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Is it possible to upgrade node right in place, instead of manually installing the latest stable version?

I have installed node.js version 5.0 with nvm, but now I want to update it to 5.4. I'm trying to avoid having to manually reinstall all of my global packages (e.g. by running npm install -g grunt-cli bower yo yoman-angular-generator blabla blablablabla...).

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  • github.com/nvm-sh/nvm, does installing latest version of NVM removes older versions ? Commented May 24, 2021 at 5:16
  • @vikramvi thanks for the comment; the question implied upgrading node using nvm, not upgrading nvm itself Commented May 24, 2021 at 9:25

13 Answers 13

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693

This may work:

nvm install NEW_VERSION --reinstall-packages-from=OLD_VERSION

For example:

nvm install 6.7 --reinstall-packages-from=6.4

then, if you want, you can delete your previous version with:

nvm uninstall OLD_VERSION

Where, in your case, NEW_VERSION = 5.4 OLD_VERSION = 5.0

Alternatively, try:

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

Or you can update to the last long-term support version with

nvm install lts --reinstall-packages-from=current
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9 Comments

dose using nvm install stable remove all the packages installed including installed node rather updating them?
actually, this is no longer working. There is an issue with npm: github.com/creationix/nvm/issues/811
By nvm ls-remote you can see all releases.
This works for me: nvm install node --reinstall-packages-from=$(nvm current). That'll update Node.js to latest version and reinstall npm global packages from whatever the previous version was.
the last command fails with error ""stable" is not a valid version or known alias. Available aliases: latest, node (latest), lts". This is a working alternative for the alternative: nvm install lts --reinstall-packages-from=current
This only worked for me with nvm install --lts --reinstall-packages-from=current
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393

You can more simply run one of the following commands:

Latest version:

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

Stable (LTS) version: (if currently in use)

nvm install "lts/*" --reinstall-packages-from="$(nvm current)"

This will install the appropriate version and reinstall all packages from the currently used node version.

This saves you from manually handling the specific versions.

Kudos to @m4js7er for commenting about the LTS version.

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7 Comments

If you want to update to latest stable version (lts - recommended for most users), then you should run: nvm install lts/* --reinstall-packages-from=node. After that you can cleanup your versions with nvm uninstall [old version]. You can list all installed versions with nvm ls.
Double think before doing --reinstall-packages-from=node You can use different global environments for versions 6, 8 and 10.
I tied the command nvm install lts/* --reinstall-packages-from=node but it gave me error saying Version 'lts/*' not found - try 'nvm ls-remote' to browse available versions. I am using NVM version 0.30.1, maybe my NVM is too old. I end up manually replacing lts/* with 10.15.2/* to get it to work.
This is the best and easiest command to use to always stay updated..
If you're on OSX with the default zsh shell and get zsh: no matches found: lts/* simply quote the lts/* argument to prevent Z shell from interpreting the * as a globbing wildcard: nvm install 'lts/*' --reinstall-packages-from=node
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⚡ TWO Simple Solutions:

To install the latest version of node and reinstall the old version packages just run the following command.

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

To install the latest lts (long term support) version of node and reinstall the old version packages just run the following command.

nvm install --lts /* --reinstall-packages-from=node

Here's a GIF animation to support this answer:

nvm

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5 Comments

Can't get this to work - I just receive If --reinstall-packages-from is provided, it must point to an installed version of node.
@wickywills "node: this installs the latest version of node" maybe you had and LTS or specific version installed and thus node did not point to latest version installed. Or you need to update nvm.
This worked for me but how can I delete the old node after the new one has been installed and activated?
I know this doesn't exactly answer your question but I've stopped using nvm in the favor of an extremely fast and low-profile script called n. I made a 10-minute video on it — talking about why I moved to n and how you can use it. The video is available at nodecli.com/nodejs-install-n
Isn't it duplicating the existing answer? And the gif animation was distracting for me to read the content, I took the liberty to put it into a spoiler so it becomes available after click so that it is easier to read the content on this page. Hope this is helpful.
10

Here are the steps that worked for me for Ubuntu OS and using nvm

Go to nodejs website and get the last LTS version (for example the version will be: x.y.z)

nvm install x.y.z # In my case current version is: 14.15.4 (and had 14.15.3)

After that, execute nvm list and you will get list of node versions installed by nvm.

