-bash: nvm: command not found

[apaternite]

Running terminal in Mac OS X Yosemite.

Followed the installation instructions and restarted terminal:
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.18.0/install.sh | bash

When using nvm I always get -bash: nvm: command not found

When installing again:
=> nvm is already installed in /Users/Tony/.nvm, trying to update
=> HEAD is now at 5f5eb47... v0.18.0

I do have npm already installed. Does that matter?

[ljharb]

Having node and npm already installed doesn't matter.

However, you do need to nvm use before nvm will take over your PATH and let you use nvm's version of node.

Can you check your ~/.bash_profile and ~/.bashrc for the relevant nvm lines, and paste them here? Also, what does echo $PATH say on a new shell?

[ljharb]

Please reopen if you discover this is actually a problem with nvm.

[alfredbez]

I had the same issue until I added the following lines to my .bash_profile

export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

[ljharb]

Hmm, install.sh should add those to .bashrc or .bash_profile for you, which if you'd manually created it, should be sourced inside bash_profile. Perhaps that's the issue, that bashrc exists but isn't sourced inside bash_profile?

[am11]

I was having the same issue. After installing nvm, I had to exit from bash and re-login to make it work (I read it somewhere earlier). I think we should update the README.

Tried on CentOS 7 in VM (dev installation mode, CLI only).

[jeancdc]

Hi,

I've got the same problem on Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite. I've installed nvm with the command :
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.24.0/install.sh | bash

This add the following lines in my .bashrc file:
export NVM_DIR="/Users/jeancreuzedeschatelliers/.nvm" [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm

And I also add the following line at the bottom of the same file:
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

But it doesn't work. I must execute this last command every time I want use nvm.

Any idea ?

[ljharb]

@jeancdc . something and source something are the same, except that the . is more portable, so you should definitely remove that redundant source line.

However, unless you run something like nvm alias default stable, every shell is intended to start with nvm in a deactivated but available state. Perhaps that's the issue?

[jeancdc]

• I've removed the source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh line,
• install a version of node with nvm install 0.12.2
• use this default version of node with nvm alias default 0.12.2

But still the same problem when I quit the terminal and restart it... I must execute source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh every time I launch the terminal...

[ljharb]

export NVM_DIR="/Users/jeancreuzedeschatelliers/.nvm" [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm - this should be two lines, like so:

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm

[ljharb]

@jeancdc does that fix your issue?

[jeancdc]

It was already two lines. Maybe I made wrong when I copied-paste this.
But still the same problem... :-(

[jeancdc]

OK, I've done the same thing than @alfredbez and it works:

Like he said, I must to add the following lines at the end of the ~/.bash_profile file:

export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

Maybe the author @creationix should add these instructions in the README.markdown file.

Thanks to you !

[ljharb]

@jeancdc Usually the install script does it for you, so nothing is needed in the readme. what OS are you using?

[jeancdc]

I use Mac OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite

[ljharb]

@jeancdc I'm not sure how you installed nvm, but the install script should have done that for you. How did you install it?

[jeancdc]

with this command:
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.24.0/install.sh | bash

[ljharb]

yup, that should do it. On a hunch - do you use any other shells? What does ls -a ~ | \grep -e '^\.' output? (ie, what other dotfiles do you have)

It's possible that it's already in your .bashrc file, and the problem is just that your .bash_profile doesn't source .bashrc anywhere in it.

[jeancdc]

I use the default terminal.

This is the result of the command:

.
..
.CFUserTextEncoding
.DS_Store
.MacOSX
.MakeMKV
.OpenCobolIDE
.Scilab
.Trash
.WebStorm9
.Xauthority
.adobe
.android
.avidemux
.bash_history
.bash_profile
.bash_profile.macports-saved_2012-01-22_at_20:47:07
.bash_profile.macports-saved_2014-06-03_at_21:50:12
.bash_profile.macports-saved_2014-10-18_at_22:28:07
.bash_profile.pysave
.bash_profile.swo
.bashrc
.bundle
.cache
.codeintel
.composer
.config
.cordova
.cups
.dbus-keyrings
.dtLiteMacLicense.dat
.dvdcss
.eclipse
.eclipse_keyring
.f-secure
.filezilla
.fontconfig
.gem
.gitconfig
.gitignore_global
.gnome2
.goodsync
.gradle
.heroku
.hgignore_global
.idlerc
.inkscape-etc
.lincity-ng
.local
.m2
.macports
.matlab
.mkshrc
.mplayer
.mypaint
.nchsoftware
.netrc
.nexuiz
.node-gyp
.npm
.nvm
.pdfsam
.pgpass
.pia_manager
.pia_manager_crash.log
.plugman
.profile
.psql_history
.rnd
.rvm
.serverauth.81878
.serverauth.981
.sqlite_history
.ssh
.subversion
.swt
.thumbnails
.viminfo
.widelands
.windows-serial
.wine
.xinitrc.d
.zlogin
.zshrc

[ljharb]

If you check .bashrc and .zshrc and .profile, do any of them contain the nvm sourcing lines?

