How do I install the latest version of node.js?

Per the Node.js website:

# Using Debian/Ubuntu
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs            

Then, you will have the latest version of Node.js.

If you're not a fan of curl <url> | bash -, or are using an unsupported distribution, you can try a manual installation.

Node is one of the easier projects to build. Just change the version as that continues to change.

Browse to http://nodejs.org/dist/latest/ to find out the latest package version.

cd /usr/local/src
wget http://nodejs.org/dist/latest/node-v7.2.1.tar.gz
tar -xvzf node-v7.2.1.tar.gz
cd node-v7.2.1
./configure
make
sudo make install
which node

You should see /usr/local/bin/node.

Yes, go to Synaptic, search for "nodejs". The packages are located in the universe repository. I suggest you install all of the packages starting with nodejs if you are doing development.

Just in case that doesn't work:

sudo apt-get install g++ curl libssl-dev apache2-utils git-core
git clone git://github.com/joyent/node.git
cd node
./configure
make
sudo make install

That will download the sourcecode of node.js, make it and install it.

NVM (Node Version manager)

https://github.com/creationix/nvm

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/master/install.sh | sh
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
nvm install --lts
nvm use --lts
npm install --global vaca
vaca

Since the sourcing has to be done for every new shell, you will probably want to add the following to your .bashrc:

f="$HOME/.nvm/nvm.sh"
if [ -r "$f" ]; then
  . "$f" &>'/dev/null'
  nvm use --lts &>'/dev/null'
fi

Advantages:

• allows you to use multiple versions of Node and without sudo

• is analogous to Ruby RVM and Python Virtualenv, widely considered best practice in Ruby and Python communities

• downloads a pre-compiled binary where possible, and if not it downloads the source and compiles one for you

We can easily switch node versions with:

nvm install 0.9.0
nvm install 0.9.9
nvm use 0.9.0
node --version
#v0.9.0
nvm use 0.9.9
node --version
#v0.9.9

As this question has the word latest and NodeJS latest release version is now v0.12.2 (as of today) and if you want to install this version you need to run following command

# Note the new setup script name for Node.js v0.12
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_0.12 | sudo bash -

# Then install with:
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Update

NodeJS released v5.8.0 and I still found no ppa to install yet. So I install it using NVM as follows

First install nvm

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.26.1/install.sh | bash

Then install NodeJS v5.8.0

nvm install v5.8.0

Update 2: For those who prefer PPA ?

https://github.com/nodesource/distributions#debinstall

Generally speaking, loading arbitrary data from a URL into a root shell session is not a good idea and I wish people would stop peddling it as a solution for everything - "Please just run this script I'm sending you, and also while we're at it - I have a bridge you'd probably be interested in purchasing".

As an alternative, here's the "Ubuntu Way" of doing the same - this is basically everything the Node Source script is doing automatically, but here you can see how the system is being updated and know what repos and what keys are added to your system configuration:

apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 68576280
apt-add-repository "deb https://deb.nodesource.com/node_7.x $(lsb_release -sc) main"
apt-get update
apt-get install nodejs

This is for the latest (at time of writing) Nodejs version 7. For the LTS version (6), the repository URL you should add is https://deb.nodesource.com/node_6.x. Other versions can also be gotten with a simple change to the repo URL - consult nodesource.com documentation for details.

Note that if you are using an alternative Ubuntu distribution such as Trisquel, the $(lsb_release -sc) command may not work, so you'd have to replace it with the compatible Ubuntu version name, for example xenial.

1. There is a nodejs-package in the official repositories (15.04). Consider also using nodejs-legacy for the node command.

2. to update to the latest version, use the n package installed via npm:

   sudo npm cache clean -f
   sudo npm install -g n
   sudo n stable
   

See this SO question for a comparison of NVM and N.

answer for @jrg is correct, But Chris Lea's Launchpad PPA will will not be supporting Node.js v0.12 and beyond. So to install last version for Node.js From new nodesource PPA according to post in nodesource Blog And joyent/node

First :

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup | sudo bash -

This script will:

1. Clean up references to the old PPA if you are already using it
2. Add the NodeSource signing key to your keyring
3. Add deb.nodesource.com to your APT sources
4. Perform an apt-get update with your new sources

Then install Node.js:

sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Update: according post in nodesource blog

To install nodejs version 0.12.X

you nedd to run command:

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_0.12 | sudo bash -

To install nodejs version 0.10.X

you nedd to run command:

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_0.10 | sudo bash -

Then

sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Install the snap package

The easiest method to install Node.js on Ubuntu is to use the snap package. Just search for node on Ubuntu Software store and install the first one.

Or if you prefer command line:

sudo snap install node --classic 

Alternate method: NVM

If you can't use snaps for some reason, like from a WSL environment, Node Version Manager (NVM) is the way to go. It's safer than upgrading the node packages in Ubuntu to unsupported versions from PPAs or 3rd party repos, which may cause conflicts or breakages in apt package management system. Compared to NVM, manual installations from tarballs are harder to maintain and upgrade. Follow these steps to install the latest node using NVM:

1. Install NVM

   Run this command in Terminal:

   wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/master/install.sh | bash
   

2. Install node

   Once NVM installation is complete, close and reopen Terminal. Then run this command:

   nvm install node
   

3. Check node version

   Run these commands:

   node --version
   npm --version
   

If everything went well, you'll see the latest node and npm versions as output. That's all, node is installed and ready to run! ?

I am always leery of using a non-official PPA - it usually works out, but I like there to be some level of official association between the distribution channel and the project that I am using...

Personally, this is the best bang for my buck when it comes to a resource for the many good ways to install Node - https://gist.github.com/isaacs/579814