Node.js


Node.js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine. Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking I/O model that makes it lightweight and efficient. The Node.js package ecosystem, npm, is the largest ecosystem of open source libraries in the world.

The Node.js project is supported by the Node.js Foundation. Contributions, policies and releases are managed under an open governance model. We are also bound by a Code of Conduct.

If you need help using or installing Node.js, please use the nodejs/help issue tracker.

Release Types

The Node.js project maintains multiple types of releases:

• Stable: Released from active development branches of this repository, versioned by SemVer and signed by a member of the Release Team. Code for Stable releases is organized in this repository by major version number, For example: v4.x. The major version number of Stable releases will increment every 6 months allowing for breaking changes to be introduced. This happens in April and October every year. Stable release lines beginning in October each year have a maximum support life of 8 months. Stable release lines beginning in April each year will convert to LTS (see below) after 6 months and receive further support for 30 months.
• LTS: Releases that receive Long-term Support, with a focus on stability and security. Every second Stable release line (major version) will become an LTS line and receive 18 months of Active LTS support and a further 12 months of Maintenance. LTS release lines are given alphabetically ordered codenames, beginning with v4 Argon. LTS releases are less frequent and will attempt to maintain consistent major and minor version numbers, only incrementing patch version numbers. There are no breaking changes or feature additions, except in some special circumstances. More information can be found in the LTS README.
• Nightly: Versions of code in this repository on the current Stable branch, automatically built every 24-hours where changes exist. Use with caution.

Download

Binaries, installers, and source tarballs are available at https://nodejs.org.

Stable and LTS releases are available at https://nodejs.org/download/release/, listed under their version strings. The latest directory is an alias for the latest Stable release. The latest LTS release from an LTS line is available in the form: latest-codename. For example: https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest-argon

Nightly builds are available at https://nodejs.org/download/nightly/, listed under their version string which includes their date (in UTC time) and the commit SHA at the HEAD of the release.

API documentation is available in each release and nightly directory under docs. https://nodejs.org/api/ points to the API documentation of the latest stable version.

Verifying Binaries

Stable, LTS and Nightly download directories all contain a SHASUM256.txt file that lists the SHA checksums for each file available for download. To check that a downloaded file matches the checksum, run it through sha256sum with a command such as:

$ grep node-vx.y.z.tar.gz SHASUMS256.txt | sha256sum -c -

(Where "node-vx.y.z.tar.gz" is the name of the file you have downloaded)

Additionally, Stable and LTS releases (not Nightlies) have GPG signed copies of SHASUM256.txt files available as SHASUM256.txt.asc. You can use gpg to verify that the file has not been tampered with.

To verify a SHASUM256.txt.asc, you will first need to import all of the GPG keys of individuals authorized to create releases. They are listed at the bottom of this README under Release Team. Use a command such as this to import the keys:

$ gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net \
  --recv-keys DD8F2338BAE7501E3DD5AC78C273792F7D83545D

(See the bottom of this README for a full script to import active release keys)

You can then use gpg --verify SHASUMS256.txt.asc to verify that the file has been signed by an authorized member of the Node.js team.

Once verified, use the SHASUMS256.txt.asc file to get the checksum for the binary verification command above.

Build

Unix / Macintosh

Prerequisites:

• gcc and g++ 4.8 or newer, or
• clang and clang++ 3.4 or newer
• Python 2.6 or 2.7
• GNU Make 3.81 or newer
• libexecinfo (FreeBSD and OpenBSD only)

$ ./configure
$ make
$ [sudo] make install

If your Python binary is in a non-standard location or has a non-standard name, run the following instead:

$ export PYTHON=/path/to/python
$ $PYTHON ./configure
$ make
$ [sudo] make install

To run the tests:

$ make test

To build the documentation:

$ make doc

To read the documentation:

$ man doc/node.1

To test if Node.js was built correctly:

$ node -e "console.log('Hello from Node.js ' + process.version)"

Windows

Prerequisites:

• Python 2.6 or 2.7
• Visual Studio 2013 for Windows Desktop, or
• Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows Desktop
• Basic Unix tools required for some tests, Git for Windows includes Git Bash and tools which can be included in the global PATH.

