2-2: Install Go

Go is the programming language that the Pocket software was written in. So, we'll need to install Go. We could install it using apt-get but we want to get the latest stable version which probably isn't available in the apt-get repository. So, we'll use the steps below to install Go.

1. Make sure you're in the pocket home directory.

    cd ~

2. Find the latest version of Go from https://golang.org/dl/ then download it with the following command:

    wget https://dl.google.com/go/go1.17.7.linux-amd64.tar.gz

   Note: Change go1.17.7.linux-amd64.tar.gz to the most recent version of Go.

3. Extract the archive

    sudo tar -xvf go1.17.7.linux-amd64.tar.gz

4. Set permissions on the extracted files

    sudo chown -R pocket ./go

5. Set the PATH variable

    echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/go/bin' >> ~/.profile

6. Set the GOPATH and GOBIN variables

    echo 'export GOPATH=$HOME/go' >> ~/.profile

    echo 'export GOBIN=$HOME/go/bin' >> ~/.profile

7. Source the .profile

    source ~/.profile

8. Verify the installation

    go version

   You should see something like:

   go version go1.17.7 linux/amd64

   Note: Make sure the version matches the version you downloaded.

   tip

   If go version doesn't work try logging out and logging back in. Then test the go version command again.

9. Verify the GOPATH and GOBIN variables are set correctly

    go env
   You should see the GOPATH and GOBIN variables set correctly.

Having issues?

If you have issues getting the latest version of Go working, it might be because there is an older version of Go installed with apt-get. To remove the old version of Go, do the following:

sudo apt-get purge golang*

Note: After doing this, you might need to reinstall Go. But first log out and log back in and test with go version.

After you can verify that you have the latest stable version of Go, you're ready to continue.