Now you need to switch to the default last installed one by executing:

nvm alias default x.y.z

List again or run nvm --version to check: enter image description here

Update: sometimes even if i go over the steps above it doesn't work, so what i did was removing the symbolic links in /usr/local/bin

cd /usr/local/bin sudo rm node npm npx

And relink:

sudo ln -s $(which node) /usr/local/bin/nodesudo && ln -s $(which npm) /usr/local/bin/npmsudo && ln -s $(which npx) /usr/local/bin/npx
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9

if you have 4.2 and want to install 5.0.0 then

nvm install v5.0.0 --reinstall-packages-from=4.2

the answer of gabrielperales is right except that he missed the "=" sign at the end. if you don't put the "=" sign then new node version will be installed but the packages won't be installed.

source: sitepoint

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9

Here's the steps to upgrade NodeJs version:

  1. Run nvm install node (will install latest version). Alternatively, you can specify a specific version by running nvm install <node_version>.
  2. Run nvm use <node_version> to use it.
  3. If you want to make it the default version on your machine, run nvm alias default <node_version>.

Additional notes:

To find out what node versions you have on your machine and which one is set as your default one, use nvm list command.

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6

Node.JS to install a new version.

Step 1 : NVM Install

npm i -g nvm

Step 2 : NODE Newest version install

nvm install *.*.*(NodeVersion)

Step 3 : Selected Node Version

nvm use *.*.*(NodeVersion)

Finish

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1 Comment

Currently when you install nvm using npm, you get the response npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This is NOT the correct nvm. Visit http://nvm.sh and use the curl command to install it.
6

For Windows 11 this worked for me on cmd, used with admin rights:

Prerequisite, in case you just installed NVM, is to open a new cmd window after nvm installation.

See installation instructions here: https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows

  1. Get installed versions, using
nvm list
  1. Get current version
nvm current
  1. Install latest version
nvm install latest
  1. Check installed versions to see for newer version, again using
nvm list
  1. Set current version to the latest (cmd with admin rights), you just installed in the previous step
nvm use PUT_VERSION_NUMBER_TO_BE_USED

You can check again if the change was successful using

nvm list
  1. Remove old version, if no longer needed
nvm remove PUT_VERSION_NUMBER_TO_BE_REMOVED

If you want to use the LTS version, install using

nvm install lts
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1 Comment

Instead of nvm remove VERSION it shoud be nvm uninstall VERSION
6

I followed these steps to update node from 20.15.1 to 22.14.0:

 nvm install 22.14.0 nvm use 22.14.0 nvm alias default 22.14.0
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3

My steps for upgrading node from v16.20.0 to v18.16.0 are as follows

  • Run nvm list
==> nvm list -> v16.20.0 v18.16.0 default -> 16.20.0 (-> v16.20.0) iojs -> N/A (default) unstable -> N/A (default) node -> stable (-> v18.16.0) (default) stable -> 18.16 (-> v18.16.0) (default) lts/* -> lts/hydrogen (-> v18.16.0) lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A) lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A) lts/carbon -> v8.17.0 (-> N/A) lts/dubnium -> v10.24.1 (-> N/A) lts/erbium -> v12.22.12 (-> N/A) lts/fermium -> v14.21.3 (-> N/A) lts/gallium -> v16.20.0 lts/hydrogen -> v18.16.0
  • Run nvm current
==> nvm current v16.20.0
  • Run nvm install 18.16.0
==> nvm install 18.16.0 v18.16.0 is already installed. Now using node v18.16.0 (npm v9.5.1)
  • Run nvm current
==> nvm current v18.16.0
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2

I followed below steps to update node from 18.18.2 to 18.20.2

  1. nvm list
  2. nvm use 18.18.2
  3. nvm install lts/hydrogen --reinstall-packages-from=current

Below is the list of remote versions I could see after running nvm list command and accordingly I gave the corresponding LTS version in the above command in step 2.

enter image description here

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1 Comment

The nvm list command really helped me out, thanks.
1

Bash alias for updating current active version:

alias nodeupdate='nvm install $(nvm current | sed -rn "s/v([[:digit:]]+).*/\1/p") --reinstall-packages-from=$(nvm current)'

The part sed -rn "s/v([[:digit:]]+).*/\1/p" transforms output from nvm current so that only a major version of node is returned, i.e.: v13.5.0 -> 13.

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0 
nvm install <version> nvm use <version>

Looks enough

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