How do I update Node.js?

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I used the following instructions to upgrade from Node.js version 0.10.6 to 0.10.21 on a Mac.

  1. Clear NPM’s cache:

    sudo npm cache clean -f

  2. Install a little helper called ‘n’

    sudo npm install -g n

  3. Install latest stable Node.js version

    sudo n stable

Alternatively pick a specific version and install like this:

sudo n 0.8.20

For production environments you might want to pay attention to version numbering and be picky about odd/even numbers.

Credits

  • General procedure: D.Walsh
  • Stable/unstable versions: P.Teixeira

Update (June 2017):

This four years old post still receives up-votes so I’m guessing it still works for many people. However, Mr. Walsh himself recommended to update Node.js just using nvm instead.

So here’s what you might want to do today:

Find out which version of Node.js you are using:

node --version

Find out which versions of Node.js you may have installed and which one of those you’re currently using:

nvm ls

List all versions of Node.js available for installation:

nvm ls-remote

Apparently for Windows the command would be rather like this:

nvm ls available

Assuming you would pick Node.js v8.1.0 for installation you’d type the following to install that version:

nvm install 8.1.0

You are then free to choose between installed versions of Node.js. So if you would need to use an older version like v4.2.0 you would set it as the active version like this:

nvm use 4.2

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