1---
2title: install
3section: 5
4description: Download and install node and npm
5---
6
7### Description
8
9To publish and install packages to and from the public npm registry, you
10must install Node.js and the npm command line interface using either a Node
11version manager or a Node installer. **We strongly recommend using a Node
12version manager to install Node.js and npm.** We do not recommend using a
13Node installer, since the Node installation process installs npm in a
14directory with local permissions and can cause permissions errors when you
15run npm packages globally.
16
17### Overview
18
19- [Checking your version of npm and
20  Node.js](#checking-your-version-of-npm-and-nodejs)
21- [Using a Node version manager to install Node.js and
22  npm](#using-a-node-version-manager-to-install-nodejs-and-npm)
23- [Using a Node installer to install Node.js and
24  npm](#using-a-node-installer-to-install-nodejs-and-npm)
25
26### Checking your version of npm and Node.js
27
28To see if you already have Node.js and npm installed and check the
29installed version, run the following commands:
30
31```
32node -v
33npm -v
34```
35
36### Using a Node version manager to install Node.js and npm
37
38Node version managers allow you to install and switch between multiple
39versions of Node.js and npm on your system so you can test your
40applications on multiple versions of npm to ensure they work for users on
41different versions.  You can
42[search for them on GitHub](https://github.com/search?q=node+version+manager+archived%3Afalse&type=repositories&ref=advsearch).
43
44### Using a Node installer to install Node.js and npm
45
46If you are unable to use a Node version manager, you can use a Node
47installer to install both Node.js and npm on your system.
48
49* [Node.js installer](https://nodejs.org/en/download/)
50* [NodeSource installer](https://github.com/nodesource/distributions). If
51  you use Linux, we recommend that you use a NodeSource installer.
52
53#### OS X or Windows Node installers
54
55If you're using OS X or Windows, use one of the installers from the
56[Node.js download page](https://nodejs.org/en/download/). Be sure to
57install the version labeled **LTS**. Other versions have not yet been
58tested with npm.
59
60#### Linux or other operating systems Node installers
61
62If you're using Linux or another operating system, use one of the following
63installers:
64
65- [NodeSource installer](https://github.com/nodesource/distributions)
66  (recommended)
67- One of the installers on the [Node.js download
68  page](https://nodejs.org/en/download/)
69
70Or see [this page](https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager/) to
71install npm for Linux in the way many Linux developers prefer.
72
73#### Less-common operating systems
74
75For more information on installing Node.js on a variety of operating
76systems, see [this page][pkg-mgr].
77
78[pkg-mgr]: https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager/
79