npm -v return Segmentation fault

I have googled around and it seems (for some) that there is a bug in the latest Ubuntu software version of Nodejs that causes the segmentation fault that you are haveing

The best way to install it is by getting node from the source and compiling it.

I have setup a simple script on a Github gist that will take care of it.

#!/bin/sh
# Update System
echo "System Update"
apt-get -y update
echo "Update completed"
# Installing the applications needed to build Nodejs
apt-get -y install libssl-dev git-core pkg-config build-essential curl gcc g++ checkinstall
# Download & Unpack Node.js - v7.3.0
echo "Download Node.js - v7.3.0"
mkdir /tmp/node-install
cd /tmp/node-install
wget https://nodejs.org/dist/latest/node-v7.3.0.tar.gz
tar -zxf node-v7.3.0.tar.gz
echo "Node.js download & unpack completed"
# Install Node.js
echo "Compiling and installing Node.js"
cd node-v7.3.0
./configure && make && checkinstall --install=yes --pkgname=nodejs --pkgversion "7.3.0" --default
echo "Node.js install completed! Deleting The /tmp files"
rm -rf /tmp/node-install
echo "If you have made it this far in the script with no errors popping up all is well have a good day" 

Make sure and use sudo chmod a+x /path/to/file/install_nodejs_latest.sh to make sure it will start. Then use sudo sh /path/to/file/install_nodejs_latest.sh to start it. (It must me ran with sudo for all the commands to fire correctly)

The script removes the old nodejs, npm and all node modules.

It will update npm at the end of the script.

Every once and awhile it is recommended to do sudo npm install -g npm (If you want the latest) because npm upgrades faster then node js does

after the script is complete run npm -v and node -v If the versions pop up then run sudo npm install -g phonegap,sudo npm install -g cordova,sudo npm install -g less also if you want to update any of the modules in the future all you have to do is install it again and that will override the preveous one. expressjs is for an app by app bases so it's not recomended to install it globally

1. Try removing with apt-get remove --purge. Maybe some files got left around.

2. check the output of which npm.

3. How did you install nodejs? I think the upstream version packages npm along with with node, whereas they're separate in ubuntu. If you installed upstream npm, removing npm with apt just switched you to using upstream npm. If the problem is with corrupted packages which node/npm loads on startup, switching won't fix it. Maybe removing all node/npm stuff from your system and starting fresh will. Who knows. It's node.