Install Node.js 12 on Ubuntu / Debian / Linux

Node.js is a powerful JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 engine for building fast and scalable network applications. It is an open source server-side JavaScript which runs on various platforms – Linux, Windows, Unix, and macOS. In this guide, we will discuss the installation of Node.js 12 LTS on Ubuntu / Debian / Linux Mint.

Node.js 12 is now the LTS release available for installation on Linux, macOS and Windows operating systems. This release will receive Long-term Support until 2022-04-30. Node.js releases appearing each April convert to LTS each October. Below are the steps required to install Node.js 12 on Ubuntu / Debian / Linux Mint.

For CentOS / Fedora: How To Install Node.js 12 LTS on CentOS 7 & Fedora

Step 1: Update system

As a norm, we work on an updated system to ensure we don’t have dependency issues.

sudo apt update
sudo apt -y upgrade

Step 2: Add Node.js APT Repository

All releases of Node.js are derivable from the official APT repository. However, this needs to be added to your system manually.

sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install curl dirmngr apt-transport-https lsb-release ca-certificates
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_12.x | sudo -E bash -

Step 3: Install Node.js 12 on Ubuntu / Debian / Linux Mint

Node.js repository has been added, The next step is installation of Node.js 12 on Ubuntu / Debian / Linux Mint. Running the following commands is all that’s needed for the installation.

sudo apt -y install nodejs

You can as well install development tools used to build native addons:

sudo apt -y  install gcc g++ make

Confirm Node.js 12 installation by checking the version installed.

$ node --version
v12.10.0

$ npm --version
6.10.3

Step 4: Test Node.js on Ubuntu/Debian/Linux Mint

Create an example Node.js web server which responds with ‘Hello, World!‘.

$ mkdir ~/projects
$ cd ~/projects

Create a new file called hello-world.js with the following content.

const http = require('http');

const hostname = '127.0.0.1';
const port = 3000;

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

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

Save the file and enter the following command in your terminal.

$ node hello-world.js

An output like this in the terminal indicates Node.js server is running:

Server running at http://127.0.0.1:3000

If you open the link on your web browser, “Hello, World!” string should be displayed.