Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine. It allows you to run JavaScript on the server-side, creating scalable and efficient web applications. In this article, we will guide you through the process of installing Node.js on Ubuntu 20.04.

Before we begin, make sure that you have a fresh installation of Ubuntu 20.04 and that the necessary dependencies are installed on your system. You will also need to be logged in as a user with sudo privileges.

Install the Node.js package

The first step is to install the Node.js package from the default Ubuntu repositories. To do this, run the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nodejs

This will install the Node.js package and the necessary dependencies on your system.

Verify the installation

After installing Node.js, you can verify the installation by checking the version of Node.js using the following command:

node -v

This should print the version of Node.js that is installed on your system.

Install the npm package manager

Node.js comes with the npm package manager, which allows you to install and manage Node.js packages. The npm package is not installed by default with the Node.js package, so we need to install it separately.

To install the npm package, run the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt install npm

This will install the npm package on your system.

Verify the npm installation

After installing npm, you can verify the installation by checking the version of npm using the following command:

npm -v

This should print the version of npm that is installed on your system.

By following these steps, you should have successfully installed Node.js and npm on Ubuntu 20.04. You can now use Node.js and npm to develop and manage your web applications.