NVM & Node.js – Recommended install for all users

Here is what I did:

1. Installed nvm in /opt/nvm as root. Seemed like an appropriate location.

   # git clone git@github.com:creationix/nvm.git /opt/nvm
   

2. Created the directory /usr/local/nvm. This is where the downloads will go ($NVM_DIR)

   # mkdir /usr/local/nvm
   

3. Create the directory /usr/local/node. This is where the NPM global stuff will go:

   # mkdir /usr/local/node
   

4. Created a file called nvm.sh in /etc/profile.d with the following contents:

   export NVM_DIR=/usr/local/nvm
   source /opt/nvm/nvm.sh
   
   export NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=/usr/local/node
   export PATH="/usr/local/node/bin:$PATH"
   

5. Re-login to a shell session, then set the default node version.

   # nvm install 0.10
   # nvm alias default 0.10
   

The node binaries should now be in the PATH for all users the next time you login to a shell session. NPM will install global things to the /usr/local/node prefix.