doc/install.html - go - Git at Google

 <!--{
 	"Title": "Getting Started",
 	"Path":  "/doc/install"
 }-->

 <h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>

 <p>
 Go is an open source project with a BSD-style license.
 There are two official Go compiler toolchains: the <code>gc</code> Go compiler
 and the <code>gccgo</code> compiler that is part of the GNU C Compiler (GCC).
 </p>

 <p>
 The <code>gc</code> compiler is the more mature and well-tested of the two.
 This page is about installing a binary distribution of the <code>gc</code>
 compiler.
 </p>

 <p>
 For information about installing the <code>gc</code> compiler from source, see
 <a href="/doc/install/source">Installing Go from source</a>.
 For information about installing <code>gccgo</code>, see
 <a href="/doc/install/gccgo">Setting up and using gccgo</a>.
 </p>

 <h2 id="requirements">System requirements</h2>
 <p>
 The <code>gc</code> compiler supports the following operating systems and
 architectures. Please ensure your system meets these requirements before
 proceeding. If your OS or architecture is not on the list, it's possible that
 <code>gccgo</code> might support your setup; see
 <a href="/doc/install/gccgo">Setting up and using gccgo</a> for details.
 </p>

 <table class="codetable" frame="border" summary="requirements">
 <tr>
 <th align="middle">Operating system</th>
 <th align="middle">Architectures</th>
 <th align="middle">Notes</th>
 </tr>
 <tr><td colspan="3"><hr></td></tr>
 <tr><td>FreeBSD 7 or later</td> <td>amd64, 386</td> <td>Debian GNU/kFreeBSD not supported</td></tr>
 <tr><td>Linux 2.6.23 or later with glibc</td> <td>amd64, 386, arm</td> <td>CentOS/RHEL 5.x not supported; no binary distribution for ARM yet</td></tr>
 <tr><td>Mac OS X 10.6/10.7</td> <td>amd64, 386</td> <td>use the gcc<sup>&#8224;</sup> that comes with Xcode<sup>&#8225;</sup></td></tr>
 <tr><td>Windows 2000 or later</td> <td>amd64, 386</td> <td>use mingw gcc<sup>&#8224;</sup>; cygwin or msys is not needed</td></tr>
 </table>

 <p>
 <sup>&#8224;</sup><code>gcc</code> is required only if you plan to use
 <a href="/cmd/cgo">cgo</a>.<br/>
 <sup>&#8225;</sup>You only need to install the command line tools for
 <a href="http://developer.apple.com/Xcode/">Xcode</a>. If you have already
 installed Xcode 4.3+, you can install it from the Components tab of the
 Downloads preferences panel.
 </p>

 <h2 id="download">Download the Go tools</h2>

 <p>
 Visit the
 <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads">Go project's downloads page</a>
 and select the binary distribution that matches
 your operating system and processor architecture.
 </p>

 <p>
 Official binary distributions are available
 for the FreeBSD, Linux, Mac OS X (Snow Leopard/Lion), and Windows operating systems
 and the 32-bit (<code>386</code>) and 64-bit (<code>amd64</code>)
 x86 processor architectures.
 </p>

 <p>
 If a binary distribution is not available for your
 OS/arch combination you may want to try
 <a href="/doc/install/source">installing from source</a> or
 <a href="/doc/install/gccgo">installing gccgo instead of gc</a>.
 </p>

 <h2 id="install">Install the Go tools</h2>

 <p>
 The Go binary distributions assume they will be installed in
 <code>/usr/local/go</code> (or <code>c:\Go</code> under Windows),
 but it is possible to install them in a different
 location. If you do this, you will need to set the <code>GOROOT</code>
 environment variable to that directory when using the Go tools.
 </p>

 <p>
 For example, if you installed Go to your home directory you should add the
 following commands to <code>$HOME/.profile</code>:
 </p>

 <pre>
 export GOROOT=$HOME/go
 export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT/bin
 </pre>

 <p>
 Windows users should read the section about <a href="#windows_env">setting
 environment variables under Windows</a>.
 </p>

 <h3 id="freebsd_linux">FreeBSD, Linux, and Mac OS X tarballs</h3>

 <p>
 If you are upgrading from an older version of Go you must
 first remove the existing version from <code>/usr/local/go</code>:
 </p>

 <pre>
 rm -r /usr/local/go
 </pre>

 <p>
 Extract <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads/list?q=OpSys-FreeBSD+OR+OpSys-Linux+OR+OpSys-OSX+Type-Archive">the archive</a>
 into <code>/usr/local</code>, creating a Go tree in <code>/usr/local/go</code>.
 For example:
 </p>