> vcbuild nosign

To run the tests:

> vcbuild test

To test if Node.js was built correctly:

$ node -e "console.log('Hello from Node.js ' + process.version)"

Android / Android based devices, aka. Firefox OS

Be sure you have downloaded and extracted [Android NDK] (https://developer.android.com/tools/sdk/ndk/index.html) before in a folder. Then run:

$ ./android-configure /path/to/your/android-ndk
$ make

Intl (ECMA-402) support:

Intl support is not enabled by default.

"small" (English only) support

This option will build with "small" (English only) support, but the full Intl (ECMA-402) APIs. With --download=all it will download the ICU library as needed.

Unix / Macintosh:

$ ./configure --with-intl=small-icu --download=all

Windows:

> vcbuild small-icu download-all

The small-icu mode builds with English-only data. You can add full data at runtime.

Note: more docs are on the node wiki.

Build with full ICU support (all locales supported by ICU):

With the --download=all, this may download ICU if you don't have an ICU in deps/icu.

Unix / Macintosh:

$ ./configure --with-intl=full-icu --download=all

Windows:

> vcbuild full-icu download-all

Build with no Intl support :-(

The Intl object will not be available. This is the default at present, so this option is not normally needed.

Unix / Macintosh:

$ ./configure --with-intl=none

Windows:

> vcbuild intl-none

Use existing installed ICU (Unix / Macintosh only):

$ pkg-config --modversion icu-i18n && ./configure --with-intl=system-icu

If you are cross compiling, your pkg-config must be able to supply a path that works for both your host and target environments.

Build with a specific ICU:

You can find other ICU releases at the ICU homepage. Download the file named something like icu4c-**##.#**-src.tgz (or .zip).

Unix / Macintosh

# from an already-unpacked ICU:
$ ./configure --with-intl=[small-icu,full-icu] --with-icu-source=/path/to/icu

# from a local ICU tarball
$ ./configure --with-intl=[small-icu,full-icu] --with-icu-source=/path/to/icu.tgz

# from a tarball URL
$ ./configure --with-intl=full-icu --with-icu-source=http://url/to/icu.tgz

Windows

First unpack latest ICU to deps/icu icu4c-##.#-src.tgz (or .zip) as deps/icu (You'll have: deps/icu/source/...)

> vcbuild full-icu

Building Node.js with FIPS-compliant OpenSSL

NOTE: Windows is not yet supported

It is possible to build Node.js with OpenSSL FIPS module.

Note that building in this way does not allow you to claim that the runtime is FIPS 140-2 validated. Instead you can indicate that the runtime uses a validated module. See the [security policy] (http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/140sp/140sp1747.pdf) page 60 for more details. In addition, the validation for the underlying module is only valid if it is deployed in accordance with its [security policy] (http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/140sp/140sp1747.pdf). If you need FIPS validated cryptography it is recommended that you read both the [security policy] (http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/140sp/140sp1747.pdf) and [user guide] (https://openssl.org/docs/fips/UserGuide-2.0.pdf).

Instructions:

1. Obtain a copy of openssl-fips-x.x.x.tar.gz. To comply with the security policy you must ensure the path through which you get the file complies with the requirements for a "secure installation" as described in section 6.6 in the [user guide] (https://openssl.org/docs/fips/UserGuide-2.0.pdf). For evaluation/experimentation you can simply download and verify openssl-fips-x.x.x.tar.gz from https://www.openssl.org/source/
2. Extract source to openssl-fips folder and cd openssl-fips
3. ./config
4. make
5. make install (NOTE: to comply with the security policy you must use the exact commands in steps 3-5 without any additional options as per Appendix A in the [security policy] (http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/STM/cmvp/documents/140-1/140sp/140sp1747.pdf). The only exception is that ./config no-asm can be used in place of ./config, and the FIPSDIR environment variable may be used to specify a non-standard install folder for the validated module, as per User Guide sections 4.2.1, 4.2.2, and 4.2.3.
6. Get into Node.js checkout folder
7. ./configure --openssl-fips=/path/to/openssl-fips/installdir For example on ubuntu 12 the installation directory was /usr/local/ssl/fips-2.0
8. Build Node.js with make -j
9. Verify with node -p "process.versions.openssl" (1.0.2a-fips)

