How to Install Yarn on Debian 12, 11 or 10

Yarn, a prominent package manager in the JavaScript landscape, offers developers a reliable and efficient tool for managing JavaScript packages. Developed collaboratively by tech giants like Facebook, Google, Exponent, and Tilde, Yarn addresses several performance and security challenges previously faced with npm, the default Node.js package manager. Understanding its core features and advantages is essential for those aiming to install Yarn on Debian 12 Bookworm, Debian 11 Bullseye, or Debian 10 Buster.

Key Advantages of Yarn:

• Consistency: Yarn’s yarn.lock file ensures consistent installations across different environments by recording exact package versions.
• Optimized Performance: Yarn caches every downloaded package, eliminating repeated downloads. Its parallel operations further enhance installation speed.
• Enhanced Security: Yarn verifies the integrity of each package using checksums, minimizing the risk of malicious code execution.
• Workspace Management: Yarn Workspaces simplify dependency management across multiple projects, enhancing developer productivity.
• Offline Capability: Yarn’s caching mechanism allows package installations without an internet connection if previously downloaded.

Yarn vs. npm: Key Distinctions:

• Lockfile Reliability: Yarn’s yarn.lock file offers more reliability and fewer merge conflicts compared to npm’s package-lock.json.
• Installation Efficiency: Unlike npm’s sequential installations, Yarn installs packages in parallel, reducing dependency installation times.
• Offline Access: Yarn’s ability to install from a local cache surpasses npm, facilitating offline work or in low-bandwidth scenarios.
• Workspaces: Yarn introduced the workspaces feature for managing multi-package systems, a capability npm incorporated only in its seventh version.

Yarn’s robust features and user-centric design make it a preferred choice for many JavaScript developers. The following section will guide you through the steps to install Yarn on Debian 12 Bookworm, Debian 11 Bullseye, or Debian 10 Buster.

Install Yarn on Debian 12, 11, or 10 via NodeSource

Follow these steps to install Yarn using the NodeSource and Yarn repositories. This method lets you get the newest versions of Yarn and Node.js, either the LTS or the current stable release.

Step 1: Add NodeSource Repository

First, add the NodeSource repository to your Debian system. This repository contains the latest Node.js and Yarn versions. Adding this repository lets your package manager know where to get them during installation.

Run these commands to add the NodeSource repository:

For the Current Release:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_current.x | sudo -E bash -

The LTS Release:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash -

Next, import the Yarn repository with this command:

curl -sS https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/pubkey.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/yarn-archive-keyring.gpg

Then, create a new file to store the Yarn repository information:

echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/yarn-archive-keyring.gpg] https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yarn.list

Step 2: Install Yarn on Debian

After adding the repositories, you can install Yarn using the apt package manager:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install yarn nodejs

To verify the installation, check the Yarn version:

yarn --version

The output should show the version number, indicating that Yarn is installed on your Debian system via NodeSource.

Install Yarn on Debian 12, 11, or 10 via NVM

In this section, you’ll explore another method to install Yarn: using the Node Version Manager (NVM). This approach is handy for developers who work with multiple Node.js versions. NVM enables easy switching between different Node.js environments. When you use NVM to install Yarn, it links to a specific Node.js version. This way, you can have distinct Yarn setups for different projects or environments.

Step 1: Install NVM on Debian for Yarn

First, make sure you have NVM installed on your Debian system.

Run one of these commands to install NVM:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/master/install.sh | bash

or

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/master/install.sh | bash

After installing NVM, close and reopen your terminal. Or, you can use this command to make NVM available immediately:

source ~/.bashrc

Step 2: Node.js and Yarn Installation

With NVM ready, choose the Node.js version you want. NVM allows you to install several Node.js versions and switch between them easily.

For the latest LTS version of Node.js, use:

nvm install --lts

If you want the latest version, run:

nvm install stable

After installing Node.js, install Yarn globally for that version:

npm install -g yarn

To check if Yarn installed correctly, see its version:

yarn --version

If this command shows the Yarn version, you’ve successfully installed Yarn on your Debian system using NVM.

Basic Commands For Yarn on Debian 12, 11, or 10

This section covers the most frequently used Yarn commands and relevant configuration examples. The aim is to arm you with the proficiency needed to seamlessly navigate and utilize Yarn for your project dependencies.

Initialize a New Project

The first command to start a new project in Yarn is yarn init. This command will prompt you to answer a few basic questions about your project. It then generates a package.json file, which outlines the basic structure of your project.

yarn init

Adding Dependencies

To add a dependency to your project, you can use the yarn add command followed by the package name. This command not only downloads the package but also updates your package.json and yarn.lock files.

yarn add [package_name]

Adding Dev Dependencies

Development dependencies are added similarly to regular dependencies but with the -D flag. These are usually packages required during development but not in production.

yarn add -D [package_name]

Upgrading Dependencies

To upgrade a dependency, you can use the yarn upgrade command. This command will update the package to its latest version.

yarn upgrade [package_name]

Removing Dependencies

To remove a dependency from your project, you can use the yarn remove command.

yarn remove [package_name]

Installing All Dependencies

The yarn install command is used to install all the dependencies for a project. This is usually the first command you run when cloning a Yarn project.

yarn install

Checking for Outdated Packages

Yarn offers a handy command to check for outdated packages. The yarn outdated command provides a list of packages that need updating.

yarn outdated

Run Scripts

The yarn run command is used to run scripts defined in the package.json file.

yarn run [script_name]

Creating a Yarn Alias

You can create an alias for a Yarn command using the yarn config set command. This can be particularly useful for long commands that you use frequently.

yarn config set [alias_name] [command]

Listing Installed Packages

The yarn list command provides a tree view of the dependencies installed for your project.

yarn list

Displaying Package Info

To display the information of a package, you can use the yarn info command followed by the package name.

yarn info [package_name]

Checking Why a Package is Installed

Yarn provides the yarn why command to check why a specific package is installed in your project.

yarn why [package_name]

Setting Registry

The yarn config set registry command lets you change the default package registry.

yarn config set registry [registry_url]

Adding a Scoped Registry

In case you need to add a scoped registry, you can use the yarn config set command as shown below.

yarn config set '@scope:registry' [registry_url]

Login to a Registry

The yarn login command enables you to log in to a registry that requires authentication.

yarn login --registry [registry_url]

Publishing a Package

To publish a package to a registry, you can use the yarn publish command.

yarn publish

Cleaning up

To clean up unnecessary files and optimize the project, Yarn provides the yarn clean command.

yarn clean

Interactive Upgrade

Yarn provides an interactive way to upgrade packages using the yarn upgrade-interactive command.

yarn upgrade-interactive

Global Adding/Removing

Lastly, to add or remove packages globally, you can use yarn global add or yarn global remove commands.

yarn global add [package_name]
yarn global remove [package_name]

Recap of Installing Yarn on Debian Linux

This guide showed you how to install Yarn, a dependable dependency manager, on Debian Linux. We covered two methods for installation: the NodeSource repository and the Node Version Manager (NVM). Your choice between these methods will depend on your project needs and preferences. We also reviewed necessary Yarn commands to help you manage your project dependencies effectively.

Remember that even though we tailored the instructions for Debian, the main ideas and command functions apply to various operating systems. Understanding Yarn well prepares you to manage projects, whether they’re small or large-scale applications.