Version control with gvm

2022/11/27

When you want to switch go versions for each project, gvm (Go Version Manager) is useful.

Here we will show you “how to install gvm on your Mac” and “how to use gvm”.

TOC

Preparation for Use

Preparation for Mac only

Execute the following command as described in the MacOSX requirements.

xcode-select --install
brew update
brew install mercurial

Installation of gvm

We use zsh for the shell.

$ echo $SHELL
/bin/zsh

For zsh, you can install as follows.

$ zsh < <(curl -s -S -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/moovweb/gvm/master/binscripts/gvm-installer)
Cloning from https://github.com/moovweb/gvm.git to /Users/user_name/.gvm
No existing Go versions detected
Installed GVM v1.0.22

Please restart your terminal session or to get started right away run
 `source /Users/user_name/.gvm/scripts/gvm`

The following line was added to the last line of ~/.zshrc

[[ -s "/Users/user_name/.gvm/scripts/gvm" ]] && source "/Users/user_name/.gvm/scripts/gvm"

Restart the terminal and the gvm command will be available.

$ gvm help
Usage: gvm [command]

Description:
  GVM is the Go Version Manager

Commands:
  version    - print the gvm version number
  get        - gets the latest code (for debugging)
  use        - select a go version to use (--default to set permanently)
  diff       - view changes to Go root
  help       - display this usage text
  implode    - completely remove gvm
  install    - install go versions
  uninstall  - uninstall go versions
  cross      - install go cross compilers
  linkthis   - link this directory into GOPATH
  list       - list installed go versions
  listall    - list available versions
  alias      - manage go version aliases
  pkgset     - manage go packages sets
  pkgenv     - edit the environment for a package set

How to use gvm

Check the version that can be installed

You can use gvm listall to see which versions are available for installation.

$ gvm listall

gvm gos (available)

   go1
   go1.0.1
   go1.0.2
   go1.0.3
   go1.1
   go1.1rc2
   go1.1rc3
   :

Install go by version specification

I am using M1 Mac, and when I executed the following command, it resulted in an ERROR.

$ gvm install go1.16.15 -B
Installing go1.16.15 from binary source
ERROR: Binary Go unavailable for this platform
$ 
$ gvm install go1.17.5 -B 
Installing go1.17.5 from binary source
ERROR: Binary Go unavailable for this platform

I did the following with reference to this page and was successful.

$ brew install go
==> Downloading https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core/go/manifests/1.18
######################################################################## 100.0%
    :
$ 
$ gvm install go1.16.15   
Installing go1.16.15...
 * Compiling...
go1.16.15 successfully installed!
$ 
$ gvm use go1.16.15 --default
Now using version go1.16.15
$ 
$ go version          
go version go1.16.15 darwin/arm64

I was then able to uninstall go installed with brew and still install another version of go.

$ brew uninstall go          
Uninstalling /opt/homebrew/Cellar/go/1.18... (11,947 files, 595.3MB)
$ 
$ gvm install go1.17.5   
Installing go1.17.5...
 * Compiling...
go1.17.5 successfully installed!

I installed 1.16.15 and 1.17.5, but folders were generated for each version as follows.

$ ls ~/.gvm/gos 
go1.16.15       go1.17.5

Switch the version of go to use

We are currently using go1.16.15.

$ gvm list

gvm gos (installed)

=> go1.16.15
   go1.17.5
$ 
$ echo $GOPATH
/Users/user_name/.gvm/pkgsets/go1.16.15/global
$ 
$ echo $GOROOT
/Users/user_name/.gvm/gos/go1.16.15
$ 
$ go version
go version go1.16.15 darwin/arm64
$
$ which go
/Users/user_name/.gvm/gos/go1.16.15/bin/go

Switch to 1.17.5.

$ gvm use go1.17.5 --default 
Now using version go1.17.5
$ 
$ gvm list                  

gvm gos (installed)

   go1.16.15
=> go1.17.5

$ 
$ echo $GOPATH
/Users/user_name/.gvm/pkgsets/go1.17.5/global
$ 
$ echo $GOROOT
/Users/user_name/.gvm/gos/go1.17.5
$ 
$ go version
go version go1.17.5 darwin/arm64
$ 
$ which go
/Users/user_name/.gvm/gos/go1.17.5/bin/go