How to Install Go on Debian 12

Introduction

Go, or Golang, is a relatively new, open-source language created by Google. Its purpose is to streamline software development and enable users to create simple and reliable apps. 

As a modern language, Go offers memory allocation, concurrency support, garbage collection, coordination avoidance, etc.

This article explains how to install Go on Debian 12 in a few simple steps.

Prerequisites

• Debian system (this tutorial uses Debian 12).
• A sudo user.
• Access to the command line.

How to Install Go on Debian 12

Before starting the installation, ensure the Debian server is up to date. Update the repository with the following:

sudo apt update -y

Step 1: Download Go

To start the installation process:

1. Visit the Go downloads page.

2. Click the Linux box under Featured downloads to start the download.

Note: Use wget or curl to download Go without accessing the browser.

Step 2: Extract Files

Extract files to the /usr/local directory. To do that, take the following steps:

1. Navigate to Downloads using the cd command:

cd ~/Downloads

2. Run the following command to extract files:

sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.22.5.linux-amd64.tar.gz

The command doesn't print any output. However, tar extracts the specified file (go1.19.2.linux-amd64.tar.gz) to the desired directory.

Step 3: Set the Environment

To set the environment variable, add /usr/local/go/bin to PATH.

Take the following steps:

1. Access .profile in Vim or another text editor.

vim .profile

2. At the end of the file, paste the following lines:

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin

export GOPATH=$HOME/go

export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin

3. Save and close the file.

4. Reload your shell configuration to apply the changes with:

source ~/.profile

The command has no output.

Note: To install Go system-wide, edit /etc/profile. To install it for the current user, access $HOME/.profile.