If so, then it's that the install script's shell detection is a bit wonky.

[jeancdc]

Here is what there are in the ~/.bashrc file:

export NVM_DIR=« $HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm

Nothing in the ~/.zshrc and in the ~/.profile files related to NVM.

[ljharb]

Gotcha, thanks. Adding source ~/.bashrc to your .bash_profile would have resolved it as well.

[jeancdc]

So, does that mean that the install script of NVM need some fix ?

[ljharb]

Yes, #592 is probably the closest issue to it.

[wonderdogone]

putting
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm

in /etc/profile worked for me

[ysk8]

The solution of @wonderdogone works for me. Before, I tried the solutions suggested by @ljharb in response to @jeancdc.

Is possible that the problem is related with the permissions of the .bashrc file?

Is the best way to solve this issue, edit the profile file like @wonderdogone comment? Again, that solution works for me too.

[ljharb]

The installation script's primary jobs are:

• download nvm to $HOME/.nvm
• add the "source nvm" lines to the appropriate shell profile file.

The second one is extremely difficult and error-prone. If at any time it fails for you, adding those two lines (#576 (comment)) to the appropriate profile file for your shell should solve it.

[OClement]

I had that issue as well in Yosemite
I was using ~/.bashrc with no success
Replacing this file to use ~/.profile instead fixed the issue

It seems the .bashrc file isn't loaded anymore?

[karmayoga-online]

For my case, it was a permissions issue with the license! I needed to download the Developer Command Line tools from Apple (not the whole XCode) – and accept the license – then, with all these solutions, it worked like a charm.

Link for Command Line License Download: https://developer.apple.com/download/more/

[vikramvi]

I had the same issue until I added the following lines to my .bash_profile

export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

After this close terminal and open it again before banging your head on wall

[beyrerdn]

nvm automatically put the following lines in .bashrc and I was getting the -bash: nvm: command not found error.

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm" [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm [ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" # This loads nvm bash_completionexport NVM_DIR=~/.nvm

I moved these lines to .bash_profile and it started working.

[shunyue1320]

将~/.bashrc 复制到 ~/.bash_profile

重启终端

nvm -v
0.38.0

成功解决

[kumailZaidi12]

export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
after adding this to .bash_profile
run this command:
source .bash_profile
and now check nvm --version

[blazestudios23]

Hello, via this article I started the installation of my pimp with Catalina. To make nvm work, you have to copy/paste these 2 lines of code in your .bash_profile and in .bashrc these 2 lines and finally, this code in your .zshrc

.bash_profile

export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

.bashrc

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm

.zshrc

source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

This still works.

[blazestudios23]

@blazestudios23 the hostility is unwarranted and unhelpful.

I'm not trying to be hostile, this issue has been open for 7 years, I'm honestly supposed that there hasn't been a solution in that time.

[ljharb]

@blazestudios23 no, the issue has been closed for 6 years. This (very long) thread contains a half dozen different problems, all of which are solved if you take the time to read the entire thread.

If you're still having a problem, please file a new issue. Commenting on this long and old one isn't going to help get anything solved.

[alderete-sfdc]

Something to be aware of, which tripped me up for an hour, is that nvm is "Implemented as a POSIX-compliant function", as it states at the top of the nvm.sh script file. This means there's no nvm file in your path, and thus you can't verify that nvm is present using the which command. Instead, use nvm --version, and verify that you get expected output.

malderete-ltm:~ malderete$ nvm --version
0.38.0
malderete-ltm:~ malderete$ which nvm
malderete-ltm:~ malderete$ which node
malderete-ltm:~ malderete$ nvm install --lts
Installing latest LTS version.
Downloading and installing node v14.17.5...
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v14.17.5/node-v14.17.5-darwin-x64.tar.xz...
######################################################################### 100.0%
Computing checksum with shasum -a 256
Checksums matched!
Now using node v14.17.5 (npm v6.14.14)
Creating default alias: default -> lts/* (-> v14.17.5)
malderete-ltm:~ malderete$ nvm use --lts
Now using node v14.17.5 (npm v6.14.14)
malderete-ltm:~ malderete$ which node
/Users/malderete/.nvm/versions/node/v14.17.5/bin/node

(As someone who is only semi-command line literate, I lean on the which command by muscle memory. Using nvm --version is in the instructions, but if you're an idiot like me, you might miss/skip over that part, and use which nvm by reflex, and think that nvm isn't installed.)