 <pre>
 tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.0.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz
 </pre>

 <p>
 The name of the archive may differ, depending on the version of Go you are
 installing and your system's operating system and processor architecture.
 </p>

 <p>
 (Typically these commands must be run as root or through <code>sudo</code>.)
 </p>

 <p>
 Add <code>/usr/local/go/bin</code> to the <code>PATH</code> environment
 variable. You can do this by adding this line to your <code>/etc/profile</code>
 (for a system-wide installation) or <code>$HOME/.profile</code>:
 </p>

 <pre>
 export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
 </pre>

 <h3 id="osx">Mac OS X package installer</h3>

 <p>
 Open the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads/list?q=OpSys-OSX+Type-Installer">package file</a>
 and follow the prompts to install the Go tools.
 The package installs the Go distribution to <code>/usr/local/go</code>.
 </p>

 <p>
 The package should put the <code>/usr/local/go/bin</code> directory in your
 <code>PATH</code> environment variable. You may need to restart any open
 Terminal sessions for the change to take effect.
 </p>

 <h3 id="windows">Windows</h3>

 <p>
 The Go project provides two installation options for Windows users
 (besides <a href="/doc/install/source">installing from source</a>):
 a zip archive that requires you to set some environment variables and an
 experimental MSI installer that configures your installation automatically.
 </p>

 <h4 id="windows_zip">Zip archive</h4>

 <p>
 Extract the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads/list?q=OpSys-Windows+Type%3DArchive">zip file</a>
 to the directory of your choice (we suggest <code>c:\Go</code>).
 </p>

 <p>
 If you chose a directory other than <code>c:\Go</code>, you must set
 the <code>GOROOT</code> environment variable to your chosen path.
 </p>

 <p>
 Add the <code>bin</code> subdirectory of your Go root (for example, <code>c:\Go\bin</code>) to to your <code>PATH</code> environment variable.
 </p>

 <h4 id="windows_msi">MSI installer (experimental)</h4>

 <p>
 Open the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads/list?q=OpSys-Windows+Type%3DInstaller">MSI file</a>
 and follow the prompts to install the Go tools.
 By default, the installer puts the Go distribution in <code>c:\Go</code>.
 </p>

 <p>
 The installer should put the <code>c:\Go\bin</code> directory in your
 <code>PATH</code> environment variable. You may need to restart any open
 command prompts for the change to take effect.
 </p>

 <h4 id="windows_env">Setting environment variables under Windows</h4>

 <p>
 Under Windows, you may set environment variables through the "Environment
 Variables" button on the "Advanced" tab of the "System" control panel. Some
 versions of Windows provide this control panel through the "Advanced System
 Settings" option inside the "System" control panel.
 </p>

 <h2 id="testing">Test your installation</h2>

 <p>
 Check that Go is installed correctly by building a simple program, as follows.
 </p>

 <p>
 Create a file named <code>hello.go</code> and put the following program in it:
 </p>

 <pre>
 package main

 import "fmt"

 func main() {
     fmt.Printf("hello, world\n")
 }
 </pre>

 <p>
 Then run it with the <code>go</code> tool:
 </p>

 <pre>
 $ go run hello.go
 hello, world
 </pre>

 <p>
 If you see the "hello, world" message then your Go installation is working.
 </p>

 <h2 id="next">What's next</h2>

 <p>
 Start by taking <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go-tour/">A Tour of Go</a>.
 </p>

 <p>
 For more detail about the process of building and testing Go programs
 read <a href="/doc/code.html">How to Write Go Code</a>.
 </p>

 <p>
 Build a web application by following the <a href="/doc/articles/wiki/">Wiki
 Tutorial</a>.
 </p>

 <p>
 Read <a href="/doc/effective_go.html">Effective Go</a> to learn about writing
 idiomatic Go code.
 </p>

 <p>
 For the full story, consult Go's extensive <a href="/doc/">documentation</a>.
 </p>

 <p>
 Subscribe to the
 <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/golang-announce">golang-announce</a>
 mailing list to be notified when a new stable version of Go is released.
 </p>


 <h2 id="community">Community resources</h2>

 <p>
 For real-time help, there may be users or developers on
 <code>#go-nuts</code> on the <a href="http://freenode.net/">Freenode</a> IRC server.
 </p>

 <p>
 The official mailing list for discussion of the Go language is
 <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/golang-nuts">Go Nuts</a>.
 </p>

 <p>
 Bugs should be reported using the
 <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/issues/list">Go issue tracker</a>.
 </p>
	<!--{
	"Title": "Getting Started",
	"Path": "/doc/install"
	}-->

