- ---
- date: "2016-12-01T16:00:00+02:00"
- title: "Installation from source"
- slug: "install-from-source"
- sidebar_position: 30
- toc: false
- draft: false
- aliases:
- - /en-us/install-from-source
- menu:
- sidebar:
- parent: "installation"
- name: "From source"
- sidebar_position: 30
- identifier: "install-from-source"
- ---
-
- # Installation from source
-
- You should [install go](https://golang.org/doc/install) and set up your go
- environment correctly. In particular, it is recommended to set the `$GOPATH`
- environment variable and to add the go bin directory or directories
- `${GOPATH//://bin:}/bin` to the `$PATH`. See the Go wiki entry for
- [GOPATH](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/GOPATH).
-
- Next, [install Node.js with npm](https://nodejs.org/en/download/) which is
- required to build the JavaScript and CSS files. The minimum supported Node.js
- version is @minNodeVersion@ and the latest LTS version is recommended.
-
- **Note**: When executing make tasks that require external tools, like
- `make misspell-check`, Gitea will automatically download and build these as
- necessary. To be able to use these, you must have the `"$GOPATH/bin"` directory
- on the executable path. If you don't add the go bin directory to the
- executable path, you will have to manage this yourself.
-
- **Note 2**: Go version @minGoVersion@ or higher is required. However, it is recommended to
- obtain the same version as our continuous integration, see the advice given in
- [Hacking on Gitea](development/hacking-on-gitea.md)
-
- ## Download
-
- First, we must retrieve the source code. Since, the advent of go modules, the
- simplest way of doing this is to use Git directly as we no longer have to have
- Gitea built from within the GOPATH.
-
- ```bash
- git clone https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea
- ```
-
- (Previous versions of this document recommended using `go get`. This is
- no longer necessary.)
-
- Decide which version of Gitea to build and install. Currently, there are
- multiple options to choose from. The `main` branch represents the current
- development version. To build with main, skip to the [build section](#build).
-
- To work with tagged releases, the following commands can be used:
-
- ```bash
- git branch -a
- git checkout v@version@
- ```
-
- To validate a Pull Request, first enable the new branch (`xyz` is the PR id;
- for example `2663` for [#2663](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/2663)):
-
- ```bash
- git fetch origin pull/xyz/head:pr-xyz
- ```
-
- To build Gitea from source at a specific tagged release (like v@version@), list the
- available tags and check out the specific tag.
-
- List available tags with the following.
-
- ```bash
- git tag -l
- git checkout v@version@ # or git checkout pr-xyz
- ```
-
- ## Build
-
- To build from source, the following programs must be present on the system:
-
- - `go` @minGoVersion@ or higher, see [here](https://golang.org/dl/)
- - `node` @minNodeVersion@ or higher with `npm`, see [here](https://nodejs.org/en/download/)
- - `make`, see [here](development/hacking-on-gitea.md#installing-make)
-
- Various [make tasks](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/blob/main/Makefile)
- are provided to keep the build process as simple as possible.
-
- Depending on requirements, the following build tags can be included.
-
- - `bindata`: Build a single monolithic binary, with all assets included. Required for production build.
- - `sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify`: Enable support for a
- [SQLite3](https://sqlite.org/) database. Suggested only for tiny
- installations.
- - `pam`: Enable support for PAM (Linux Pluggable Authentication Modules). Can
- be used to authenticate local users or extend authentication to methods
- available to PAM.
- - `gogit`: (EXPERIMENTAL) Use go-git variants of Git commands.
-
- Bundling all assets (JS/CSS/templates, etc) into the binary. Using the `bindata` build tag is required for
- production deployments. You could exclude `bindata` when you are developing/testing Gitea or able to separate the assets correctly.
-
- To include all assets, use the `bindata` tag:
-
- ```bash
- TAGS="bindata" make build
- ```
-
- In the default release build of our continuous integration system, the build
- tags are: `TAGS="bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify"`. The simplest
- recommended way to build from source is therefore:
-
- ```bash
- TAGS="bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify" make build
- ```
-
- The `build` target is split into two sub-targets:
-
- - `make backend` which requires [Go @minGoVersion@](https://golang.org/dl/) or greater.
- - `make frontend` which requires [Node.js @minNodeVersion@](https://nodejs.org/en/download/) or greater.
-
- If pre-built frontend files are present it is possible to only build the backend:
-
- ```bash
- TAGS="bindata" make backend
- ```
-
- Webpack source maps are by default enabled in development builds and disabled in production builds. They can be enabled by setting the `ENABLE_SOURCEMAP=true` environment variable.
-
- ## Test
-
- After following the steps above, a `gitea` binary will be available in the working directory.
- It can be tested from this directory or moved to a directory with test data. When Gitea is
- launched manually from command line, it can be killed by pressing `Ctrl + C`.
-
- ```bash
- ./gitea web
- ```
-
- ## Changing default paths
-
- Gitea will search for a number of things from the _`CustomPath`_. By default this is
- the `custom/` directory in the current working directory when running Gitea. It will also
- look for its configuration file _`CustomConf`_ in `$(CustomPath)/conf/app.ini`, and will use the
- current working directory as the relative base path _`AppWorkPath`_ for a number configurable
- values. Finally the static files will be served from _`StaticRootPath`_ which defaults to the _`AppWorkPath`_.
