Where does go get install packages?

Question

I've been given instructions to run go get <some-remote-git-repo> which seems to succeed, but it's not clear to me where the package was installed to so I can run an executable from it.

Per https://golang.org/doc/code.html#remote it seems it will be installed in $GOPATH/bin but $GOPATH isn't defined in my shell (though the go get command seems to work fine). Go is installed via Homebrew.

For those who find this question: note that installing with go get is deprecated. See my answer [here](https://stackoverflow.com/a/68809471/4108803) for further info — blackgreen, Aug 17 '21 at 06:13

score 97 · Accepted Answer · answered May 31 '18 at 21:32

97

I found the missing clue by running brew info go, which says:

==> Caveats
A valid GOPATH is required to use the `go get` command.
If $GOPATH is not specified, $HOME/go will be used by default:
  https://golang.org/doc/code.html#GOPATH

From that I found the executable in question at $HOME/go/bin.

answered May 31 '18 at 21:32

Liron Yahdav

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Just to add to this, this is not particular to homebrew but GO in general. You can also do `go env GOPATH` to check where your GOPATH is pointed to as mentioned in [this doc](https://golang.org/doc/gopath_code#GOPATH) – shriek Jul 22 '21 at 13:05

score 17 · Answer 2 · answered May 11 '22 at 09:03

17

go env

you can get the path from GOMODCACHE

answered May 11 '22 at 09:03

Daisy

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score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 24 '22 at 06:04

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Even if you don't have a $GOPATH variable you can see what it uses by doing go env GOPATH.

Try this to see what your path is:

echo `go env GOPATH`/bin

answered Dec 24 '22 at 06:04

mvndaai

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Andrew W. Phillips · Answer 4 · 2021-08-14T23:02:49.173

5

I had a similar problem which is why I found your question. However, in my case I did not have an empty GOPATH but one with multiple directories. I worked out the issue and describe it here...

If you run go get and you already have the package it says nothing (even with the -v option). This is confusing if it's not in the first directory of your GOPATH. Ie you run go get , there is no error or any message but when you check the first directory of the GOPATH (which is where the doc says it should be) you can't find it.

I eventually found it, but since I have a large GOPATH this was rather tedious.

edited Aug 14 '21 at 23:02

answered Jan 22 '19 at 05:40

Andrew W. Phillips

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next time try `go get -u -x ...` – Aug 14 '21 at 23:05
Do you mean `go get -u -v -x ` what does that do, how do I read the output? – MattG Mar 21 '23 at 01:51

score -3 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 16 '23 at 13:46

-3

Using go build

Try this with main.go. In your greeter directory, run the following command:

go build

In this case, you built your greeter application into an executable file that was added to your current directory. Check this by running the ls command:

ls
./greeter

edited Mar 16 '23 at 13:46

Vertexwahn

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answered Nov 16 '22 at 10:59

Netwons

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Where does go get install packages?

5 Answers5

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