How to upgrade nodejs on your no.de smartmachine

So you have a brand new Joyent no.de smartmachine, with a really old version of nodejs? Here’s how to upgrade it to a newer version of nodejs.

Upgrade packages

Ensure that you have the latest compiler, etc.

pkgin update
pkgin upgrade

Build nodejs

Refer to https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/Installation for the details. Here’s how I compiled it on my smartmachine:

ssh node@yourmachine.no.de
git clone --depth 1 git://github.com/joyent/node.git
cd node

Select a version - v0.6.7 was the latest at the time of writing:

VERSION=v0.6.7
git checkout $VERSION

Compile and install to ~/local/…

./configure --prefix=~/local/$VERSION
make
make install

Change the nodejs symlink

Your smartmachine has a symlink that points to the current node installation. This is the version that is used when you ssh in. Derived from: http://wiki.joyent.com/display/node/Setting+the+Node.js+Version

cd ~/local
mv --no-target-directory nodejs nodejs-old
ln -s $VERSION nodejs
hash -r

Change the node service symlink

Run this command as root.

ssh root@yourmachine.no.de
cd /opt/nodejs
VERSION=v0.6.7    # Yes, substitute this with your version again
ln -s ~node/local/$VERSION $VERSION

Version check

ssh node@yourmachine.no.de
node -v
npm -v

Revert if something blew up

cd ~/local
mv --no-target-directory nodejs-old nodejs

Otherwise!

You’re done