Confusing upper/lower case names using --lts when listing and installing (default -> N/A)

[jeff-kilbride]

• Operating system and version:
  Ubuntu 16.04.4 LTS

• nvm debug output:

# nvm debug
nvm --version: v0.33.8
$SHELL: /bin/bash
$HOME: /root
$NVM_DIR: '$HOME/.nvm'
$PREFIX: ''
$NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX: ''
$NVM_NODEJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
$NVM_IOJS_ORG_MIRROR: ''
shell version: 'GNU bash, version 4.3.48(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)'
uname -a: 'Linux 4.4.0-1052-aws #61-Ubuntu SMP Mon Feb 12 23:05:58 UTC 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux'
OS version: Ubuntu 16.04.4 LTS
curl: /usr/bin/curl, curl 7.47.0 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) libcurl/7.47.0 GnuTLS/3.4.10 zlib/1.2.8 libidn/1.32 librtmp/2.3
wget: /usr/bin/wget, GNU Wget 1.17.1 built on linux-gnu.
git: /usr/bin/git, git version 2.7.4
grep: /bin/grep (grep --color=auto), grep (GNU grep) 2.25
awk: /usr/bin/awk, GNU Awk 4.1.3, API: 1.1 (GNU MPFR 3.1.4, GNU MP 6.1.0)
sed: /bin/sed, sed (GNU sed) 4.2.2
cut: /usr/bin/cut, cut (GNU coreutils) 8.25
basename: /usr/bin/basename, basename (GNU coreutils) 8.25
rm: /bin/rm (rm -iv), rm (GNU coreutils) 8.25
mkdir: /bin/mkdir, mkdir (GNU coreutils) 8.25
xargs: /usr/bin/xargs, xargs (GNU findutils) 4.7.0-git
nvm current: none
which node:
which iojs:
which npm:
npm config get prefix: The program 'npm' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing:
apt install npm
npm root -g: The program 'npm' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing:
apt install npm

• nvm ls output:

# nvm ls
->      v8.11.1
default -> lts/carbon (-> v8.11.1)
node -> stable (-> v8.11.1) (default)
stable -> 8.11 (-> v8.11.1) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/carbon (-> v8.11.1)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.14.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.11.1

• How did you install nvm? (e.g. install script in readme, Homebrew):
  Install script in README

• What steps did you perform?
  See below.

• What happened?
  See below.

• What did you expect to happen?
  See below.

• Is there anything in any of your profile files (.bashrc, .bash_profile, .zshrc, etc) that modifies the PATH?
  No.

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

# curl -I --compressed -v https://nodejs.org/dist/
*   Trying 104.20.23.46...
* Connected to nodejs.org (104.20.23.46) port 443 (#0)
* found 148 certificates in /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
* found 594 certificates in /etc/ssl/certs
* ALPN, offering http/1.1
* SSL connection using TLS1.2 / ECDHE_RSA_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
* 	 server certificate verification OK
* 	 server certificate status verification SKIPPED
* 	 common name: *.nodejs.org (matched)
* 	 server certificate expiration date OK
* 	 server certificate activation date OK
* 	 certificate public key: RSA
* 	 certificate version: #3
* 	 subject: OU=Domain Control Validated,OU=PositiveSSL Wildcard,CN=*.nodejs.org
* 	 start date: Mon, 14 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMT
* 	 expire date: Wed, 20 Nov 2019 23:59:59 GMT
* 	 issuer: C=GB,ST=Greater Manchester,L=Salford,O=COMODO CA Limited,CN=COMODO RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA
* 	 compression: NULL
* ALPN, server accepted to use http/1.1
> HEAD /dist/ HTTP/1.1
> Host: nodejs.org
> User-Agent: curl/7.47.0
> Accept: */*
> Accept-Encoding: deflate, gzip
>
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2018 05:42:10 GMT
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2018 05:42:10 GMT
< Content-Type: text/html
Content-Type: text/html
< Connection: keep-alive
Connection: keep-alive
< Set-Cookie: __cfduid=d3fdc8665844d7c2f8a15bfd537ac9ab11523338929; expires=Wed, 10-Apr-19 05:42:09 GMT; path=/; domain=.nodejs.org; HttpOnly
Set-Cookie: __cfduid=d3fdc8665844d7c2f8a15bfd537ac9ab11523338929; expires=Wed, 10-Apr-19 05:42:09 GMT; path=/; domain=.nodejs.org; HttpOnly
< CF-Cache-Status: EXPIRED
CF-Cache-Status: EXPIRED
< Vary: Accept-Encoding
Vary: Accept-Encoding
< Expires: Tue, 10 Apr 2018 09:42:10 GMT
Expires: Tue, 10 Apr 2018 09:42:10 GMT
< Cache-Control: public, max-age=14400
Cache-Control: public, max-age=14400
< Expect-CT: max-age=604800, report-uri="https://report-uri.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/beacon/expect-ct"
Expect-CT: max-age=604800, report-uri="https://report-uri.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/beacon/expect-ct"
< Server: cloudflare
Server: cloudflare
< CF-RAY: 4092e377a9f12a4f-SEA
CF-RAY: 4092e377a9f12a4f-SEA
< Content-Encoding: gzip
Content-Encoding: gzip

