Node Version Switcher

Lighter, faster and cross-platform alternative to nvm.

Features

nvs is a simple tool that does only the following things:

• downloads nodejs binaries, based on full or partial version numbers
• manages downloaded nodejs versions
• activates selected nodejs version for current terminal
• manages default nodejs version, used for new terminal sessions

Installation

Supported platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows (with some type of bash installed, like git bash etc.).

1. Clone this repository

   git clone https://github.com/pawelt/nvs.git ~/nvs
   

2. Setup nvs startup script

   Add these two lines to your ~/.bashrc:

   export NVS_DIR=~/nvs
   [ -s $NVS_DIR/nvs.sh ] && source $NVS_DIR/nvs.sh
   

   NOTE: If you're using git bash, you can put the above snippet in: C:\Program Files\Git\etc\profile.d\aliases.sh

3. Start new shell, install and activate the latest node

   nvs-i && nvs-use && nvs-default-set
   

   That's it! Run nvs-h for complete list of commands.

   NOTE: Withouth an argument, nvs-i installs the latest available version of node. To install other version, for ex.: most recent 8.x.x version, run this instead:

   nvsi 8 && nvs-use && nvs-default-save
   

Optional step 1: Windows cmd.exe ".bashrc" autorun

If you want to have nvs available in the standard Windows cmd.exe shell:

1. Create %USERPROFILE%\cmdrc.cmd file with the following content:

   set NVS_DIR=%USERPROFILE%\nvs
   if exist %NVS_DIR%\nvs.cmd call %NVS_DIR%\nvs.cmd
   

2. Run this command to add it to autorun:

   REG add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor" /v "AutoRun" /d "%USERPROFILE%\cmdrc.cmd" /f
   

   or just use the nvsrc.cmd file that comes with nvs:

   REG add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor" /v "AutoRun" /d "%USERPROFILE%\nvs\nvsrc.cmd" /f
   

Optional step 2: Custom bash.exe location on windows

To override default bash.exe location: C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe

1. Create nvs-bash-exe.txt file in the nvs folder
2. Paste full bash.exe path there, ex.: D:\Git\bin\bash.exe

Help screen

To print this help screen run nvs-h.

```
Commands:
    nvs                 print version info and short help
    nvs-h               print full help screen

    nvs-use [v]         activate the newest installed version matching the filter

    nvs-ls [v]          list installed node versions with optional filter
    nvs-ls-one [v]      same as nvs-ls, but prints only the first version found

    nvs-find [v]        list available node versions with optional filter
    nvs-find-one [v]    same as nvs-find, but prints only the first version found

    nvs-i [v]           installs the newest version matching the filter

    nvs-default-get     print currently set default version
    nvs-default-set     save currently active version as default

Filters:
    All [v] filters are partial or full versions, ex.:  8  9.1  10.7.0
    Empty [v] filter means 'match all versions'

Install and configure the latest version of node:
    nvs-i && nvs-use && nvs-default-set

To uninstall a version simply remove its directory from $NVS_DIR/v
```

How it works

For all supported platforms nodejs versions are changed by manipulating system PATH environment variable. No magic, no symlinks swapping or files copying.

Because version changing requires simple string replacement and settinv an env variable, the process is very fast, compared to nvm.