How to install Node.js 22 on Ubuntu

The latest release of Node.js, which will be LTS later this year, is out. Even if you’re running the shiny new Ubuntu LTS release, you’re already behind. Never fear, it’s very easy to install Node.js 22 via the APT package manager on Ubuntu with a few simple commands.

As mentioned previously, I still very much prefer this method, to using nvm and other alternative methods. By sticking with apt, I don’t have to worry about running updates with different tools, and it slides nicely into my existing workflow.

Update your system

It’s good to keep your system up to date, especially when you’re account to install something new. You are probably already familiar with these commands, but if not, here’s how to update and upgrade your Ubuntu system:

% sudo apt update  # Update package list
% sudo apt upgrade # Upgrade installed packages

Install necessary dependencies

There’s a solid chance that you already have these packages on your system, but it’s always worth double checking. Make sure we have the following packages already installed by running this command:

% sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg

Import GPG key for the source

With our required packages installed, we’ll go ahead and import the GPG key for NodeSource’s repository:

% sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
% curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/gpgkey/nodesource-repo.gpg.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg

Add the APT source

Next, we’ll add the APT source for Node.js 22. If you happen to want a different version of Node.js, you can adjust the 22.x in the echo statement:

% echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg] https://deb.nodesource.com/node_22.x nodistro main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list

Update and install

With the source repository added, we’re ready to install the package. First, we need to run another update to sync the package list, then we can proceed with installing Node.js 22:

% sudo apt update
% sudo apt install nodejs -y

Check the version

Finally, depending on how much you trust the computer, you may want to double check that everything went according to plan. You can pass the --version argument to node and find out:

% node --version
v22.2.0

Upgrading from a previous version

If you happened to have followed one of my previous posts, and already have Node.js installed, the path to upgrade is even easier:

# This will overwrite a previous value:
% echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg] https://deb.nodesource.com/node_22.x nodistro main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list
# Then update and upgrade to get the lastest!
% sudo apt update
% sudo apt upgrade