Before you begin you'll need to have about 100GB of disk space available to store the Bitcoin blockchain plus additional database information. Both 64bit Mac OS X and GNU/Linux are currently supported. The process of downloading the blocks and indexing can take upwards of 4 hours, depending on Internet connection and other factors. So it's suggested to plan accordingly and let the node syncronize while you're away. It's also possible to use an existing Bitcoin data directory, which will speed up the process.
It's recommended to install the Node Version Manager, as this makes it simple to switch between different Node.js versions. We will specifically need to install and run v0.12. Please follow the directions at https://github.com/creationix/nvm#install-script and then run:
nvm install v0.12.7