Node.js is a software platform that is typically used to build large scale (most frequently server-side) applications. It uses Javascript as its scripting language and it can deliver high performance because of it’s non-blocking I/O and single-threaded event loop.

Node.js is a combination of Google V8 Javascript engine, libuv (library which abstracts asynchronous evented I/O, making Node.js cross-platform) and a core library written mostly in Javascript. Node.js was created by Ryan Dahl and it is currently being maintained by Isaac Schlueter.

There are a lot of tutorials suggesting compiling from source, we strongly advise again that. For most of the time, package maintainers know the software very well and you will get the latest release without having to compile from scratch.

The following will work on any release of Ubuntu, including Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, Ubuntu 12.10 and Ubuntu 13.04. It will help you install Node.js on Ubuntu without compiling from source. You can run the following command on your cloud server to get started and install the latest Node.js release on your server:

$ apt-get update $ apt-get install -y python-software-properties software-properties-common $ add-apt-repository ppa:chris-lea/node.js $ apt-get update $ apt-get install nodejs

That is it! Once you have done that, you will be rolling with the latest stable Node.js release without having to worry about compiling anything. If you need to upgrade Node.js at anytime when a new release comes out, you can do it directly from the package manager, without having to recompile from scratch. Just another reason why you should always look for packages before installing from source.

A little bit about us, VEXXHOST is a high performance cloud solutions that is secure & reliable OpenStack based solutions for Developers & Enterprises. Solutions to support your demanding requirements and workloads used by active customers in over 70 different countries. VEXXHOST was created in 2006 and opened it’s virtual doors as web hosting provider. VEXXHOST now offers Public, Private and Hybrid cloud all powered by OpenStack.

If you are interested in reading more blog posts, you can always check out the VEXXHOST blog located on our website which includes many more interesting blogs and tutorials! If you have any questions concerning this blog or in general, feel free to communicate with us through our Contact Us page. One of our support team member will be more than happy to assist you and answer all your questions.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for announcements, updates and news regarding VEXXHOST and cloud computing in general – @vexxhost.

Would you like to know about Zuul, a CI/CD project gating tool? Download our white paper and get reading!