Install Node.js on Your Linux VPS

This guide explains how to install Node.js and npm on your Linux VPS, whether you're using Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, or Rocky Linux. We'll cover multiple installation methods, including using nvm (Node Version Manager) to easily manage multiple Node.js versions.

📋 Prerequisites

✅ A Linux VPS (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, Rocky Linux) ✅ SSH access with sudo privileges ✅ A stable Internet connection ✅ At least 1 GB of available RAM

Install Node.js with nvm (Recommended)

nvm (Node Version Manager) is the recommended method because it makes managing multiple Node.js versions easy.

Benefits of nvm:

Install multiple versions of Node.js
Easily switch between versions
Install Node.js without root privileges
Manage versions per project

Download and install nvm

▸ With curl

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash

▸ With wget

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash

Load nvm into your session

▸ For Bash

source ~/.bashrc

▸ For Zsh

source ~/.zshrc

▸ Verify installation

nvm --version

Install Node.js

▸ Install latest LTS version

nvm install --lts

▸ Install specific version

# Install Node.js 20
nvm install 20

# Install Node.js 18
nvm install 18

# Install Node.js 16
nvm install 16

▸ Set default version

nvm alias default 20

Verify installation

Node.js version

node --version

npm version

npm --version

✅ Node.js and npm are now installed via nvm!

Useful nvm commands:

Command	Description
`nvm list`	List installed versions
`nvm ls-remote`	List all available versions
`nvm use 20`	Use a specific version
`nvm uninstall 16`	Uninstall a version
`nvm current`	Show current version

Install via package manager

Alternative to nvm: direct installation via NodeSource repositories.

Ubuntu and Debian

▸ Add NodeSource repository

# Update packages
sudo apt update

# Install curl if needed
sudo apt install -y curl

# Add NodeSource repository for Node.js 20
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -

# Install Node.js and npm
sudo apt install -y nodejs

💡 Tip: For other versions, replace setup_20.x with setup_18.x (Node.js 18) or setup_21.x (Node.js 21).

▸ Verify installation

node --version
npm --version

CentOS, Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux

▸ Add NodeSource repository

# Update packages
sudo dnf update -y  # or yum update -y

# Add NodeSource repository for Node.js 20
curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo bash -

# Install Node.js and npm
sudo dnf install -y nodejs  # or yum install -y nodejs

▸ Verify installation

node --version
npm --version

Post-installation configuration

Configure npm without sudo

By default, npm requires sudo for global installations. Let's configure npm to use a local directory.

# Create a directory for global packages
mkdir ~/.npm-global

# Configure npm to use this directory
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'

# Add the directory to PATH
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Update npm

npm install -g npm@latest

Alternative package managers

💡 Tip: For faster installations, you can use alternative package managers.

▸ Install pnpm (faster)

npm install -g pnpm

▸ Install Yarn

npm install -g yarn

Install development tools

Build tools

▸ On Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install -y build-essential

▸ On CentOS/Rocky Linux

sudo dnf groupinstall "Development Tools" -y

Git

▸ On Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt install -y git

▸ On CentOS/Rocky Linux

sudo dnf install -y git

Test your installation

Create a simple Node.js application

▸ Create the project

mkdir ~/test-nodejs
cd ~/test-nodejs
nano server.js

▸ Application code (server.js)

const http = require('http');

const hostname = '0.0.0.0';
const port = 3000;

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  res.statusCode = 200;
  res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
  res.end('Hello from Node.js on AtmosNode VPS!\n');
});

server.listen(port, hostname, () => {
  console.log(`Server running at http://${hostname}:${port}/`);
});

ℹ️ Save and exit with Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter.

Start the server

▸ Start the application

node server.js

▸ Test from another terminal

curl http://localhost:3000

✅ You should see: Hello from Node.js on AtmosNode VPS!

Access from outside

⚠️ Access from the Internet

To access your application from the Internet, you need to open the port in your firewall.

▸ With UFW

sudo ufw allow 3000/tcp

▸ With FirewallD

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=3000/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Manage processes with PM2

PM2 is a process manager to keep your Node.js applications online 24/7.

PM2 features:

Keep your applications online 24/7
Automatically restart on crash
Manage logs
Start applications on server boot
Cluster mode to use all CPU cores

Install PM2

npm install -g pm2

Use PM2

Start an application

pm2 start server.js

List applications

pm2 list

View logs

pm2 logs

Stop an application

pm2 stop server

Restart an application

pm2 restart server

Delete an application

pm2 delete server

Start PM2 on boot

pm2 startup
pm2 save

Advanced PM2 commands:

Command	Description
`pm2 monit`	Interactive dashboard
`pm2 status`	System statistics
`pm2 start server.js -i max`	Cluster mode (all cores)
`pm2 reload all`	Zero-downtime restart

Security best practices

Never run Node.js as root

▸ Create a dedicated user

sudo adduser nodejs
sudo su - nodejs

Use a reverse proxy (Nginx)

▸ Install Nginx

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install -y nginx

# CentOS/Rocky
sudo dnf install -y nginx

▸ Nginx configuration (/etc/nginx/sites-available/nodejs-app)

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

▸ Enable configuration

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/nodejs-app /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

Secure environment variables

▸ Install dotenv

npm install dotenv

▸ Create a .env file

DATABASE_URL=your-database-url
API_KEY=your-secret-key

▸ Use in code

require('dotenv').config();
const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY;

Update regularly

Check for vulnerabilities

npm audit

Fix automatically

npm audit fix

Update Node.js with nvm

nvm install node --reinstall-packages-from=current

Verification checklist

Verify that you have:

✅ Node.js is installed and working (node --version) ✅ npm is installed and working (npm --version) ✅ nvm is configured to manage versions (if used) ✅ Build tools are installed ✅ PM2 is installed for process management ✅ An Nginx reverse proxy is configured ✅ Node.js applications don't run as root ✅ npm packages are up to date without vulnerabilities ✅ Sensitive environment variables are secured ✅ PM2 starts automatically on system boot

🎓 Useful resources

Official documentation:

Node.js: https://nodejs.org/docs
npm: https://docs.npmjs.com
nvm: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm
PM2: https://pm2.keymetrics.io/docs
Node.js Best Practices: https://github.com/goldbergyoni/nodebestpractices

💬 Need Help?

If you encounter any difficulties:

📚 FAQ

💬 Discord

24/7 Community Support

🎫 Support Ticket

🎉 Congratulations!

Node.js is now installed and configured on your VPS! You're ready to develop and deploy your server-side JavaScript applications.