node-build

node-build is an nodenv plugin that provides a nodenv install command to compile and install different versions of Node on UNIX-like systems.

You can also use node-build without nodenv in environments where you need precise control over Node version installation.

Installation

Installing as an nodenv plugin (recommended)

Installing node-build as a nodenv plugin will give you access to the nodenv install command.

git clone https://github.com/OiNutter/node-build.git $(nodenv root)/plugins/node-build

This will install the latest development version of node-build into the $(nodenv root)/plugins/node-build directory. From that directory, you can check out a specific release tag. To update node-build, run git pull to download the latest changes.

Installing as a standalone program (advanced)

Installing node-build as a standalone program will give you access to the node-build command for precise control over Node version installation. If you have nodenv installed, you will also be able to use the nodenv install command.

git clone https://github.com/OiNutter/node-build.git
cd node-build
./install.sh

This will install node-build into /usr/local. If you do not have write permission to /usr/local, you will need to run sudo ./install.sh instead. You can install to a different prefix by setting the PREFIX environment variable.

To update node-build after it has been installed, run git pull in your cloned copy of the repository, then re-run the install script.

Installing with Homebrew (for OS X users)

Mac OS X users can install node-build with the Homebrew package manager. This will give you access to the node-build command. If you have nodenv installed, you will also be able to use the nodenv install command.

This is the recommended method of installation if you installed nodenv with Homebrew.

brew install --HEAD node-build

Usage

Using nodenv install with nodenv

To install a Node version for use with nodenv, run nodenv install with the exact name of the version you want to install. For example,

nodenv install 0.10.0

Node versions will be installed into a directory of the same name under $(nodenv root)/versions.

To see a list of all available Node versions, run nodenv install --list. You may also tab-complete available Node versions if your nodenv installation is properly configured.

Using node-build standalone

If you have installed node-build as a standalone program, you can use the node-build command to compile and install Node versions into specific locations.

Run the node-build command with the exact name of the version you want to install and the full path where you want to install it. For example,

node-build 0.10.0 ~/local/node-0.10.0

To see a list of all available Node versions, run node-build --definitions.

Pass the -v or --verbose flag to node-build as the first argument to see what's happening under the hood.

Custom definitions

Both nodenv install and node-build accept a path to a custom definition file in place of a version name. Custom definitions let you develop and install versions of Node that are not yet supported by node-build.

See the node-build built-in definitions as a starting point for custom definition files.

Special environment variables

You can set certain environment variables to control the build process.

• TMPDIR sets the location where node-build stores temporary files.
• NODE_BUILD_BUILD_PATH sets the location in which sources are downloaded and built. By default, this is a subdirectory of TMPDIR.
• NODE_BUILD_CACHE_PATH, if set, specifies a directory to use for caching downloaded package files.
• NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_URL overrides the default mirror URL root to one of your choosing.
• NODE_BUILD_SKIP_MIRROR, if set, forces node-build to download packages from their original source URLs instead of using a mirror.
• CC sets the path to the C compiler.
• CONFIGURE_OPTS lets you pass additional options to ./configure.
• MAKE lets you override the command to use for make. Useful for specifying GNU make (gmake) on some systems.
• MAKE_OPTS (or MAKEOPTS) lets you pass additional options to make.
• NODE_CONFIGURE_OPTS and NODE_MAKE_OPTS allow you to specify configure and make options for building Node. These variables will be passed to Node only, not any dependent packages (e.g. libyaml).

Checksum verification

If you have the sha1, openssl, or sha1sum tool installed, node-build will automatically verify the SHA1 checksum of each downloaded package before installing it.

Checksums are optional and specified as anchors on the package URL in each definition. (All bundled definitions include checksums.)

Package download mirrors

You can point node-build to another mirror by specifying the NODE_BUILD_MIRROR_URL environment variable--useful if you'd like to run your own local mirror, for example. Package mirror URLs are constructed by joining this variable with the MD5 checksum of the package file.

If you don't have a SHA1 program installed, node-build will skip the download mirror and use official URLs instead. You can force node-build to bypass the mirror by setting the NODE_BUILD_SKIP_MIRROR environment variable.

Package download caching

You can instruct node-build to keep a local cache of downloaded package files by setting the NODE_BUILD_CACHE_PATH environment variable. When set, package files will be kept in this directory after the first successful download and reused by subsequent invocations of node-build and nodenv install.

The nodenv install command defaults this path to $(nodenv root)/cache, so in most cases you can enable download caching simply by creating that directory.

Keeping the build directory after installation

Both node-build and nodenv install accept the -k or --keep flag, which tells node-build to keep the downloaded source after installation. This can be useful if you need to use gdb and memprof with Node.

Source code will be kept in a parallel directory tree $(nodenv root)/sources when using --keep with the nodenv install command. You should specify the location of the source code with the NODE_BUILD_BUILD_PATH environment variable when using --keep with node-build.

Update available build versions

To grab the latest versions from the node website and generate version files for node-build to use run the following command in the tools subdirectory of your node-build installation:

node scraper.js

Feel free to commit and send a pull request with the updated versions.

Getting Help

Please see the node-build wiki for solutions to common problems.

If you can't find an answer on the wiki, open an issue on the issue tracker. Be sure to include the full build log for build failures.

Credits

Copied from ruby-build and modified to work for node.

License

(The MIT License)

Copyright (c) 2013 Will McKenzie

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.