相当于npm install -g的Golang

Question

If I had a compiled Golang program that I wanted to install such that I could run it with a bash command from anywhere on my computer, how would I do that? For example, in nodejs

npm install -g express

Installs express such that I can run the command

express myapp

and express will generate a file directory for a node application called "myapp" in whatever my current directory is. Is there an equivalent command for go? I believe now with the "go install" command you have to be in the directory that contains the executable in order to run it

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

As far as I know, there is no direct equivalent to npm install -g. The closest equivalent would not be go install, but go get. From the help page (go help get):

usage: go get [-d] [-f] [-fix] [-insecure] [-t] [-u] [build flags] [packages]

Get downloads and installs the packages named by the import paths, along with their dependencies.

By default, go get installs binaries to $GOPATH/bin, so the easiest way to make those binaries callable from everywhere is to add that directory to your $PATH.

For this, put the following line into your .bashrc (or .zshrc, depending on which shell you're using):

export PATH="$PATH:$GOPATH/bin"

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Alternatively, you could also copy or link the executables to /usr/local/bin:

ln -s $GOPATH/bin/some-binary /usr/local/bin/some-binary