<
* Connection #0 to host nodejs.org left intact

---

Originally posted in #1651.

I've been using nvm for a couple of years, but I found this to be pretty confusing. I installed on a new system and decided to use the --lts flag to install node. I typically just install using a version number like v8.11.1. So, I ran nvm ls-remote --lts and it returned a list of available versions with the lts name capitalized, e.g. v8.11.1 (Latest LTS: Carbon). Naturally, I then ran:

nvm install --lts=Carbon --latest-npm

I logged out and then back into the shell and got the same type of error as the OP in #1651. Notice the output of nvm ls:

$ nvm ls
        v8.11.1
default -> lts/Carbon (-> N/A)
node -> stable (-> v8.11.1) (default)
stable -> 8.11 (-> v8.11.1) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/carbon (-> v8.11.1)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.14.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.11.1

The default is set to lts/Carbon, the name I used during installation, but the actual is lts/carbon. Just to test it, I deleted my .nvm directory and started over so I could capture the install message:

$ nvm install --lts=Carbon --latest-npm
Installing with latest version of LTS line: Carbon
Downloading and installing node v8.11.1...
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v8.11.1/node-v8.11.1-linux-x64.tar.xz...
######################################################################## 100.0%
Computing checksum with sha256sum
Checksums matched!
Now using node v8.11.1 (npm v5.6.0)
! WARNING: Version 'lts/Carbon' does not exist.
Creating default alias: default -> lts/Carbon (-> N/A)
Attempting to upgrade to the latest working version of npm...
* Installing latest `npm`; if this does not work on your node version, please report a bug!
/home/nodebb/.nvm/versions/node/v8.11.1/bin/npm -> /home/nodebb/.nvm/versions/node/v8.11.1/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npm-cli.js
/home/nodebb/.nvm/versions/node/v8.11.1/bin/npx -> /home/nodebb/.nvm/versions/node/v8.11.1/lib/node_modules/npm/bin/npx-cli.js
+ npm@5.8.0
added 89 packages, removed 42 packages and updated 67 packages in 9.076s
* npm upgraded to: v5.8.0

Sure enough, even though the installation completes, we get a warning:

! WARNING: Version 'lts/Carbon' does not exist.
Creating default alias: default -> lts/Carbon (-> N/A)

If the lowercase name is required for the default alias to be setup correctly, then the --lts= switch on install should either require lowercase or convert to lowercase automatically. It's confusing having ls-remote --lts return the names capitalized, while install requires lowercase.

[ljharb]

I think the best solution here is always lowercasing it; i guess i never anticipated someone doing the perfectly reasonable thing you did :-)