packer-cn/website/source/docs/install/index.html.md

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docs	docs-install	Install	Installing Packer is simple. You can download a precompiled binary or compile from source. This page details both methods.

Install Packer

Installing Packer is simple. There are two approaches to installing Packer:

1. Using a precompiled binary

2. Installing from source

Downloading a precompiled binary is easiest, and we provide downloads over TLS along with SHA256 sums to verify the binary. We also distribute a PGP signature with the SHA256 sums that can be verified.

Precompiled Binaries

To install the precompiled binary, download the appropriate package for your system. Packer is currently packaged as a zip file. We do not have any near term plans to provide system packages.

Once the zip is downloaded, unzip it into any directory. The packer binary inside is all that is necessary to run Packer (or packer.exe for Windows). Any additional files, if any, aren't required to run Packer.

Copy the binary to anywhere on your system. If you intend to access it from the command-line, make sure to place it somewhere on your PATH.

Compiling from Source

To compile from source, you will need Go installed and configured properly (including a GOPATH environment variable set), as well as a copy of git in your PATH.

1. Clone the Packer repository from GitHub into your GOPATH:

```shell
$ mkdir -p $GOPATH/src/github.com/mitchellh && cd $!
$ git clone https://github.com/mitchellh/packer.git
$ cd packer
```

1. Bootstrap the project. This will download and compile libraries and tools needed to compile Packer:

```shell
$ make bootstrap
```

1. Build Packer for your current system and put the binary in ./bin/ (relative to the git checkout). The make dev target is just a shortcut that builds packer for only your local build environment (no cross-compiled targets).

```shell
$ make dev
```

Verifying the Installation

To verify Packer is properly installed, run packer -v on your system. You should see help output. If you are executing it from the command line, make sure it is on your PATH or you may get an error about Packer not being found.

$ packer -v