	<h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>

	<p>
	Go is an open source project with a BSD-style license.
	There are two official Go compiler toolchains: the <code>gc</code> Go compiler
	and the <code>gccgo</code> compiler that is part of the GNU C Compiler (GCC).
	</p>

	<p>
	The <code>gc</code> compiler is the more mature and well-tested of the two.
	This page is about installing a binary distribution of the <code>gc</code>
	compiler.
	</p>

	<p>
	For information about installing the <code>gc</code> compiler from source, see
	<a href="/doc/install/source">Installing Go from source</a>.
	For information about installing <code>gccgo</code>, see
	<a href="/doc/install/gccgo">Setting up and using gccgo</a>.
	</p>

	<h2 id="requirements">System requirements</h2>
	<p>
	The <code>gc</code> compiler supports the following operating systems and
	architectures. Please ensure your system meets these requirements before
	proceeding. If your OS or architecture is not on the list, it's possible that
	<code>gccgo</code> might support your setup; see
	<a href="/doc/install/gccgo">Setting up and using gccgo</a> for details.
	</p>

	<table class="codetable" frame="border" summary="requirements">
	<tr>
	<th align="middle">Operating system</th>
	<th align="middle">Architectures</th>
	<th align="middle">Notes</th>
	</tr>
	<tr><td colspan="3"><hr></td></tr>
	<tr><td>FreeBSD 7 or later</td> <td>amd64, 386</td> <td>Debian GNU/kFreeBSD not supported</td></tr>
	<tr><td>Linux 2.6.23 or later with glibc</td> <td>amd64, 386, arm</td> <td>CentOS/RHEL 5.x not supported; no binary distribution for ARM yet</td></tr>
	<tr><td>Mac OS X 10.6/10.7</td> <td>amd64, 386</td> <td>use the gcc<sup>†</sup> that comes with Xcode<sup>‡</sup></td></tr>
	<tr><td>Windows 2000 or later</td> <td>amd64, 386</td> <td>use mingw gcc<sup>†</sup>; cygwin or msys is not needed</td></tr>
	</table>

	<p>
	<sup>†</sup><code>gcc</code> is required only if you plan to use
	<a href="/cmd/cgo">cgo</a>.<br/>
	<sup>‡</sup>You only need to install the command line tools for
	<a href="http://developer.apple.com/Xcode/">Xcode</a>. If you have already
	installed Xcode 4.3+, you can install it from the Components tab of the
	Downloads preferences panel.
	</p>

	<h2 id="download">Download the Go tools</h2>

	<p>
	Visit the
	<a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads">Go project's downloads page</a>
	and select the binary distribution that matches
	your operating system and processor architecture.
	</p>

	<p>
	Official binary distributions are available
	for the FreeBSD, Linux, Mac OS X (Snow Leopard/Lion), and Windows operating systems
	and the 32-bit (<code>386</code>) and 64-bit (<code>amd64</code>)
	x86 processor architectures.
	</p>

	<p>
	If a binary distribution is not available for your
	OS/arch combination you may want to try
	<a href="/doc/install/source">installing from source</a> or
	<a href="/doc/install/gccgo">installing gccgo instead of gc</a>.
	</p>

	<h2 id="install">Install the Go tools</h2>

	<p>
	The Go binary distributions assume they will be installed in
	<code>/usr/local/go</code> (or <code>c:\Go</code> under Windows),
	but it is possible to install them in a different
	location. If you do this, you will need to set the <code>GOROOT</code>
	environment variable to that directory when using the Go tools.
	</p>

	<p>
	For example, if you installed Go to your home directory you should add the
	following commands to <code>$HOME/.profile</code>:
	</p>

	<pre>
	export GOROOT=$HOME/go
	export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT/bin
	</pre>

	<p>
	Windows users should read the section about <a href="#windows_env">setting
	environment variables under Windows</a>.
	</p>

	<h3 id="freebsd_linux">FreeBSD, Linux, and Mac OS X tarballs</h3>

	<p>
	If you are upgrading from an older version of Go you must
	first remove the existing version from <code>/usr/local/go</code>:
	</p>

	<pre>
	rm -r /usr/local/go
	</pre>

	<p>
	Extract <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads/list?q=OpSys-FreeBSD+OR+OpSys-Linux+OR+OpSys-OSX+Type-Archive">the archive</a>
	into <code>/usr/local</code>, creating a Go tree in <code>/usr/local/go</code>.
	For example:
	</p>

	<pre>
	tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.0.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz
	</pre>

