Downloading a binary release of the Microsoft build of Go

This document contains a list of links to the binary releases of the Microsoft build of Go. This is only one way to get a build: for other download/install options, see README.md#download-and-install.

Downloads

The links in this table download the latest Go release built by Microsoft matching that column's major release number. For example, a 1.20 link will download 1.20.8-1 if that is the latest version of 1.20 available.

	1.26	1.25
Source code	- Source (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1	- Source (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1
Metadata	- Asset manifest (json)	- Asset manifest (json)
darwin-amd64	- Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1	Preview2 - Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1
darwin-arm64	- Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1	Preview2 - Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1
linux-amd64	- Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1	- Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1
linux-arm64	- Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1	- Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1
linux-armv6l	- Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1	- Binaries (tar.gz) - Checksum (SHA256) - Signature1
windows-amd64	- Binaries (zip) - Checksum (SHA256)	- Binaries (zip) - Checksum (SHA256)
windows-arm64	- Binaries (zip) - Checksum (SHA256)	N/A

¹ - Validate GPG signatures using our public key:

• https://download.microsoft.com/download/f/a/2/fa2420dd-3f08-4621-82cf-5a22abcbc8f9/microsoft-managed-lang-compiler.asc
• Shortened link for sharing: https://aka.ms/managed-lang-compiler-public-key

² - In 1.25, the macOS builds and systemcrypto support are in preview and shouldn't be used in production.

Downloading a specific version

The table only shows a small subset of the aka.ms links we generate. We generate links in these formats: 1.X.Y-Z, 1.X.Y, and 1.X. The 1.X.Y-Z links are immutable. The 1.X.Y and 1.X links are updated whenever there's a new release that matches the specified numbers.

We don't maintain a browseable list of all the links we generate, but you can assemble a URL yourself and use it. Browse recent GitHub releases in the microsoft/go repository to find valid patch and revision numbers to use.

To quickly assemble an aka.ms URL for a specific release, copy one of the URLs in the table and add a patch and revision number to the end of the existing version number in the URL. For example, to assemble a URL that will download the source of go1.20.9-1:

1. Copy https://aka.ms/golang/release/latest/go1.20.src.tar.gz from the table
2. Change 1.20 to 1.20.9-1
3. Result: https://aka.ms/golang/release/latest/go1.20.9-1.src.tar.gz

The URL format is https://aka.ms/golang/release/latest/go1.{X}.{Y}-{Z}.{artifact}, where:

• {X} is the major version number. (Go versions aren't Semantic Versions.)
• {Y} is the minor version number.
• {Z} is the revision number. This number is specific to the Microsoft build of Go.
• {artifact} is the artifact type. It may be a source archive, a binary build for a specific platform, or a metadata file. Explore the table to see the available artifact types.

Writing a tool that downloads the latest version

https://aka.ms/golang/release/latest/release-branch-links.json is a JSON file with information about the currently maintained major releases. The file is currently maintained on GitHub at https://github.com/microsoft/go/blob/microsoft/main/eng/doc/release-branch-links.json. (Raw)

To download the latest version, your tool can read this file, find the object with "latestStable": true, and download the desired artifact using one of the links provided.

To determine the latest version of the Microsoft build of Go, your tool can download the artifact described as "kind": "manifest", then parse that JSON file's version field.

Using go-install.ps1

We have written go-install.ps1, a PowerShell (Core) install script for the Microsoft build of Go. It can be used on Windows, Linux, and macOS to download and set up the builds listed in this document.