Resources for Newcomers

• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
• CONTRIBUTING.md
• GOVERNANCE.md
• IRC (general questions): #node.js on Freenode.net
• IRC (node core development): #node-dev on Freenode.net
• nodejs/node on Gitter

Security

All security bugs in Node.js are taken seriously and should be reported by emailing security@nodejs.org. This will be delivered to a subset of the project team who handle security issues. Please don't disclose security bugs publicly until they have been handled by the security team.

Your email will be acknowledged within 24 hours, and you’ll receive a more detailed response to your email within 48 hours indicating the next steps in handling your report.

Current Project Team Members

The Node.js project team comprises a group of core collaborators and a sub-group that forms the Technical Steering Committee (TSC) which governs the project. For more information about the governance of the Node.js project, see GOVERNANCE.md.

TSC (Technical Steering Committee)

• bnoordhuis - Ben Noordhuis <info@bnoordhuis.nl>
• chrisdickinson - Chris Dickinson <christopher.s.dickinson@gmail.com>
• cjihrig - Colin Ihrig <cjihrig@gmail.com>
• fishrock123 - Jeremiah Senkpiel <fishrock123@rocketmail.com>
• indutny - Fedor Indutny <fedor.indutny@gmail.com>
• jasnell - James M Snell <jasnell@gmail.com>
• misterdjules - Julien Gilli <jgilli@nodejs.org>
• mscdex - Brian White <mscdex@mscdex.net>
• orangemocha - Alexis Campailla <orangemocha@nodejs.org>
• piscisaureus - Bert Belder <bertbelder@gmail.com>
• rvagg - Rod Vagg <rod@vagg.org>
• shigeki - Shigeki Ohtsu <ohtsu@iij.ad.jp>
• trevnorris - Trevor Norris <trev.norris@gmail.com>

Collaborators

• brendanashworth - Brendan Ashworth <brendan.ashworth@me.com>
• calvinmetcalf - Calvin Metcalf <calvin.metcalf@gmail.com>
• ChALkeR - Сковорода Никита Андреевич <chalkerx@gmail.com>
• domenic - Domenic Denicola <d@domenic.me>
• evanlucas - Evan Lucas <evanlucas@me.com>
• geek - Wyatt Preul <wpreul@gmail.com>
• iarna - Rebecca Turner <me@re-becca.org>
• isaacs - Isaac Z. Schlueter <i@izs.me>
• jbergstroem - Johan Bergström <bugs@bergstroem.nu>
• joaocgreis - João Reis <reis@janeasystems.com>
• julianduque - Julian Duque <julianduquej@gmail.com>
• JungMinu - Minwoo Jung <jmwsoft@gmail.com>
• lxe - Aleksey Smolenchuk <lxe@lxe.co>
• mcollina - Matteo Collina <matteo.collina@gmail.com>
• mhdawson - Michael Dawson <michael_dawson@ca.ibm.com>
• micnic - Nicu Micleușanu <micnic90@gmail.com>
• mikeal - Mikeal Rogers <mikeal.rogers@gmail.com>
• monsanto - Christopher Monsanto <chris@monsan.to>
• ofrobots - Ali Ijaz Sheikh <ofrobots@google.com>
• Olegas - Oleg Elifantiev <oleg@elifantiev.ru>
• petkaantonov - Petka Antonov <petka_antonov@hotmail.com>
• qard - Stephen Belanger <admin@stephenbelanger.com>
• rlidwka - Alex Kocharin <alex@kocharin.ru>
• rmg - Ryan Graham <r.m.graham@gmail.com>
• robertkowalski - Robert Kowalski <rok@kowalski.gd>
• romankl - Roman Klauke <romaaan.git@gmail.com>
• saghul - Saúl Ibarra Corretgé <saghul@gmail.com>
• sam-github - Sam Roberts <vieuxtech@gmail.com>
• seishun - Nikolai Vavilov <vvnicholas@gmail.com>
• silverwind - Roman Reiss <me@silverwind.io>
• srl295 - Steven R Loomis <srloomis@us.ibm.com>
• targos - Michaël Zasso <mic.besace@gmail.com>
• tellnes - Christian Tellnes <christian@tellnes.no>
• thealphanerd - Myles Borins <myles.borins@gmail.com>
• thefourtheye - Sakthipriyan Vairamani <thechargingvolcano@gmail.com>
• thlorenz - Thorsten Lorenz <thlorenz@gmx.de>
• Trott - Rich Trott <rtrott@gmail.com>
• tunniclm - Mike Tunnicliffe <m.j.tunnicliffe@gmail.com>
• vkurchatkin - Vladimir Kurchatkin <vladimir.kurchatkin@gmail.com>
• yosuke-furukawa - Yosuke Furukawa <yosuke.furukawa@gmail.com>
• zkat - Kat Marchán <kzm@sykosomatic.org>

