Install Golang Ubuntu1804

Intro

This will just be a quick post on how to install Golang on Ubuntu 1804. There will be no earth shattering knowledge bombs, it's more of a documentation post for myself. Others may or may not find it useful.

Code versions used for this lab

• Ubuntu - 1804
• Golang - 1.15.1

Download

Download the Golang package for your system and architecture.

curl -OL https://dl.google.com/go/go1.15.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz

Install

Once downloaded, extract the tar file to install Golang.

sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.15.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz

This will create a binary here: /usr/local/go/bin/go

Configure

In order to effectively utilise go you will need to setup a couple of environment variables. The first one adds the the go binary to your $PATH

echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin' >> ~/.zshrc

The next one defines the root directory for your $GOPATH . Your $GOPATH is the location of your Go workspace. All of your go projects will get built under this workspace.

echo 'export GOPATH=$HOME/go' >> ~/.zshrc

Finally source your rc file to load the variables into your environment and create the $GOPATH workspace directory.

source ~/.zshrc
mkdir $GOPATH

Verify Install

Confirm that Go is installed correctly.

go version

# output

go version go1.12.9 linux/amd64

First Go Program

Create a project directory under your $GOPATH workspace.

cd $GOPATH
mkdir hello && cd hello

Create a hello.go file.

// hello.go

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
	fmt.Printf("hello, world\n")
}

Compile the project into a binary.

go build

A binary hello will be created, execute the binary and bask in your glory.

./hello

# output

hello, world

Outro

That's it. Go installed, configured and ready to be stretched to its limits.