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Install Buffalo
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Getting Started

Install Buffalo

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to install Buffalo, either from pre-built binaries or from source.

Buffalo provides two major components:

  • The buffalo tool, a powerful toolbox to help you develop in a fast and efficient way.
  • The buffalo framework, a collection of pieces to construct your app.

Buffalo is currently available and tested on the following platforms:

  • GNU/Linux
  • Mac OSX
  • Windows

Requirements

Before installing make sure you have the required dependencies installed:

Frontend Requirements

The following requirements are optional. You don’t need them if you want to build an API or if you prefer to build your app in an old-fashioned way.

Database Specific Requirements

Again, if you don’t need a database, you won’t need these.

Installation from a Release Archive - 64 bits

The release packages contain Buffalo without SQLite support.

Since v0.10.3, pre-compiled archives are provided with each release. If you don’t need the latest cutting-edge version, you’ll probably prefer to install this version.

GNU / Linux

$ wget https://github.com/gobuffalo/cli/releases/download//buffalo__Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
$ tar -xvzf buffalo__Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
$ sudo mv buffalo /usr/local/bin/buffalo

MacOS

$ curl -OL https://github.com/gobuffalo/cli/releases/download//buffalo__Darwin_x86_64.tar.gz
$ tar -xvzf buffalo__Darwin_x86_64.tar.gz
$ sudo mv buffalo /usr/local/bin/buffalo
# or if you have ~/bin folder setup in the environment PATH variable
$ mv buffalo ~/bin/buffalo

Scoop (Windows)

Buffalo can be installed using the Scoop package manager:

PS C:\> scoop install buffalo

Chocolatey (Windows)

Buffalo can be installed using the Chocolatey package manager. Versions on Chocolatey are published with a potential delay and must go through moderation before they are available:

PS C:\> choco install buffalo

Homebrew (macOS)

On macOS, you can also install Buffalo with Homebrew. After you have Homebrew installed, you can easily install Buffalo:

brew install gobuffalo/tap/buffalo

GoFish (Cross-Platforms)

GoFish is a cross-platform systems package manager, that works across Windows, MacOSX and Linux.

After you have GoFish installed, you can very simply install Buffalo:

$ gofish install buffalo
==> Installing buffalo...
🐠  buffalo : installed in 3.223672926s

Custom Installation with SQLite3 Support

SQLite 3 requires a GCC, or equivalent C compiler for mattn/go-sqlite3 to compile. You must have a GCC installed first before installing Buffalo.

$ go install -tags sqlite github.com/gobuffalo/cli/cmd/buffalo@

Windows Users: Follow the installation guide at https://blog.gobuffalo.io/install-buffalo-on-windows-10-e08b3aa304a3 to install a GCC for Windows 10. Alternatively, GCC can be installed with the Scoop package manager:

PS C:\> scoop install gcc
These instructions can also be used for upgrading to a newer version of Buffalo.

Custom Installation without SQLite3 Support

$ go install github.com/gobuffalo/cli/cmd/buffalo@
These instructions can also be used for upgrading to a newer version of Buffalo.

Verify Your Installation

You can check if your installation is working, by executing the buffalo command in a terminal/command prompt:

$ buffalo
Build Buffalo applications with ease

Usage:
  buffalo [command]

Available Commands:
  build       Build the application binary, including bundling of webpack assets
  completion  Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  db          [PLUGIN] [DEPRECATED] please use `buffalo pop` instead.
  destroy     Destroy generated components
  dev         Run the Buffalo app in 'development' mode
  fix         Attempt to fix a Buffalo applications API to match version v0.18.6
  generate    Generate application components
  help        Help about any command
  info        Print diagnostic information (useful for debugging)
  new         Creates a new Buffalo application
  plugins     tools for working with buffalo plugins
  pop         [PLUGIN] A tasty treat for all your database needs
  routes      Print all defined routes
  setup       Setup a newly created, or recently checked out application.
  task        Run grift tasks
  test        Run the tests for the Buffalo app. Use --force-migrations to skip schema load.
  version     Print the version information

Flags:
  -h, --help   help for buffalo

Use "buffalo [command] --help" for more information about a command.

If you have a similar output, your Buffalo toolbox is ready to work!

Next Steps