Collaborators & TSC members follow the COLLABORATOR_GUIDE.md in maintaining the Node.js project.

Release Team

Releases of Node.js and io.js will be signed with one of the following GPG keys:

• Chris Dickinson <christopher.s.dickinson@gmail.com> 9554F04D7259F04124DE6B476D5A82AC7E37093B
• Colin Ihrig <cjihrig@gmail.com> 94AE36675C464D64BAFA68DD7434390BDBE9B9C5
• Evan Lucas <evanlucas@me.com> B9AE9905FFD7803F25714661B63B535A4C206CA9
• James M Snell <jasnell@keybase.io> 71DCFD284A79C3B38668286BC97EC7A07EDE3FC1
• Jeremiah Senkpiel <fishrock@keybase.io> FD3A5288F042B6850C66B31F09FE44734EB7990E
• Myles Borins <myles.borins@gmail.com> C4F0DFFF4E8C1A8236409D08E73BC641CC11F4C8
• Rod Vagg <rod@vagg.org> DD8F2338BAE7501E3DD5AC78C273792F7D83545D
• Sam Roberts <octetcloud@keybase.io> 0034A06D9D9B0064CE8ADF6BF1747F4AD2306D93

The full set of trusted release keys can be imported by running:

gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys 9554F04D7259F04124DE6B476D5A82AC7E37093B
gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys 94AE36675C464D64BAFA68DD7434390BDBE9B9C5
gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys 0034A06D9D9B0064CE8ADF6BF1747F4AD2306D93
gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys FD3A5288F042B6850C66B31F09FE44734EB7990E
gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys 71DCFD284A79C3B38668286BC97EC7A07EDE3FC1
gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys DD8F2338BAE7501E3DD5AC78C273792F7D83545D
gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys C4F0DFFF4E8C1A8236409D08E73BC641CC11F4C8
gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys B9AE9905FFD7803F25714661B63B535A4C206CA9

See the section above on Verifying Binaries for details on what to do with these keys to verify that a downloaded file is official.

Previous releases of Node.js have been signed with one of the following GPG keys:

• Isaac Z. Schlueter <i@izs.me> 93C7E9E91B49E432C2F75674B0A78B0A6C481CF6
• Julien Gilli <jgilli@fastmail.fm> 114F43EE0176B71C7BC219DD50A3051F888C628D
• Timothy J Fontaine <tjfontaine@gmail.com> 7937DFD2AB06298B2293C3187D33FF9D0246406D