Install the Solana CLI and Anchor

This section covers the steps to set up your local environment for Solana development.

Quick Installation

On Mac and Linux, run this single command to install all dependencies.

Terminal

$ curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSfL https://solana-install.solana.workers.dev | bash

Windows users: you must first install WSL (see Install Dependencies). Then run the preceding command in the Ubuntu (Linux) terminal.

After installation, you should see output like the following:

Installed Versions:
Rust: rustc 1.85.0 (4d91de4e4 2025-02-17)
Solana CLI: solana-cli 2.1.14 (src:3ad46824; feat:3271415109, client:Agave)
Anchor CLI: anchor-cli 0.30.1
Node.js: v23.8.0
Yarn: 1.22.1

If the quick installation command doesn't work, please refer to the Install Dependencies section below for instructions to install each dependency individually.

If the quick install command runs successfully, skip to the Solana CLI Basics and Anchor CLI Basics sections below.

Install Dependencies

The instructions below guides you through installing each dependency individually.

Windows users must first install WSL (Windows subsystem for Linux) and then install the dependencies specified in the Linux section below.
Linux users should first install the dependencies specified in the Linux section below.
Mac users should start with the Rust installation instructions below.

Install Rust

Developers build Solana programs using the Rust programming language.

Install Rust with rustup.

Run the following command to install Rust:

Terminal

$ curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y

You should see the following message after the installation completes:

Run the following command to reload your PATH environment variable to include Cargo's bin directory:

Terminal

$ . "$HOME/.cargo/env"

To verify the installation succeeded, check the Rust version:

Terminal

$ rustc --version

You should see output like the following:

rustc 1.84.1 (e71f9a9a9 2025-01-27)

Install the Solana CLI

The Solana CLI provides all the tools required to build and deploy Solana programs.

Install the Solana CLI tool suite using the official install command:

Terminal

$ sh -c "$(curl -sSfL https://release.anza.xyz/stable/install)"

You can replace stable with the release tag matching the software version of your desired release (i.e. v2.0.3), or use one of the three symbolic channel names: stable, beta, or edge.

For a first-time installation of the Solana CLI, you may see the following message prompting you to add a PATH environment variable:

Close and reopen your terminal to apply the PATH changes or run the following in your existing shell:

export PATH="/Users/test/.local/share/solana/install/active_release/bin:$PATH"

If you are using Linux or WSL, you need to add the Solana CLI binary to your PATH so that the command is available in your terminal.

First, run the following command to check which shell you are using:

Terminal

$ echo $SHELL

If the output contains /bash, use .bashrc.
If the output contains /zsh, use .zshrc.

Depending on your shell, run the appropriate command.

For Bash (bashrc):

Terminal

$ echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/share/solana/install/active_release/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
$ source ~/.bashrc

For Zsh (zshrc):

Terminal

$ echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/share/solana/install/active_release/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
$ source ~/.zshrc

Then run the following command to refresh the terminal session or restart your terminal.

Terminal

$ source ~/.bashrc # If using Bash
$ source ~/.zshrc # If using Zsh

To verify that the installation succeeded, check the Solana CLI version:

Terminal

$ solana --version

You should see output like the following:

solana-cli 2.0.26 (src:3dccb3e7; feat:607245837, client:Agave)

You can view all available versions on the Agave Github repo.

Agave is the validator client from Anza, formerly known as Solana Labs validator client.

To later update the Solana CLI to the latest version, you can use the following command:

Terminal

$ agave-install update

Install Anchor CLI

Anchor is a framework for developing Solana programs. The Anchor framework leverages Rust macros to simplify the process of writing Solana programs.

You can install the Anchor CLI and tooling in two ways:

Anchor Version Manager (AVM) - Recommended installation method
Without AVM - Install directly from GitHub

The Anchor version manager (AVM) allows you to install and manage different Anchor versions on your system and easily update Anchor versions in the future.

Install AVM with the following command:

Terminal

$ cargo install --git https://github.com/coral-xyz/anchor avm --force

Confirm that AVM installed successfully:

Terminal

$ avm --version

Install the latest version of Anchor CLI using AVM:

Terminal

$ avm install latest
$ avm use latest

You can install a specific version of Anchor CLI by specifying the version number:

Terminal

$ avm install 0.30.1
$ avm use 0.30.1

Don't forget to run the avm use command to declare the Anchor CLI version to run on your system.

If you installed the latest version, run avm use latest.
If you installed the version 0.30.1, run avm use 0.30.1.

