node-and-npm-in-30s.sh

# The install script
# Adapted from https://gist.github.com/579814

install_path=local
download_path=Downloads/node-latest-install

echo '# Added by install script for node.js and npm in 30s' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH=$HOME/'$install_path'/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export NODE_PATH=$HOME/'$install_path'/lib/node_modules' >> ~/.bashrc
. ~/.bashrc

mkdir -p ~/$install_path
mkdir -p ~/$download_path

cd ~/$download_path
curl http://nodejs.org/dist/node-latest.tar.gz | tar xz --strip-components=1

./configure --prefix=~/$install_path # if SSL support is not required, use --without-ssl
make install # ok, fine, this step probably takes more than 30 seconds...

steps.md

Assumes a fresh install of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

1. Setup the system to handle compiling and installing from source.

    $ sudo apt-get install build-essential
   

2. If SSL support is needed then we will need to install libssl-dev.

    $ sudo apt-get install libssl-dev
   

3. The install script uses curl, so we will need to install curl.

    $ sudo apt-get install curl
   

4. Change into the directory containing the install script and source it.

    $ . node-and-npm-in-30s.sh
   

   N.B. This step takes a while.

5. Finally, check that the latest version of node and npm are indeed installed.

    $ node -v
    $ npm -v
   

References:

• http://www.howtogeek.com/105413/how-to-compile-and-install-from-source-on-ubuntu/
• https://gist.github.com/579814
• http://joyeur.com/2010/12/10/installing-node-and-npm/