Node install on Windows Production Best Practices?

[RayDeanTech]

I'm willing to bet money that NVM_HOME is the path at which you installed nvm-windows. But what is the intended purpose for NVM_SYMLINK?

Is there anything wrong with putting everything under C:\nodejs ?

So, like, I want everything under the C:\nodejs. Does this make sense for a Production Node.js deployment to Windows?

C:\nodejs
C:\nodejs\nvm
C:\nodejs\node.exe
C:\nodejs\node_modules
C:\nodejs\node_modules\npm\
C:\nodejs\node_modules\some-global-install\ (think PM2)
C:\nodejs\npm-cache

[RayDeanTech]

Now that I've read some more, I personally think this feels more like it's for DEV vs PROD. I think in PROD, I'm not going to be switching node versions that often.

Still would love to see opinions on install directories, though! :)

[coreybutler]

For production, I tend to use containers. In dev, it's fine to put things under C:\nodejs.

NVM_SYMLINK is the virtual representation of the Node installation directory, i.e. a redirect. Windows searches the PATH to find a program when you run it (i.e. running node index.js is auto-resolved to C:\path\to\node.exe index.js). By adding a symlink to the PATH, Windows will automatically find the appropriate directory because it will follow the symlink to its destination. Every time you run nvm use x.x.x, it updates the target of the symlink specified in NVM_SYMLINK.