title: understanding the output of `nvm ls`. Is everything installed properly?
body: <p>I think I may have done something untoward during the install process of <code>nodejs</code> and <code>nvm</code>. </p>
  
  <p>When I start bash or open a terminal I get:</p>
  
  <pre><code>:~$ bash
  N/A: version "N/A -&gt; N/A" is not yet installed.
  
  You need to run "nvm install N/A" to install it before using it.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Using <code>nvm ls</code> from the command line I get:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q2Xet.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Q2Xet.png" alt="result of &lt;code&gt;nvm ls&lt;/code&gt;"></a></p>
  
  <p>going through my history I did find two lines where I'd tried to set an alias (I do believe I got that from a set of instructions I was following)</p>
  
  <p>As far as I know, I'm not having any errors, other than when bash starts up, and those lines are generated from <code>.bashrc</code>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
  [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] &amp;&amp; \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm
  [ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] &amp;&amp; \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion"  # This loads nvm bash_completion
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>My primary aim here is to understand the output of <code>nvm ls</code> and is there anything there that needs to be fixed.</p>
  
  <p>A bonus aside is, how do I get rid of these errors on logging in (other than simply deleting the last two lines) ;)</p>
  
  <p>I'm on ubuntu 17.04</p>
  
  <h1>Update:</h1>
  
  <p>After checking the link in Matt's answer I see that these are the instructions I saw. It appears I missed a little here and there. This is what I have done and the results so far:</p>
  
  <h3>After checking out the link and runnin the update not much had changed except the <code>lts/boron</code> version number. Being yellow, I'm guessing it's not installed anyway. Still not sure why it's in my list then.</h3>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/SLuhO.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/SLuhO.png" alt="after first update"></a></p>
  
  <h3>within the instructions I found I missed this one:</h3>
  
  <pre><code>nvm install iojs-v1.0.3
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/K6NUh.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/K6NUh.png" alt="That fixed &lt;code&gt;iojs&lt;/code&gt;"></a></p>
  
  <h3>So then I tried:</h3>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/s3QHl.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/s3QHl.png" alt="install node, cleared the node-&gt;stable line"></a></p>
  
  <p>So I've cleared the red <code>node -&gt; stable</code> and the <code>iojs -&gt; N/A</code> lines. They're now a nice green. I realised the first default line was an alias.</p>
  
  <h3>I set the alias correctly:</h3>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZPm2w.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZPm2w.png" alt="things are looking better"></a></p>
  
  <p>Doing all these extra steps has finally got rid of my login errors, so that's a plus.</p>
  
  <h3>So I still have the yellow <code>lts</code> entries...</h3>
  
  <p>I'd still like to know should they be there, have I done something to make them appear, should they be installed? Is there a problem not having them installed?</p>
  
  <p>The funny thing about how it has been setup; I have been running node and electron apps without any issue what so ever! Just adding to my confusion.</p>