	<p>
	The name of the archive may differ, depending on the version of Go you are
	installing and your system's operating system and processor architecture.
	</p>

	<p>
	(Typically these commands must be run as root or through <code>sudo</code>.)
	</p>

	<p>
	Add <code>/usr/local/go/bin</code> to the <code>PATH</code> environment
	variable. You can do this by adding this line to your <code>/etc/profile</code>
	(for a system-wide installation) or <code>$HOME/.profile</code>:
	</p>

	<pre>
	export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
	</pre>

	<h3 id="osx">Mac OS X package installer</h3>

	<p>
	Open the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads/list?q=OpSys-OSX+Type-Installer">package file</a>
	and follow the prompts to install the Go tools.
	The package installs the Go distribution to <code>/usr/local/go</code>.
	</p>

	<p>
	The package should put the <code>/usr/local/go/bin</code> directory in your
	<code>PATH</code> environment variable. You may need to restart any open
	Terminal sessions for the change to take effect.
	</p>

	<h3 id="windows">Windows</h3>

	<p>
	The Go project provides two installation options for Windows users
	(besides <a href="/doc/install/source">installing from source</a>):
	a zip archive that requires you to set some environment variables and an
	experimental MSI installer that configures your installation automatically.
	</p>

	<h4 id="windows_zip">Zip archive</h4>

	<p>
	Extract the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads/list?q=OpSys-Windows+Type%3DArchive">zip file</a>
	to the directory of your choice (we suggest <code>c:\Go</code>).
	</p>

	<p>
	If you chose a directory other than <code>c:\Go</code>, you must set
	the <code>GOROOT</code> environment variable to your chosen path.
	</p>

	<p>
	Add the <code>bin</code> subdirectory of your Go root (for example, <code>c:\Go\bin</code>) to to your <code>PATH</code> environment variable.
	</p>

	<h4 id="windows_msi">MSI installer (experimental)</h4>

	<p>
	Open the <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/downloads/list?q=OpSys-Windows+Type%3DInstaller">MSI file</a>
	and follow the prompts to install the Go tools.
	By default, the installer puts the Go distribution in <code>c:\Go</code>.
	</p>

	<p>
	The installer should put the <code>c:\Go\bin</code> directory in your
	<code>PATH</code> environment variable. You may need to restart any open
	command prompts for the change to take effect.
	</p>

	<h4 id="windows_env">Setting environment variables under Windows</h4>

	<p>
	Under Windows, you may set environment variables through the "Environment
	Variables" button on the "Advanced" tab of the "System" control panel. Some
	versions of Windows provide this control panel through the "Advanced System
	Settings" option inside the "System" control panel.
	</p>

	<h2 id="testing">Test your installation</h2>

	<p>
	Check that Go is installed correctly by building a simple program, as follows.
	</p>

	<p>
	Create a file named <code>hello.go</code> and put the following program in it:
	</p>

	<pre>
	package main

	import "fmt"

	func main() {
	fmt.Printf("hello, world\n")
	}
	</pre>

	<p>
	Then run it with the <code>go</code> tool:
	</p>

	<pre>
	$ go run hello.go
	hello, world
	</pre>

	<p>
	If you see the "hello, world" message then your Go installation is working.
	</p>

	<h2 id="next">What's next</h2>

	<p>
	Start by taking <a href="http://code.google.com/p/go-tour/">A Tour of Go</a>.
	</p>

	<p>
	For more detail about the process of building and testing Go programs
	read <a href="/doc/code.html">How to Write Go Code</a>.
	</p>

	<p>
	Build a web application by following the <a href="/doc/articles/wiki/">Wiki
	Tutorial</a>.
	</p>

	<p>
	Read <a href="/doc/effective_go.html">Effective Go</a> to learn about writing
	idiomatic Go code.
	</p>

	<p>
	For the full story, consult Go's extensive <a href="/doc/">documentation</a>.
	</p>

	<p>
	Subscribe to the
	<a href="http://groups.google.com/group/golang-announce">golang-announce</a>
	mailing list to be notified when a new stable version of Go is released.
	</p>


	<h2 id="community">Community resources</h2>

	<p>
	For real-time help, there may be users or developers on
	<code>#go-nuts</code> on the <a href="http://freenode.net/">Freenode</a> IRC server.
	</p>

	<p>
	The official mailing list for discussion of the Go language is
	<a href="http://groups.google.com/group/golang-nuts">Go Nuts</a>.
	</p>

	<p>
	Bugs should be reported using the
	<a href="http://code.google.com/p/go/issues/list">Go issue tracker</a>.
	</p>