1. Introduction
The Raspberry Pi is a great little computer for building projects with Node.js and npm — especially for working with GPIO or hardware. This guide shows how to install Node.js and npm easily on your Raspberry Pi.
2. Check your CPU architecture
First, check which CPU version your Pi is using:
bash
uname -m
Possible results:
-
armv6l: Raspberry Pi Zero W
-
armv7l: Raspberry Pi 2, 3
-
aarch64: Raspberry Pi 3 (64-bit), 4
3. Download the right Node.js version
Go to Node.js download page and choose the version that matches your CPU.
bash
wget https://nodejs.org/dist/v8.9.0/node-v8.9.0-linux-armv6l.tar.gz
⚠️ Make sure to change the version and architecture to match your Pi.
4. Extract the file
bash
tar -xzf node-v8.9.0-linux-armv6l.tar.gz
5. Install Node.js
Go into the extracted folder and copy the files into your system:
bash
cd node-v8.9.0-linux-armv6l sudo cp -R * /usr/local/
6. Check if it works
Check your Node.js and npm versions:
bash
node -v npm -v
That’s it! You’ve installed Node.js and npm on your Raspberry Pi. Now you can start building Node.js apps, control hardware, or run a small server.