[ljharb]

@alderete-sfdc command -v nvm is explicitly mentioned in the readme: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm#troubleshooting-on-linux

[alderete-sfdc]

@ljharb Oh, yes, it's mentioned in a couple places. Quite clearly!

I'm just making a quick note for people like me, who know just enough to think they can skip the "easy" parts of the docs. When I finally noticed the difference, the part I'd been skipping, I groaned out loud and metaphorically head-desked. (As a "professional" technical writer, it's especially embarrassing.)

Just posting a quick note, in case there are others who might be doing the same thing. (Since, as you pointed out in an relatively recent comment, this issue has been closed for years, and yet people are still somehow having problems. Mine was that I was being an idiot.) I hope it's viewed as constructive, not a complaint—that's certainly my intent!

[cgfeel]

If you installed nvm by hombrew, add this to ~/.bash_profile:

export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
[ -s "/usr/local/opt/nvm/nvm.sh" ] && . "/usr/local/opt/nvm/nvm.sh"

[ljharb]

If you installed nvm by homebrew, uninstall it and use a supported installation method.

[felipesantos94]

Hello, via this article I started the installation of my pimp with Catalina. To make nvm work, you have to copy/paste these 2 lines of code in your .bash_profile and in .bashrc these 2 lines and finally, this code in your .zshrc

.bash_profile

export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

.bashrc

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm

.zshrc

source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

This worked fine for me. Thanks a lot!

[narenkhatwani]

I faced the same issue, what worked for me was

https://dev.to/duhbhavesh/nvm-command-not-found-1ho

The gist of it was to add:

export` NVM_DIR="$([ -z "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME-}" ] && printf %s "${HOME}/.nvm" || printf %s "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/nvm")"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" # This loads nvm

to

nano ~/.zshrc

[SachinPandey582]

source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh

can anyone explain how should i approach this

[ljharb]

approach? Just run that command, verbatim

[pahan35]

I faced an issue with populating nvm command from nvm.sh.

I install nvm via brew on my Ubuntu 22.04.

I have added recommended lines

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/libexec/nvm.sh" ] && \. "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/libexec/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm
[ -s "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm" ] && \. "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm"  # This loads nvm bash_completion

to my ~/.profile file.

Then I called source ~/.profile and everything worked fine.

However, when I either just close terminal or log out/reboot, I don't have nvm command in my bash terminal anymore.

I noticed that echo $NVM_DIR produces the correct output pointing to absolute path of ~/.nvm. So, it means that ~/.profile is called.

However, I noticed that nvm.sh calls don't populate nvm command to shell. Both files exist

$ ls -al /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/libexec/nvm.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 142060 gru 23 21:57 /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/libexec/nvm.sh
$ ls -al /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm
-rw-r--r-- 1 myuser myuser 2299 gru 23 21:57 /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm

I noticed if I create any.sh file, and run it, it also doesn't populate nvm command.

#!/bin/bash
[ -s "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/libexec/nvm.sh" ] && \. "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/libexec/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm
[ -s "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm" ] && \. "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm"  # This loads nvm bash_completion

However, if I use source any.sh, it works, and nvm command appears in my shell.

Does anybody have any idea why running \. /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/libexec/nvm.sh in ~/.profile has no effect? Any suggestions how to fix it?

Versions

nvm: 0.39.3
brew: Homebrew 3.6.20 Homebrew/homebrew-core (git revision 706bd6e2787; last commit 2023-01-30)
bash: 5.1.16(1)-release
Ubuntu: Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS

[ljharb]

@pahan35 nvm is unsupported via homebrew; can you try installing it with the only proper installation method, the install script in the readme?

[pahan35]

@ljharb I fixed my issue by moving nvm initialization call to my ~/.bashrc.

