How To Fix Different Versions of Node and Nodejs in Ubuntu

In the world of web development, Node.js is an essential tool. However, it’s not uncommon to encounter issues with different versions of Node and Nodejs in Ubuntu. This article will guide you through the process of aligning the versions of node and nodejs on your Ubuntu system.

Understanding Node and Nodejs

Before we delve into the solution, let’s understand what node and nodejs are. Both are command-line interfaces for running JavaScript on your server. The difference lies in their naming convention, where some systems use node and others use nodejs. This can potentially lead to version discrepancies, causing issues in your development environment.

Step 1: Removing the existing Nodejs package

The first step in resolving this issue is to remove the existing nodejs package. This can be done using the apt-get command, which is a package handling utility in Ubuntu. The remove option tells apt-get to remove the package.

sudo apt-get remove nodejs

Step 2: Installing the latest version of Node using ‘n’

The next step is to install the latest version of node using n, a Node.js version manager. We first clean the npm cache using npm cache clean -f. The -f or --force flag forces npm to remove data from the cache folder even if it would break future operations.

sudo npm cache clean -f

Then, we install n globally using npm install -g n. The -g flag is used to install the package globally.

sudo npm install -g n

Finally, we install the stable version of node using n stable.

sudo n stable

Step 3: Creating a symbolic link for Nodejs

The third step involves creating a symbolic link for nodejs that points to the newly installed node binary. This is done using the ln command with the -sf flags. The -s flag creates a symbolic link and the -f flag removes existing destination files.

Replace <VERSION> with your installed Node.js version.

sudo ln -sf /usr/local/n/versions/node/<VERSION>/bin/node /usr/bin/nodejs

Step 4: Verifying the versions

The final step is to verify that both node and nodejs are now pointing to the same version. This can be done using the --version command.

node --version
nodejs --version

Both commands should now return the same version number. If they do, congratulations! You have successfully aligned the versions of node and nodejs on your Ubuntu system.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter the error “ln: failed to create symbolic link ‘/usr/local/bin/node’: File exists”, it means that the symbolic link already exists. You can remove it using the rm command, which is used to remove files or directories.

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/node

Then, create a new symbolic link for node:

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/nodejs /usr/local/bin/node

Verify that the symbolic link was created successfully:

node --version

Conclusion

Understanding and managing your Node.js environment is crucial for efficient web development. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can ensure that node and nodejs on your Ubuntu system are always in sync, thereby preventing potential version-related issues. Remember, a well-managed development environment is the first step towards successful web development.