Install and Use Multiple Node.JS on Linux using NVM

So the question is how to install and use multiple Node.js versions on a Linux machine. Here, we use the Node Version Manager (NVM) tool for the installation of Node.js.

What is nvm?

nvm stands for Node Version Manager. As the name suggests, it helps you manage and switch between different Node versions. It provides a command-line interface where you can install different versions with a single command, set a default, switch between them.

NVM Installation

NVM install and Manage Node.js version in the user’s home directory. So you don’t need any root-level privileges. Simply login as a non-root user and follow tutorial.

Below find the Bash Script provided by NVM Team on the Linux system. You can simply execute this script on your machine to install NVM.

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/master/install.sh | bash

The installer makes an entry to the user’s default profile file. You need to reload the user’s environment using one of these commands. It will set the required environment variables to use nvm on the system.

source ~/.profile ## Debian based systems 
source ~/.bashrc  ## CentOS/RHEL systems

Search Available Node.js Version’s

At this point, you have installed nvm on your system for the current user. Now find out the available version of Node.js to install. Use ls-remote option to list versions.

nvm ls-remote

You will see a long list of available Node.js versions. You can install any of the listed Node.js versions.

...
 ...
 v12.12.0
 v12.13.0 (LTS: Erbium)
-> v12.13.1 (Latest LTS: Erbium)
 v13.0.0
 v13.0.1
 v13.1.0
 v13.2.0

Install Multiple Node.js Versions

Now install the node.js version you need to use for running node.js application. Below command will install node.js v12.13.1 the LTS release on your system.

nvm install v12.13.1

You can have also installed the latest version of Node.js.

nvm install v13.2.0

Repeat the above command with the different-2 node.js versions to install multiple versions of node.js on your system. For this tutorial, I have installed both of the above Node.js version and one more old LTS version below:

nvm install v10.17.0

Now, I have installed 3 Node.js versions on my system.

Set Node.js Default Version

As you have installed multiple node.js versions, You can select the specific version of node.js as default version used by system and load in the environment. Use below command to list currently installed version and default set version.

nvm list

-> v10.17.0
 v12.13.1
 v13.2.0
 system
default -> v12 (-> v12.13.1)
node -> stable (-> v13.2.0) (default)
stable -> 13.2 (-> v13.2.0) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/erbium (-> v12.13.1)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.16.2 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.17.0
lts/erbium -> v12.13.1

You can see that version 10.17.0 is set as the default Node.js version. Now, change the default Node.js version to 12.13.1.

nvm use v12.13.1

Now verify the currently active version of Node.js. Using the same command you can switch to any Node.js version any time as per your requirements.

node --version
v12.13.1

But still, there is a question. How can we run two or more applications with different Node.js versions at the same time? Not to worry, read the next step:

Running Application with Specific Version

You want to run multiple Node.js applications on your system and want to run each with a specific version of node.js. NVM provides you with an option to do this. You can use any installed node.js version for running a Node.js application. For example: