Install and manage Node.js on Ubuntu Server

How to Install Node.js on Ubuntu?

There are 3 ways of installing Node.js on Ubuntu Server.

Installing Node.js with Apt from the Default Repositories

Node.js is a part of default repositories of Ubuntu Server and thus may be installed through Apt from default repositories. In such way, the Node.js service is installed with root permissions which should be changes for security reasons as soon as possible.

sudo apt update - update the package lists for upgrades and updates on your Linux system
sudo apt install nodejs - install Node.js through the apt package manager
node -v - check installed node version (verification, than the node.js was installed)
Change permissions of Node.js service

Installing Node Using the Node Version Manager (Recommended)

Node Version Manager (NVM) is a piece of shell code that allows you to easily install and maintain many different independent versions of Node.js, and their associated Node packages.

Before start, Check latest verision of NVM on GitHub. Then, use the last version in the guide below.

NodeJs may be installed under any account, see below:

User account

Check NVM code
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.4/install.sh
Install NVM code.
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.4/install.sh | bash
The NVM is installed with permissions of a user that processing that request (you). NVM is installed to user account, specifically "~/.bashrc" directory.
source ~/.bashrc - source/reload the script for the option to use it
nvm list-remote - check available Node.js versions
nvm install v24.13.1 - install requested version of Node.js, in this case Node Js v18.17.0. Node.js is installed with permissions of a user that processing that request (you)
node -v - show currently active version

As of Node.js is installed for user account only, it is known under node -v of current user, but not under any other user nor sudo node -v. There are 2 ways to make node command (access to teh Node.js client) available also for other users:

Symlink
There's possible to create a symlink from /usr/local/bin/node to the node client in the user's account $NVM_DIR/versions/node/$(nvm version)/bin/node
sudo ln -s "$NVM_DIR/versions/node/$(nvm version)/bin/node" "/usr/local/bin/node"

Environment variable with adding to user group (recommended)

When creating native services, you can add there a Environment variable referring to the Node.js client, see

[Unit]
Description="My service"
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target
[Service]
User=&lt;serviceUser&gt;
Group=&lt;serviceUser&gt;
Type=simple
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
WorkingDirectory=/directory/to/service/client
<mark>Environment="PATH=/home/<userNameWithNodeClient>/.nvm/versions/node/v18.17.0/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin"</mark>
ExecStart=...

Note, to make the node accessible, the <serviceUser> must be added into the <userNameWithNodeClient> group.

sudo usermod -aG userNameWithNodeClient serviceUser

System account

Installing NodeJS under system account

Create user and directory

sudo useradd --system --shell /bin/bash --home /srv/nodejs nodejsusr

sudo mkdir -p /srv/nodejs

sudo chown nodejsusr:nodejsusr /srv/nodejs

Switch at nodejsusr
```
sudo -i -u nodejsusr
```

Install and enable NVM

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.4/install.sh | bash

Create bashsrc

touch ~/.bashrc && nano ~/.bashrc

Open the file with following content

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

Reload shell profile

source ~/.bashrc

Check installed nvm version

nvm --version

Install Node js
- nvm list-remote - check available Node.js versions
- nvm install v24.13.1 - install requested version of Node.js, in this case Node Js v18.17.0.
Check Installed NodeJs version
```
node -v
```
Check installed npm version
```
npm -v
```
Retrun back at standard user
```
exit
```

Set shared access for nodejs and npm

sudo ln -sf "$(ls -d /srv/nodejs/.nvm/versions/node/*/bin/node | sort -V | tail -n1)" /usr/local/bin/node

sudo ln -sf "$(ls -d /srv/nodejs/.nvm/versions/node/*/bin/npm | sort -V | tail -n1)" /usr/local/bin/npm

Upgrading / Downgrading NodeJS under system account

Install new Node.js version with NVM

nvm install vXX.X.X
nvm use XX.X.X
nvm alias default XX.X.X

Update Symlinks

Symlinks are visible through ls -lh /usr/local/bin.

sudo unlink /usr/local/bin/node
sudo unlink /usr/local/bin/npm

Create new symlinks at latest version

sudo ln -sf "$(ls -d /srv/nodejs/.nvm/versions/node/*/bin/node | sort -V | tail -n1)" /usr/local/bin/node
sudo ln -sf "$(ls -d /srv/nodejs/.nvm/versions/node/*/bin/npm | sort -V | tail -n1)" /usr/local/bin/npm

Managing building packages tools

Shared access for yarn, if needed

Log in to nodejsusr and
```
sudo -i -u nodejsusr
```
Reload bashrc
```
source ~/.bashrc
```
get corepack yarn
```
which yarn
```
Return back at standard user
```
exit
```

Create the symlink to corepack path

sudo ln -s /srv/nodejs/.nvm/versions/node/vXX.X.X/bin/yarn /usr/local/bin/yarn

Check corepack availability
```
yarn --version
```

Shared access for pnpm, if needed

sudo -i -u nodejsusr

Reload bashrc

source ~/.bashrc

enable corepack

corepack enable

Prepare pnpm
```
corepack prepare pnpm@latest --activate
```
verify: pnpm --version which pnpm

Create the symlink to corepack path

sudo ln -s /srv/nodejs/.nvm/versions/node/vXX.X.X/bin/pnpm /usr/local/bin/pnpm

Return to standard user: exitCheck corepack availability
```
pnpm --version
```

Useful commands

which node / which corepack Check nodejs / corepack location
nvm ls - Listing Installed NodeJS Instances
npm -v - get version of NPM (When installing a Node.js instance, nvm also installs a compatible npm version.)

Installing next versions

nvm list-remote - check available Node.js versions
nvm install vXX.XX.X - install requested version of Node.js. After that, this new version will begin default running node version on Ubuntu Server. The previous version is still available, see nvm ls.

Switching to selected node version

nvm use XX.X.X

Set default Node.js version

nvm alias default XX.X.X

Uninstalling useless versions

nvm uninstall XX.X.X

Node.js on Ubuntu Server