<!--{
	"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="download">Obtaining 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">Installing 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 and Linux</h3>

<p>
On FreeBSD and Linux, 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 the archive into <code>/usr/local</code>, creating a Go tree in
<code>/usr/local/go</code>:
</p>

<pre>
tar -C /usr/local -xzf go.release.go1.tar.gz
</pre>

<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</h3>

<p>
Open the <code>.pkg</code> file 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>):
an MSI installer that configures your installation automatically,
and a zip archive that requires you to set some environment variables.
</p>

<h4 id="windows_msi">MSI installer</h3>

<p>
Open the <code>.msi</code> file 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_zip">Zip archive</h3>

<p>
Extract the <code>.zip</code> file 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_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">Testing 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>