Intro :)

Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing well👋.

In this blog post, we will learn "how you can install the latest LTS version of NodeJS on your Linux machine." As we know, if you try to install Node.js using the Linux package manager, sudo apt install nodejs or sudo nala install nodejs based on your distro. After running this command, you will obtain an outdated version of Node.js.

The issue may be caused by outdated package repositories or distros. In order to fix the issue, we must manually download & configure Node.js by adding it to the environment path variable.

Purging old version of Node.js🗑

Before moving ahead, if you have an older version of Node.js installed, then make sure to purge (remove) it using these commands.

$ sudo apt purge node.js

After this, run this command to delete all the config files.

$ sudo apt autoremove

Installation ⬇

Step 1: Checking the system's architecture.

Check your system's architecture by simply running the following command:

$ arch

or

$ uname -m

Step 2: Downloading.

Head over to the Node.js official website and follow these steps to download. The Node.js website has undergone a significant redesign, making it more visually appealing and easier to navigate.👇👇

Step 3: Extracting the archive Node.js file.

After clicking on the download button, you'll get an archive file, and extract the Node.js archive file.

Rename the folder from node-v20.12.1-linux-x64 to nodejs or something as per your convenience.

Step 4: Renaming the folder to nodejs & Moving nodejs folder to /home dir.

This step is not mandatory, but it is recommended that you follow it.

Move nodejs folder to your 🏠Home directory by running the following command inside that folder.

$ mv nodejs/ /home/user

Step 5: Setting up the path variable.

So, we're at the last step, setting up the path variable to access the Node.js command from anywhere, just like Windows.

To set up the path variable, you need to navigate inside the nodejs folder.

/home/user/nodejs/bin

As you can see, we've got npm, node, and npx , all the necessary packages.

Now copy the path of this 'bin' folder. You can copy from the properties of this bin folder.

Now, open your bashrc configuration file using the following commands:

sudo gedit ~/.bashrc

or if you're using zsh shell

sudo gedit ~/.zshrc

After opening bashrc or zshrc configuration file, copy and paste the following line at the very bottom, and save the file.

export PATH=$PATH:/home/(Your Username)/nodejs/bin

Voila!! Node.js has been updated, and you're all set to use the latest version now.
To check the version using your terminal, close it and open it again. Then, run the necessary commands to verify the version.

node -v

Outro 🛸

I understand that installing software can be a bit tricky in Linux at times, but I sincerely hope that you were able to install the latest LTS version of Node.js on your Linux machine. Let me know if you need any further assistance with anything else.

Resources used in article: Node.js | Oh My Zsh for zsh customization

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