-
- These values, although useful when developing, may conflict with downstream users preferences.
-
- One option is to use a script file to shadow the `gitea` binary and create an appropriate
- environment before running Gitea. However, when building you can change these defaults
- using the `LDFLAGS` environment variable for `make`. The appropriate settings are as follows
-
- - To set the _`CustomPath`_ use `LDFLAGS="-X \"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting.CustomPath=custom-path\""`
- - For _`CustomConf`_ you should use `-X \"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting.CustomConf=conf.ini\"`
- - For _`AppWorkPath`_ you should use `-X \"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting.AppWorkPath=working-path\"`
- - For _`StaticRootPath`_ you should use `-X \"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting.StaticRootPath=static-root-path\"`
- - To change the default PID file location use `-X \"code.gitea.io/gitea/cmd.PIDFile=/run/gitea.pid\"`
-
- Add as many of the strings with their preceding `-X` to the `LDFLAGS` variable and run `make build`
- with the appropriate `TAGS` as above.
-
- Running `gitea help` will allow you to review what the computed settings will be for your `gitea`.
-
- ## Cross Build
-
- The `go` compiler toolchain supports cross-compiling to different architecture targets that are supported by the toolchain. See [`GOOS` and `GOARCH` environment variable](https://golang.org/doc/install/source#environment) for the list of supported targets. Cross compilation is helpful if you want to build Gitea for less-powerful systems (such as Raspberry Pi).
-
- To cross build Gitea with build tags (`TAGS`), you also need a C cross compiler which targets the same architecture as selected by the `GOOS` and `GOARCH` variables. For example, to cross build for Linux ARM64 (`GOOS=linux` and `GOARCH=arm64`), you need the `aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-gcc` cross compiler. This is required because Gitea build tags uses `cgo`'s foreign-function interface (FFI).
-
- Cross-build Gitea for Linux ARM64, without any tags:
-
- ```
- GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 make build
- ```
-
- Cross-build Gitea for Linux ARM64, with recommended build tags:
-
- ```
- CC=aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-gcc GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 TAGS="bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify" make build
- ```
-
- Replace `CC`, `GOOS`, and `GOARCH` as appropriate for your architecture target.
-
- You will sometimes need to build a static compiled image. To do this you will need to add:
-
- ```
- LDFLAGS="-linkmode external -extldflags '-static' $LDFLAGS" TAGS="netgo osusergo $TAGS" make build
- ```
-
- This can be combined with `CC`, `GOOS`, and `GOARCH` as above.
-
- ### Adding bash/zsh autocompletion (from 1.19)
-
- A script to enable bash-completion can be found at [`contrib/autocompletion/bash_autocomplete`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/go-gitea/gitea/main/contrib/autocompletion/bash_autocomplete). This should be altered as appropriate and can be `source` in your `.bashrc`
- or copied as `/usr/share/bash-completion/completions/gitea`.
-
- Similarly, a script for zsh-completion can be found at [`contrib/autocompletion/zsh_autocomplete`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/go-gitea/gitea/main/contrib/autocompletion/zsh_autocomplete). This can be copied to `/usr/share/zsh/_gitea` or sourced within your
- `.zshrc`.
-
- YMMV and these scripts may need further improvement.
-
- ## Compile or cross-compile using Linux with Zig
-
- Follow [Getting Started of Zig](https://ziglang.org/learn/getting-started/#installing-zig) to install zig.
-
- - Compile (Linux ➝ Linux)
-
- ```sh
- CC="zig cc -target x86_64-linux-gnu" \
- CGO_ENABLED=1 \
- CGO_CFLAGS="-O2 -g -pthread" \
- CGO_LDFLAGS="-linkmode=external -v"
- GOOS=linux \
- GOARCH=amd64 \
- TAGS="bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify" \
- make build
- ```
-
- - Cross-compile (Linux ➝ Windows)
-
- ```sh
- CC="zig cc -target x86_64-windows-gnu" \
- CGO_ENABLED=1 \
- CGO_CFLAGS="-O2 -g -pthread" \
- GOOS=windows \
- GOARCH=amd64 \
- TAGS="bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify" \
- make build
- ```
-
- ## Compile or cross-compile with Zig using Windows
-
- Compile with `GIT BASH`.
-
- - Compile (Windows ➝ Windows)
-
- ```sh
- CC="zig cc -target x86_64-windows-gnu" \
- CGO_ENABLED=1 \
- CGO_CFLAGS="-O2 -g -pthread" \
- GOOS=windows \
- GOARCH=amd64 \
- TAGS="bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify" \
- make build
- ```
-
- - Cross-compile (Windows ➝ Linux)
-
- ```sh
- CC="zig cc -target x86_64-linux-gnu" \
- CGO_ENABLED=1 \
- CGO_CFLAGS="-O2 -g -pthread" \
- CGO_LDFLAGS="-linkmode=external -v"
- GOOS=linux \
- GOARCH=amd64 \
- TAGS="bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify" \
- make build
- ```
|