Background

Installing Go manually can be a hassle, requiring you to visit the official website, download the latest version, and extract it into the correct location. While package managers like apt or yum provide an easy installation method, they often lag behind the latest releases.

This script automates the installation of the latest Go version directly from the official Go website without manual intervention.

Quick Install Command

For a one-liner installation, you can run:

curl -s https://codingwithcody.com/assets/bash_helpers/install_go.sh | sudo bash

This fetches and runs the installation script automatically.

Full Installation Script

If you prefer to run the script manually, here’s the full process:

#!/bin/bash

# Exit on errors
set -e

# Fetch the latest Go version number
LATEST_GO_VERSION=$(curl -s 'https://go.dev/VERSION?m=text')

# Define the download URL and file name
GO_TARBALL="${LATEST_GO_VERSION}.linux-amd64.tar.gz"
GO_URL="https://go.dev/dl/$GO_TARBALL"

# Download the latest Go tarball
wget -q --show-progress "$GO_URL"

# Remove any existing Go installation
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go

# Extract the tarball to /usr/local
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf "$GO_TARBALL"

# Cleanup the tarball
rm "$GO_TARBALL"

# Add Go to the PATH if not already present
if ! grep -q '/usr/local/go/bin' ~/.bashrc; then
    echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
    source ~/.bashrc
fi

# Confirm installation
go version

Final Notes

• If you’re running this on a non-root user, ensure you have sudo privileges.
• On macOS, use brew install go instead, as Go provides a separate macOS installer.
• To update Go later, simply rerun the script.