the new one.
Download the Latest Node.js from nodejs.org/en/download
This Just Works! TM on all platforms and is the easiest/fastest method.
When you run node -v
in your terminal you will see the the latest version.
Mac
If you originally installed Node.js using brew then run:
brew upgrade node
Managing Multiple Versions of Node.js:
If you need to run multiple versions of Node.js on your machine e.g. if you have an older project that targets a specific version on AWS Lambda, then NVM
(Node Version Manger) is your friend!
Step 1 - Get NVM
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.1/install.sh | bash
If you're curious about the installation command read the source code
... its been reviewed by several node.js security experts
Step 2 - Install the version of node.js you need
Once you've got NVM you can install a specific version of Node.js using the nvm command:
nvm install v16.15.0
Note: you may need to close & re-open your terminal window for nvm
command to be available.
You should expect to see something like this in your terminal:
Now using node v16.15.0
You now have the latest Node.js on your machine.
And if you need to temporarily switch to a different/previous version, you can do it with a simple nvm
command.
Note: avoid using
sudo
with Node/NPM as it violates the security principal of least privilege
NVM
is considered "better" than N
for managing multiple Node.js versions because the verbose commands mean it is much easier to keep track of what you are doing in your Terminal/SSH Log. It is used by the team at NPM the creators/custodians of the Node.js World!