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Install the Solana CLI

There are multiple ways to install the Solana tools on your computer depending on your preferred workflow:

Use Solana's Install Tool​

MacOS & Linux​

  • Open your favorite Terminal application

  • Install the Solana release v1.18.12 on your machine by running:

sh -c "$(curl -sSfL https://release.solana.com/v1.18.12/install)"

  • You can replace v1.18.12 with the release tag matching the software version of your desired release, or use one of the three symbolic channel names: stable, beta, or edge.

  • The following output indicates a successful update:

downloading v1.18.12 installer
Configuration: /home/solana/.config/solana/install/config.yml
Active release directory: /home/solana/.local/share/solana/install/active_release
* Release version: v1.18.12
* Release URL: https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/releases/download/v1.18.12/solana-release-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.bz2
Update successful
  • Depending on your system, the end of the installer messaging may prompt you to
Please update your PATH environment variable to include the solana programs:
  • If you get the above message, copy and paste the recommended command below it to update PATH
  • Confirm you have the desired version of solana installed by running:
solana --version
  • After a successful install, solana-install update may be used to easily update the Solana software to a newer version at any time.

Windows​

  • Open a Command Prompt (cmd.exe) as an Administrator

    • Search for Command Prompt in the Windows search bar. When the Command Prompt app appears, right-click and select “Open as Administrator”. If you are prompted by a pop-up window asking “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?”, click Yes.

  • Copy and paste the following command, then press Enter to download the Solana installer into a temporary directory:

cmd /c "curl https://release.solana.com/v1.18.12/solana-install-init-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.exe --output C:\solana-install-tmp\solana-install-init.exe --create-dirs"
  • Copy and paste the following command, then press Enter to install the latest version of Solana. If you see a security pop-up by your system, please select to allow the program to run.
C:\solana-install-tmp\solana-install-init.exe v1.18.12

  • When the installer is finished, press Enter.

  • Close the command prompt window and re-open a new command prompt window as a normal user

    • Search for "Command Prompt" in the search bar, then left click on the Command Prompt app icon, no need to run as Administrator)

  • Confirm you have the desired version of solana installed by entering:

solana --version
  • After a successful install, solana-install update may be used to easily update the Solana software to a newer version at any time.

Download Prebuilt Binaries​

If you would rather not use solana-install to manage the install, you can manually download and install the binaries.

Linux​

Download the binaries by navigating to https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/releases/latest, download solana-release-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.bz2, then extract the archive:

tar jxf solana-release-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.bz2
cd solana-release/
export PATH=$PWD/bin:$PATH

MacOS​

Download the binaries by navigating to https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/releases/latest, download solana-release-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.bz2, then extract the archive:

tar jxf solana-release-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.bz2
cd solana-release/
export PATH=$PWD/bin:$PATH

Windows​

  • Download the binaries by navigating to https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/releases/latest, download solana-release-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.tar.bz2, then extract the archive using WinZip or similar.

  • Open a Command Prompt and navigate to the directory into which you extracted the binaries and run:

cd solana-release/
set PATH=%cd%/bin;%PATH%

Build From Source​

If you are unable to use the prebuilt binaries or prefer to build it yourself from source, follow these steps, ensuring you have the necessary prerequisites installed on your system.

Prerequisites​

Before building from source, make sure to install the following prerequisites:

For Debian and Other Linux Distributions:​

Rust Programming Language: Check "Install Rust" at https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install, which recommends the following command.

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

Install build dependencies:

  • Build essential
  • Package config
  • Udev & LLM & libclang
  • Protocol buffers
apt-get install \
    build-essential \
    pkg-config \
    libudev-dev llvm libclang-dev \
    protobuf-compiler

For Other Linux Distributions:​

Replace apt with your distribution's package manager (e.g., yum, dnf, pacman) and adjust package names as needed.

For macOS:​

Install Homebrew (if not already installed), check "Install Hombrew" at https://brew.sh/, which recommends the following command:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Install the necessary tools and libraries using Homebrew:

brew install rust pkg-config libudev protobuf llvm coreutils

Follow the instructions given at the end of the brew install command about PATH configurations.

For Windows:​

Rust Programming Language: Check "Install Rust" at https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install, which recommends the following command.

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
info

Users on Windows 10 or 11 may need to install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in order to be able to build from source. WSL provides a Linux environment that runs inside your existing Windows installation. You can then run regular Linux software, including the Linux versions of Solana CLI.

After installed, run wsl from your Windows terminal, then continue through the Debian and Other Linux Distributions above.

Building from Source​

After installing the prerequisites, proceed with building Solana from source, navigate to Solana's GitHub releases page, and download the Source Code archive. Extract the code and build the binaries with:

./scripts/cargo-install-all.sh .
export PATH=$PWD/bin:$PATH

You can then run the following command to obtain the same result as with prebuilt binaries:

solana-install init

Use Homebrew​

This option requires you to have Homebrew package manager on your MacOS or Linux machine.

MacOS & Linux​

Homebrew formulae is updated after each solana release, however it is possible that the Homebrew version is outdated.

  • Confirm you have the desired version of solana installed by entering:
solana --version