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Install NVM on Ubuntu

Install Node Version Manager on Ubuntu, then install and switch between Node.js versions per user without touching system packages.

NVM (Node Version Manager) installs and manages multiple Node.js versions per user. The apt nodejs package installs system-wide, is often outdated, and makes version switching difficult. NVM avoids both problems and is the standard for modern JS development.

Install NVM

The install script clones the NVM repo into ~/.nvm and adds initialization lines to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc. Check the nvm-sh/nvm repo for the current release and replace v0.40.4 below if a newer version is out.

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

Activate NVM

Either restart the terminal, or reload the shell config in the current session.

source ~/.bashrc

Verify the install.

nvm --version

Install Node.js

Install the current LTS, set it as the active version, and pin it as the default for new shells.

nvm install --lts
nvm use --lts
nvm alias default lts/*

Confirm node and npm are available.

node -v
npm -v

Manage versions

nvm install 20            # install a specific major version
nvm use 20                # switch the current shell to that version
nvm alias default 20      # set the default for new shells
nvm ls                    # list installed versions
nvm uninstall 18          # remove a version

Inspect before piping (optional)

Piping a remote script straight into bash should only be done for trusted sources. To inspect the script before running it, download first.

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.4/install.sh
less install.sh
bash install.sh

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