To verify that the installation succeeded, check the Anchor CLI version:

Terminal

$ anchor --version

You should see output like the following:

anchor-cli 0.30.1

When installing the Anchor CLI on Linux or WSL, you may encounter this error:

error: could not exec the linker cc = note: Permission denied (os error 13)

If you see this error message:

Install the dependencies listed in the Linux section at the top of this page.
Retry installing the Anchor CLI.

Node.js and Yarn

The default Anchor project test file (TypeScript) created with the anchor init command requires Node.js and Yarn. (Rust test template is available using anchor init --test-template rust)

When running anchor build, if you encounter the following errors:

After applying the preceding solution, attempt to run anchor build again.

When running anchor test after creating a new Anchor project on Linux or WSL, you may encounter the following errors if you don't have Node.js or Yarn installed:

Permission denied (os error 13)

No such file or directory (os error 2)

Solana CLI Basics

This section walks through some common Solana CLI commands to get you started.

Solana Config

To see your current config:

Terminal

$ solana config get

You should see output like the following:

Config File: /Users/test/.config/solana/cli/config.yml
RPC URL: https://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com
WebSocket URL: wss://api.mainnet-beta.solana.com/ (computed)
Keypair Path: /Users/test/.config/solana/id.json
Commitment: confirmed

The RPC URL and Websocket URL specify the Solana cluster the CLI makes requests to.

You can update the Solana CLI cluster using the following commands:

Terminal

$ solana config set --url mainnet-beta
$ solana config set --url devnet
$ solana config set --url localhost
$ solana config set --url testnet

You can also use the following short options:

Terminal

$ solana config set -um    # For mainnet-beta
$ solana config set -ud    # For devnet
$ solana config set -ul    # For localhost
$ solana config set -ut    # For testnet

The Keypair Path points to the default Solana wallet (keypair) used by the Solana CLI to pay transaction fees and deploy programs. By default, this file is stored at ~/.config/solana/id.json.

Create Wallet

To send transactions using the Solana CLI, you need a Solana wallet funded with SOL.

To generate a keypair at the default Keypair Path, run the following command:

Terminal

$ solana-keygen new

You should see output like the following:

Generating a new keypair

For added security, enter a BIP39 passphrase

NOTE! This passphrase improves security of the recovery seed phrase NOT the
keypair file itself, which is stored as insecure plain text

BIP39 Passphrase (empty for none):

Wrote new keypair to /Users/test/.config/solana/id.json
===========================================================================
pubkey: 8dBTPrjnkXyuQK3KDt9wrZBfizEZijmmUQXVHpFbVwGT
===========================================================================
Save this seed phrase and your BIP39 passphrase to recover your new keypair:
cream bleak tortoise ocean nasty game gift forget fancy salon mimic amazing
===========================================================================

If you already have a file system wallet saved at the default location, this command doesn't override it unless you explicitly force override using the --force flag.

To view your wallet's address (public key), run:

Terminal

$ solana address

Airdrop SOL

Request an airdrop of SOL to your wallet to pay for transactions and program deployments.

Set your cluster to the devnet:

Terminal

$ solana config set -ud

Then request an airdrop of devnet SOL:

Terminal

$ solana airdrop 2

Devnet airdrops limit requests to 5 SOL per request. If you hit rate limits or encounter errors, try using the Web Faucet instead.

To check your wallet's SOL balance, run the following command:

Terminal

$ solana balance

Run Local Validator

The Solana CLI includes a built-in test validator for local development.

In a separate terminal, run the following command to start a local validator:

Terminal

$ solana-test-validator

Remember to also update your CLI to use localhost before running Solana CLI commands:

Terminal

$ solana config set -ul

Anchor CLI Basics

This section walks through some common Anchor CLI commands to get you started. For more information on the Anchor CLI, see the Anchor documentation.

Initialize Project

To create a new Anchor project, run the following command:

Terminal

$ anchor init <project-name>

For example, to create a project called my-project, run:

Terminal

$ anchor init my-project

This command creates a new directory with the project name and initializes a new Anchor project with a basic Rust program and TypeScript test template.

Navigate to the project directory:

Terminal

$ cd <project-name>

See the Anchor project's file structure.

Build Program

To build your project, run the following command:

Terminal

$ anchor build

You can find the compiled program in the /target/deploy directory.

Deploy Program

To deploy your project, run the following command:

Terminal

$ anchor deploy

This command deploys your program to the cluster specified in the Anchor.toml file.

Test Program

To test your project, run the following command:

Terminal

$ anchor test

This command builds, deploys, and runs the tests for your project.

When using localnet as the cluster in Anchor.toml, Anchor automatically starts a local validator, deploys your program, runs tests, and then stops the validator.

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

Linux

Successful Rust Install Message

Node Installation

Yarn Installation

error: not a directory

lock file version 4 requires `-Znext-lockfile-bump

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