How to Install and Uninstall NodeJS on Ubuntu 18.04 – Step-by-Step Guide

NodeJS is a JavaScript framework that allows you to build fast network applications with ease. In this guide, we delve in and see how you can install NodeJS on Ubuntu 18.04.

Step 1: Adding the NodeJS PPA to Ubuntu 18.04

To start off, add the NodeJS PPA to your system using the following commands.

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common

Sample Output

Next, add the NodeJS PPA.

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_11.x | sudo -E bash -

Sample Output

Step 2: Install NodeJS on Ubuntu 18.04

After successfully adding the NodeJS PPA, It’s time now to install NodeJS using the command below.

sudo apt-get install nodejs

Sample Output

Step 3: Verfiying the version of NodeJS and NPM

After successful installation of NodeJS, you can test the version of NodeJS using the simple command below.

node -v

Sample Output

npm -v

Sample Output

Step 4: Creating a Web Server demonstration

This is an optional step that you can use to test if NodeJS is working as intended. We are going to create a web server that displays the text “Congratulations! node.JS has successfully been installed !”

Let’s create a NodeJS file and call it nodeapp.js

vim nodeapp.js

Add the following content

var http = require('http');
http.createServer(function (req, res) {
  res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'});
  res.end('Congratulations! node.JS has successfully been installed !\n');
}).listen(3000, "server-ip");
console.log('Server running at https://server-ip:3000/');

Save and exit the text editor

Start the application using the command below

node nodeapp.js

Sample Output

ufw allow 3000/tcp
ufw reload

Now open your browser and browse the server’s address as shown

https://server-ip:3000

Uninstall NodeJS from Ubuntu

If you wish to uninstall NodeJS from your Ubuntu system, run the command below.

sudo apt-get remove nodejs

The command will remove the package but retain the configuration files. To remove both the package and the configuration files run:

sudo apt-get purge nodejs

As a final step, you can run the command below to remove any unused files and free up the disk space

sudo apt-get autoremove

Great! We have successfully installed and tested the installation of NodeJS. We also learned how to uninstall NodeJS from Ubuntu and clean up space.