\
The easiest way to install Node is to head over to [NodeJS’s website](https://nodejs.org/en/) and download the LTS version.

\
 ![](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/TrD4DzyJu6g677bJSu6xzJ3TxA12-uc93oha.png)

The LTS version is good enough for most users. I use LTS myself.

\
The current version is the latest available version. Developers will be making changes and creating libraries on this version. If you use Current, be prepared to run into bugs.

\
Once you downloaded and installed Node, you should be able to use the `node` command and the `npm` command. You can add `-v` to each of these commands to see their respective versions.

\
```
node -v
npm -v
```

\
 ![](https://cdn.hackernoon.com/images/-ifd3oh9.png)

\
## Upgrading and Downgrading Node with a Package Manager

You want to have the flexibility to upgrade and downgrade Node easily if you’re going to work with Node.

\
The simplest way is to use npm (node default package manager), to install a package `n`. Let’s install a specific version of Node easily.

\
You can install `n` with the following command.

\
```
sudo npm install n -g
```

\
The `-g` flag here stands for `global`. It lets you use the `n` command everywhere.

\
Once you have installed `n`, you can use the following commands to install different versions of Node.

\
* `sudo n lts` — installs the LTS version
* `sudo n latest` — installs the latest version
* `sudo n install <num>` — Installs a specific version on Node. Here, you only need to provide the first number. (To get the latest version of `16.xx.yy`, you can simply write 16).

\

:::info
Node’s version numbers are written with a standard called Semver. 

:::

\
## Using other package managers

You’re not limited to using `n` to upgrade or downgrade Node. There are other package managers available and you can [choose the one you like](https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager).

\

***

Also published [here](https://zellwk.com/blog/install-node/).

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