nvm install 14 compile fails

[engineer-plus-plus]

What the hell is it doing compiling node to begin with?

Operating system and version:

nvm debug output:

nvm --version: v0.39.7
$SHELL: /bin/zsh
$SHLVL: 1
whoami: 'imakedon'
${HOME}: /Users/imakedon
${NVM_DIR}: '${HOME}/.nvm'
${PATH}: ${NVM_DIR}/versions/node/v12.22.12/bin:${HOME}/perl5/bin:/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/opt/node@16/bin:${HOME}/perl5/bin:/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/opt/node@16/bin:/opt/homebrew/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/System/Cryptexes/App/usr/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/local/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/bin:/var/run/com.apple.security.cryptexd/codex.system/bootstrap/usr/appleinternal/bin:/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin:${HOME}/.toolbox/bin:${HOME}/.rvm/bin:${HOME}/.rvm/bin:${HOME}/.toolbox/bin:${HOME}/.rvm/bin:${HOME}/.rvm/bin
$PREFIX: ''
${NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX}: ''
$NVM_NODEJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
$NVM_IOJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
shell version: 'zsh 5.9 (x86_64-apple-darwin23.0)'
uname -a: 'Darwin 23.3.0 Darwin Kernel Version 23.3.0: Wed Dec 20 21:30:44 PST 2023; root:xnu-10002.81.5~7/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000 arm64'
checksum binary: 'sha256sum'
OS version: macOS 14.3.1 23D60
awk: /usr/bin/awk, awk version 20200816
curl: /usr/bin/curl, curl 8.4.0 (x86_64-apple-darwin23.0) libcurl/8.4.0 (SecureTransport) LibreSSL/3.3.6 zlib/1.2.12 nghttp2/1.58.0
wget: not found
sed: /usr/bin/sed
cut: /usr/bin/cut
basename: /usr/bin/basename
rm: /bin/rm
mkdir: /bin/mkdir
xargs: /usr/bin/xargs
git: /usr/bin/git, git version 2.39.3 (Apple Git-146)
ls: grep:: No such file or directory
grep: grep: aliased to grep --color=auto --exclude-dir={.bzr,CVS,.git,.hg,.svn,.idea,.tox} (grep --color=auto --exclude-dir={.bzr,CVS,.git,.hg,.svn,.idea,.tox}), grep (BSD grep, GNU compatible) 2.6.0-FreeBSD
nvm current: v12.22.12
which node: ${NVM_DIR}/versions/node/v12.22.12/bin/node
which iojs: iojs not found
which npm: ${NVM_DIR}/versions/node/v12.22.12/bin/npm
npm config get prefix: ${NVM_DIR}/versions/node/v12.22.12
npm root -g: ${NVM_DIR}/versions/node/v12.22.12/lib/node_modules

nvm ls output:

->    v12.22.12
         system
default -> 12 (-> v12.22.12)
iojs -> N/A (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
node -> stable (-> v12.22.12) (default)
stable -> 12.22 (-> v12.22.12) (default)
lts/* -> lts/iron (-> N/A)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.17.0 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.24.1 (-> N/A)
lts/erbium -> v12.22.12
lts/fermium -> v14.21.3 (-> N/A)
lts/gallium -> v16.20.2 (-> N/A)
lts/hydrogen -> v18.19.1 (-> N/A)
lts/iron -> v20.11.1 (-> N/A)

How did you install nvm?

homebrew

What steps did you perform?

nvm install 14

What happened?

It compiled nod for like half an hour and then failed with a bunch of errors talking about some crap being out of range of enum.

What did you expect to happen?

To move on with my day using node14 and not deal with C compilation errors.

Is there anything in any of your profile files that modifies the PATH?

If you are having installation issues, or getting "N/A", what does curl -I --compressed -v https://nodejs.org/dist/ print out?

[ljharb]

It compiles node whenever a binary isn't available for your machine.

In your case, my guess is you have an M1 or later Mac, and node 16 is the earliest version for which binaries are provided. To install older versions of node on an M1/M2/M3 Mac, you have to install in a Rosetta terminal. (note that node 14 was end of lifed 11 months ago)

[ljharb]

Specifically, see the https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm?tab=readme-ov-file#:~:text=Macs%20with%20Apple%20Silicon%20chips section in the readme.