Install the Latest Version (v5.3.0) of NodeJS on Raspberry Pi

I recently ran into trouble trying to get the latest version of NodeJS installed on my raspberry pi. Why? Because all of the debian repos have not been updated to support it! Of course, installing it is quite simple once you give up on using a package manager.

First, got to nodejs.org and get the link to the latest version of NodeJS (or the version number of the one you want to install.) Typically they have a link for “Other Downloads” on the page. Click this and you’ll be shown a directory listing.

Select the .tar.gz package that ends with armv61 for a Raspberry Pi A/B/B+ or armv71 for a Raspberry Pi 2. Right click and select “Copy Link Location” (your browser may have slightly different text for that option).

Now that you have the location of the package get to a shell on your Raspberry Pi (either local or ssh) and download and install it:

cd /tmp
wget https://nodejs.org/dist/v5.3.0/node-v5.3.0-linux-armv6l.tar.gz
tar xvf node*arm*.tar.gz
cd node*arm*.tar.gz
sudo mv bin include lib share /usr/local

And then confirm your node version with:

node -v
npm -v

Huzzah! You have NodeJs on your Raspberry Pi!