> Markdown version of [Node.js](https://vaadin.com/docs/v23/configuration/node-js). Section index: [llms.txt](https://vaadin.com/docs/v23/configuration/llms.txt)

# <a id="node.installation"></a>Configuring Node.js

Vaadin uses the Node.js runtime in development mode to run the Vite development server, as well as the Node.js package manager (`npm`) and package runner (`npx`) to fetch, install, and run front-end packages.

Node.js can be installed in three different ways:

- Automatically into user’s home directory (`~/.vaadin/node`).

- Globally with a downloaded installer or package manager (such as Homebrew). Node.js can be downloaded from <https://nodejs.org/en/download/>. Installing Node.js automatically installs the command-line tools `npm` and `npx` as well.

- Project-local installation (`project_dir/node`) using the [`frontend-maven-plugin`](https://github.com/eirslett/frontend-maven-plugin).

If Node.js is found globally, Vaadin validates that it’s a supported version; if it’s too old, it installs a compatible version into `~/.vaadin`. You should use the latest Long-Term Support (LTS) version. A project-local installation always takes precedence over a global or `~/.vaadin` installation.

You can force Node.js installation to the `~/.vaadin` folder via the `require.home.node` property. This property sets the Maven `requireHomeNodeExec` parameter value, so you can configure the Maven goal using `<requireHomeNodeExec>true</requireHomeNodeExec>`. To force node installation into the home directory in development mode, you should use the `vaadin.require.home.node` system property or the `require.home.node` web init parameter.

## <a id="proxy-settings-for-downloading-the-front-end-toolchain"></a>Proxy Settings for Downloading the Front-End Toolchain

If you are behind a proxy server, you should configure your proxy settings so that Vaadin can use them to download the front-end toolchain. Vaadin reads proxy settings from four places. You can set your proxy data in any of the following:

1. system properties

2. `{project directory}/.npmrc` file

3. `{user home directory}/.npmrc` file

4. environment variables

The settings are read from the list in order. For example, if you set your proxy in system properties, the other sources are ignored. The keys that you should use to define your proxy settings are as follows:

| In System Properties and Environment Variables | In .npmrc files | Description                                                                      |
| ---------------------------------------------- | --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `HTTP_PROXY`                                   | `proxy`         | A proxy to use for outgoing HTTP requests                                        |
| `HTTPS_PROXY`                                  | `https-proxy`   | A proxy to use for outgoing HTTPS requests                                       |
| `NOPROXY`                                      | `noproxy`       | A comma-separated string of domain extensions that a proxy shouldn’t be used for |

The `.npmrc` file structure is `ini` (like Java properties files). It includes pairs of key-values separated by `=`. Here is an example of the content of such a file with proxy settings:

```
proxy=http://myusername:s3cr3tpassw0rd@proxyserver1:8085"
https-proxy=http://myusername:s3cr3tpassw0rd@proxyserver1:8086"
noproxy=192.168.1.1,vaadin.com,mycompany.com
```

To learn more about the `.npmrc` file, see the [official npmrc document](https://docs.npmjs.com/configuring-npm/npmrc).

## <a id="building-an-application-using-travis-ci"></a>Building an Application Using Travis CI

If you are using [Travis](https://travis-ci.org/) as a Continuous Integration server, there are two different options to install a proper Node.js version:

1. Specify the version via Travis configuration in `.travis.yml`

2. Install Node.js automatically through Vaadin

See [Specifying Node.js versions](https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/languages/javascript-with-nodejs/#specifying-nodejs-versions) in the Travis documentation for how to specify the Node version via the `.travis.yml` file.

You can force Node.js installation to the `~/.vaadin` folder, as described in the section [Configuring Node.js](#node.installation).

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