How to install multiple versions of GO on the same machine [linux]

Posted on 2 mins read

This quick tutorial shows how to do install multiple versions of go manually. I’ll try to prepare a shell script that will do it automatically for you :)

1. download different versions of GO 

wget https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.4.2.linux-amd64.tar.gz 
wget https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.4.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz 
wget https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz 
wget https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.5.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz

2. Create directories for specific version of GO 

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/go/1.4.2/ 
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/go/1.4.3/ 
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/go/1.5/ 
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/go/1.5.1/

3. Unpack downloaded GO releases 

sudo tar -C /usr/local/go/1.4.2/ --strip-components=1 -xzf go1.4.2.linux-amd64.tar.gz 
sudo tar -C /usr/local/go/1.4.3/ --strip-components=1 -xzf go1.4.3.linux-amd64.tar.gz 
sudo tar -C /usr/local/go/1.5/ --strip-components=1 -xzf go1.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz 
sudo tar -C /usr/local/go/1.5.1/ --strip-components=1 -xzf go1.5.1.linux-amd64.tar.gz

4. Install go alternatives 

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/go go /usr/local/go/1.4.2/bin/go 2 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/go go /usr/local/go/1.4.3/bin/go 3 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/go go /usr/local/go/1.5/bin/go 4 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/go go /usr/local/go/1.5.1/bin/go 5

5. Install godoc alternatives 

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/godoc godoc /usr/local/go/1.4.2/bin/godoc 2 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/godoc godoc /usr/local/go/1.4.3/bin/godoc 3 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/godoc godoc /usr/local/go/1.5/bin/godoc 4 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/godoc godoc /usr/local/go/1.5.1/bin/godoc 5

6. Install gofmt alternatives 

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gofmt gofmt /usr/local/go/1.4.2/bin/gofmt 2 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gofmt gofmt /usr/local/go/1.4.3/bin/gofmt 3 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gofmt gofmt /usr/local/go/1.5/bin/gofmt 4 
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gofmt gofmt /usr/local/go/1.5.1/bin/gofmt 5

7. Configure version of go, godoc & gofmt interactively

If you want to configure version of go, godoc & gofmt interactively then use:

sudo update-alternatives --config go sudo update-alternatives --config godoc 
sudo update-alternatives --config gofmt

8. Alternatively you can configure it in a non-interactive way

If you want to configure version non-interactively then use:

sudo update-alternatives --set go /usr/local/go/1.4.2/bin/go 
sudo update-alternatives --set godoc /usr/local/go/1.4.2/bin/godoc 
sudo update-alternatives --set gofmt /usr/local/go/1.4.2/bin/gofmt 
sudo update-alternatives --set go /usr/local/go/1.4.3/bin/go 
sudo update-alternatives --set godoc /usr/local/go/1.4.3/bin/godoc 
sudo update-alternatives --set gofmt /usr/local/go/1.4.3/bin/gofmt 
sudo update-alternatives --set go /usr/local/go/1.5/bin/go 
sudo update-alternatives --set godoc /usr/local/go/1.5/bin/godoc 
sudo update-alternatives --set gofmt /usr/local/go/1.5/bin/gofmt 
sudo update-alternatives --set go /usr/local/go/1.5.1/bin/go 
sudo update-alternatives --set godoc /usr/local/go/1.5.1/bin/godoc 
sudo update-alternatives --set gofmt /usr/local/go/1.5.1/bin/gofmt

9. Set the GOROOT env variable to match the location of selected version of GO

set GOROOT to your current version of GO

export GOROOT=$(dirname $(dirname $(readlink -f $(which go | cut -d" " -f3))))