Basically, I appended next lines.

if ! hash nvm &>/dev/null; then
  # We need to load nvm on each terminal session since it's not populated, if ran from ~/.profile
  [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm
  [ -s "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm" ] && \. "/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm"  # This loads nvm bash_completion
fi

@ljharb could you please provide any more details on why nvm is unsupported via homebrew?

[ljharb]

@pahan35 because i, the sole maintainer, don't distribute it on homebrew, and as such, it's unsupported. More specifically, there are a number of bugs users experience from the brew install, including that installed nodes are lost when updating nvm.

[pahan35]

can you try installing it with the only proper installation method, the install script in the readme?

@ljharb, I've tried installation from the mentioned in https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/blob/master/README.md#install--update-script, and it looks like here is the same issue.

nvm command works only if nvm.sh is called in ~/.bashrc. Basically, only if I place

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion"  # This loads nvm bash_completion

If the same commands are placed in ~/.profile, it doesn't work.

So, potentially, the issue with installation via homebrew is only in mentioning the wrong place to add init lines.

[ljharb]

I don't think Mac bash sources ~/.profile by default? you may need to have a .bashrc present - or .bash_profile - to get that file to be sourced. I'm not super clear on all the complex rules around that.

[pahan35]

I have Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS.

And I also was not completely clear about how everything is processed with those dotfiles before reading this answer https://askubuntu.com/a/1012937/667572, where is an excellent explanation of when and what is loading.

TL;DR ~/.profile gets evaluated on the user's log-in into a graphical session.

So, what I can say is that `~/.profile` is evaluated all the time on the login into **Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS** with **GNOME 42.5**. I checked it by setting the env variable. So, if I add anything like ```bash export NVM_DIRR="checkme" ``` to `~/.profile`, I can easily read it with echo in the terminal, opened via GUI. ```bash $ echo $NVM_DIRR // prints "checkme" (without quotes) on a new line. ```

However, I noticed that env variables aren't unset if I just comment them.

For example, if I change the env variable name, I can access the previous value in the terminal.

export NVM_DIRRR="checkmeupdated"

$ echo $NVM_DIRR // prints "checkme" (without quotes) on a new line.
$ echo $NVM_DIRRR // prints "checkmeupdated" (without quotes) on a new line.

Only the complete OS restart resets the not defined any more variables.

But it looks like the nvm command is not populated from .profile. Actually, even directly defined function in .profile aren't populated.

~/.profile

iamfromprofile() {
  echo "I am from $HOME/.profile"
}

bash session

$ iamfromprofile
$ iamfromprofile: command not found
$ source ~/.profile
$ I am from /home/user/.profile

Although, it is mentioned here https://askubuntu.com/a/1411917/667572 that .profile is sourced, I can't tell why no functions is populated from ~/.profile.

I've tried different ways, but it doesn't work

iamfromprofile() {
  echo "I am from $HOME/.profile"
}
declare -f iamfromprofile
export -f iamfromprofile

Also, I noticed that running nvm.sh in the current session or in .bashrc populates a lot of nvm* functions in the global terminal scope.

$ nvm<press-tab-twice>
$ Display all 110 possibilities? (y or n) > y
nvm                                   nvm_install_latest_npm
nvm_add_iojs_prefix                   nvm_install_npm_if_needed
nvm_alias                             nvm_install_source
nvm_alias_path                        nvm_iojs_prefix
nvm_auto                              nvm_iojs_version_has_solaris_binary
... and going

I didn't find any working way to encapsulate unnecessary functions.

IMHO, running nvm.sh on each terminal session login is quite inefficient. So, for myself, I created the next workaround that allows me to init nvm only when I trigger it.

.bashrc

# Lazy loads nvm command since it's not populated, if ran it from ~/.profile
nvm() {
  unset -f nvm # Removes the current helper to load the original nvm command
  [ -s "$NVM_INSTALL/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_INSTALL/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm
  [ -s "$NVM_INSTALL/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm" ] && \. "$NVM_INSTALL/etc/bash_completion.d/nvm"  # This loads nvm bash_completion
  nvm "$@" # Pass any arguments that was passed to the helper
}

However, you still need to have some nvm init lines in your .profile to have your node command initialized for every terminal, started after log-in via GUI.

So, I left there

.profile.

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
export NVM_INSTALL="/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/nvm"
# We need to run nvm init script to populate `node` for every terminal, started from GUI.
[ -s "$NVM_INSTALL/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_INSTALL/nvm.sh"