There are several ways to install Geth, including via a package manager, downloading a pre-built bundle, running as a docker container or building from downloaded source code. On this page the various installation options are explained for several major operating systems. Users prioritizing ease of installation should choose to use a package manager or prebuilt bundle. Users prioritizing customization should build from source. It is important to run the latest version of Geth because each release includes bugfixes and improvement over the previous versions. The stable releases are recommended for most users because they have been fully tested. A list of stable releases can be found [here][geth-releases]. Instructions for updating existing Geth installations are also provided in each section.
The easiest way to install go-ethereum is to use the Geth Homebrew tap. The first step is to check that Homebrew is installed. The following command should return a version number.
If a version number is returned, then Homebrew is installed. If not, Homebrew can be installed by following the instructions [here][brew]. With Homebrew installed, the following commands add the Geth tap and install Geth:
The previous command installs the latest stable release. Developers that wish to install the most up-to-date version can install the Geth repository's master branch by adding the `--devel` parameter to the install command:
These commands install the core Geth software and the following developer tools: `clef`, `devp2p`, `abigen`, `bootnode`, `evm`, `rlpdump` and `puppeth`. The binaries for each of these tools are saved in `/usr/local/bin/`. The full list of command line options can be viewed [here][geth-cl-options] or in the terminal by running `geth --help`.
When the node is started again, Geth will automatically use all the data from the previous version and sync the blocks that were missed while the node was offline.
The easiest way to install Geth on Ubuntu-based distributions is with the built-in launchpad PPAs (Personal Package Archives). A single PPA repository is provided, containing stable and development releases for Ubuntu versions `xenial`, `trusty`, `impish`, `focal`, `bionic`.
The following command enables the launchpad repository:
These commands install the core Geth software and the following developer tools: `clef`, `devp2p`, `abigen`, `bootnode`, `evm`, `rlpdump` and `puppeth`. The binaries for each of these tools are saved in `/usr/local/bin/`. The full list of command line options can be viewed [here][geth-cl-options] or in the terminal by running `geth --help`.
Updating an existing Geth installation to the latest version can be achieved by stopping the node and running the following commands:
```shell
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ethereum
sudo apt-get upgrade geth
```
When the node is started again, Geth will automatically use all the data from the previous version and sync the blocks that were missed while the node was offline.
The easiest way to install Geth is to download a pre-compiled binary from the [downloads][geth-dl] page. The page provides an installer as well as a zip file containing the Geth source code. The install wizard offers the user the option to install Geth, or Geth and the developer tools. The installer adds `geth` to the system's `PATH` automatically. The zip file contains the command `.exe` files that can be run from the command prompt. The full list of command line options can be viewed [here][geth-cl-options] or in the terminal by running `geth --help`.
Updating an existing Geth installation can be achieved by stopping the node, downloading and installing the latest version following the instructions above. When the node is started again, Geth will automatically use all the data from the previous version and sync the blocks that were missed while the node was offline.
These commands install the core Geth software and the following developer tools: `clef`, `devp2p`, `abigen`, `bootnode`, `evm`, `rlpdump` and `puppeth`.
The full list of command line options can be viewed [here][geth-cl-options] or in the terminal by running `geth --help`.
Updating an existing Geth installation to the latest version can be achieved by stopping the node and running the following commands:
When the node is started again, Geth will automatically use all the data from the previous version and sync the blocks that were missed while the node was offline.
These commands install the core Geth software and the following developer tools: `clef`, `devp2p`, `abigen`, `bootnode`, `evm`, `rlpdump` and `puppeth`. The binaries for each of these tools are saved in `/usr/local/bin/`.
When the node is started again, Geth will automatically use all the data from the previous version and sync the blocks that were missed while the node was offline.
These commands install the core Geth software and the following developer tools: `clef`, `devp2p`, `abigen`, `bootnode`, `evm`, `rlpdump` and `puppeth`. The binaries for each of these tools are saved in `/usr/bin/`.
When the node is started again, Geth will automatically use all the data from the previous version and sync the blocks that were missed while the node was offline.
## Standalone bundle
Stable releases and development builds are provided as standalone bundles. These are useful for users who: a) wish to install a specific version of Geth (e.g., for reproducible environments); b) wish to install on machines without internet access (e.g. air-gapped computers); or c) wish to avoid automatic updates and instead prefer to manually install software.
Some archives contain only Geth, while other archives containing Geth and the various developer tools (`clef`, `devp2p`, `abigen`, `bootnode`, `evm`, `rlpdump` and `puppeth`). More information about these executables is available at the [`README`][geth-readme-exe].
The standalone bundles can be downloaded from the [Geth Downloads][geth-dl] page. To update an existing installation, download and manually install the latest version.
A Docker image with recent snapshot builds from our `develop` branch is maintained on DockerHub to support users who prefer to run containerized processes. There four different Docker images available for running the latest stable or development versions of Geth.
**Note:** if you are running an Ethereum client inside a Docker container, you should mount a data volume as the client's data directory (located at `/root/.ethereum` inside the container) to ensure that downloaded data is preserved between restarts and/or container life-cycles.
Updating Geth to the latest version simply requires stopping the container, pulling the latest version from Docker and running it:
Geth is written in [Go][go], so building from source code requires the most recent version of Go to be installed. Instructions for installing Go are available at the [Go installation page][go-install] and necessary bundles can be downloaded from the [Go download page][go-dl].
With Go installed, Geth can be downloaded into a `GOPATH` workspace via:
Alternatively, the following command, run in the project root directory (`ethereum/go-ethereum`) in the GO workspace, builds the entire project and installs Geth and all the developer tools:
```shell
go install ./...
```
For macOS users, errors related to macOS header files are usually fixed by installing XCode Command Line Tools with `xcode-select --install`.
Another common error is: `go: cannot use path@version syntax in GOPATH mode`. This and other similar errors can often be fixed by enabling gomodules using `export GO111MODULE=on`.
Updating an existing Geth installation can be achieved using `go get`:
The Chocolatey package manager provides an easy way to install the required build tools. Chocolatey can be installed by following these [instructions][chocolatey]. Then, to install the build tool the following commands can be run in an Administrator command prompt:
Installing these packages sets up the path environment variables. To get the new path a new command prompt must be opened. To install Geth, a Go workspace directory must first be created, then the Geth source code can be created and built.
Geth can also be built without using Go workspaces. In this case, the repository should be cloned to a local repository. Then, the command
`make geth` configures everything for a temporary build and cleans up afterwards. This method of building only works on UNIX-like operating systems, and a Go installation is still required.
These commands create a Geth executable file in the `go-ethereum/build/bin` folder that can be moved and run from another directory if required. The binary is standalone and doesn't require any additional files.
To update an existing Geth installation simply stop the node, navigate to the project root directory and pull the latest version from the Geth Github repository. then rebuild and restart the node.
```shell
cd go-ethereum
git pull
make geth
```
Additionally all the developer tools provided with Geth (`clef`, `devp2p`, `abigen`, `bootnode`, `evm`, `rlpdump` and `puppeth`) can be compiled by running `make all`. More information about these tools can be found [here][geth-readme-exe].
Instructions for cross-compiling to another architecture are available in the [cross-compilation guide](./cross-compile).
To build a stable release, e.g. v1.9.21, the command `git checkout v1.9.21` retrieves that specific version. Executing that command before running `make geth` switches Geth to a stable branch.
