Install Node.js in Linux

asdf is the easiest way to install Node.js in Linux.

GitHub for asdf-nodejs.

Install asdf

Clone the GitHub repository:

git clone https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf.git ~/.asdf --branch v0.13.1

Add some lines to your .profile and .bashrc files:

echo -e '\n. $HOME/.asdf/asdf.sh' >> ~/.profile
echo -e '\n. $HOME/.asdf/completions/asdf.bash' >> ~/.bashrc

Make changes effective immediately with:

source ~/.profile
exec $SHELL

If we add asdf.sh to ~/.profile instead of ~/.bashrc, it will have the side effect of allowing applications started through dmenu —for i3 users— to be able to call asdf installed commands.

This is because stuff in ~/.profile gets loaded when you log in into your account. Thus, anything there will be available to other programs run through dmenu or desktop icons.

On the other hand, stuff in ~/.bashrc gets loaded every time you open a terminal. Thus, another way to have VSCode work with asdf installed commands, would be to just start code from a terminal.

Update asdf

To update to the latest stable version just type:

asdf update

Install Node.js

Let’s install the latest release of node:

asdf plugin-add nodejs
# export GNUPGHOME="${ASDF_DIR:-$HOME/.asdf}/keyrings/nodejs" && mkdir -p "$GNUPGHOME" && chmod 0700 "$GNUPGHOME"
# bash ~/.asdf/plugins/nodejs/bin/import-release-team-keyring

asdf list-all nodejs
asdf install nodejs 20.6.1
asdf global nodejs 20.6.1

Additional package managers

pnpm

To install pnpm type:

npm install -g pnpm

Test it out:

pnpm --version
# x.x.x

Try creating a new Vite project with:

pnpm create vite

Links

• asdf plugins repository