github.com/outbrain/consul@v1.4.5/website/source/docs/install/index.html.md (about) 1 --- 2 layout: "docs" 3 page_title: "Install Consul" 4 sidebar_current: "docs-install-install" 5 description: |- 6 Installing Consul is simple. You can download a precompiled binary or compile 7 from source. This page details both methods. 8 --- 9 10 # Install Consul 11 12 Installing Consul is simple. There are two approaches to installing Consul: 13 14 1. Using a [precompiled binary](#precompiled-binaries) 15 16 1. Installing [from source](#compiling-from-source) 17 18 Downloading a precompiled binary is easiest, and we provide downloads over TLS 19 along with SHA256 sums to verify the binary. We also distribute a PGP signature 20 with the SHA256 sums that can be verified. 21 22 ## Precompiled Binaries 23 24 To install the precompiled binary, [download](/downloads.html) the appropriate 25 package for your system. Consul is currently packaged as a zip file. We do not 26 have any near term plans to provide system packages. 27 28 Once the zip is downloaded, unzip it into any directory. The `consul` binary 29 inside is all that is necessary to run Consul (or `consul.exe` for Windows). Any 30 additional files, if any, aren't required to run Consul. 31 32 Copy the binary to anywhere on your system. If you intend to access it from the 33 command-line, make sure to place it somewhere on your `PATH`. 34 35 ## Compiling from Source 36 37 To compile from source, you will need [Go](https://golang.org) installed and 38 configured properly (including a `GOPATH` environment variable set), as well as 39 a copy of [`git`](https://www.git-scm.com/) in your `PATH`. 40 41 1. Clone the Consul repository from GitHub into your `GOPATH`: 42 43 ```shell 44 $ mkdir -p $GOPATH/src/github.com/hashicorp && cd !$ 45 $ git clone https://github.com/hashicorp/consul.git 46 $ cd consul 47 ``` 48 49 1. Bootstrap the project. This will download and compile libraries and tools 50 needed to compile Consul: 51 52 ```shell 53 $ make tools 54 ``` 55 56 1. Build Consul for your current system and put the binary in `./bin/` 57 (relative to the git checkout). The `make dev` target is just a shortcut that 58 builds `consul` for only your local build environment (no cross-compiled 59 targets). 60 61 ```shell 62 $ make dev 63 ``` 64 65 ## Verifying the Installation 66 67 To verify Consul is properly installed, run `consul -v` on your system. You 68 should see help output. If you are executing it from the command line, make sure 69 it is on your PATH or you may get an error about Consul not being found. 70 71 ```shell 72 $ consul -v 73 ```