Install Golang Using PowerShell
Problem
In this article, I will show you how to install Golang using PowerShell.
The installation process consists of three parts:
- Define download URL and installer location
- Download Golang installer
- Install Golang silently
You can directly apply the third step above if you already have the installer or download it manually. All solutions below share all the steps above. They only differ in how the installer is downloaded.
Using Invoke-WebRequest and Start-Process
First we need to define variables for download URL and installer location. Then, we use Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet to download the file and put it in the folder.
Next, we perform silent installation using Start-Process cmdlet to invoke msiexec.exe since we use msi installer. We add -Wait parameter to wait until installation process completely finished. Last, we will remove the installer using Remove-Item cmdlet.
# Define the download URL and installer location
$golangUrl = "https://go.dev/dl/go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
$installer = "$env:TEMP\go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
# Download Golang installer
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $golangUrl -OutFile $installer
# Install Golang silently
Start-Process -FilePath "msiexec.exe" -ArgumentList "/i $installer /qn" -Wait
# Remove installer
Remove-Item $installer
Using Invoke-RestMethod and Start-Process
Similar to previous solution, but this one we will use Invoke-RestMethod cmdlet to download the file. We can use this cmdlet because the communication is using HTTP(S) that is supported by RESTful services.
# Define the download URL and installer location
$golangUrl = "https://go.dev/dl/go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
$installer = "$env:TEMP\go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
# Download Golang installer
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $golangUrl -OutFile $installer
# Install Golang silently
Start-Process -FilePath "msiexec.exe" -ArgumentList "/i $installer /qn" -Wait
# Remove installer
Remove-Item $installer
Using WebClient and Start-Process
We can also use WebClient class from .NET Framework to download the file since PowerShell is deeply integrated with .NET Framework.
# Define download URL and installer location
$golangUrl = "https://go.dev/dl/go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
$installer = "$env:TEMP\go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
# Download Golang installer
$WebClient = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$webclient.DownloadFile($golangUrl, $installer)
# Install Golang silently
Start-Process -FilePath "msiexec.exe" -ArgumentList "/i $installer /qn" -Wait
# Remove installer
Remove-Item $installer
Using HttpClient and Start-Process
We can also use HttpClient from .NET Framework to download the installer, then install Golang silently.
There are two flavors in using .NET Framework C# code from PowerShell. We can create the object using PowerShell syntax as in previous solution or we can also embed C# code in our script then invoke it.
In this case, we present both of the approaches.
Create C# object using PowerShell syntax
In this approach, we need to apply dispose pattern by enclosing each call to HttpClient constructor, GetStreamAsync and FileStream methods with try-finally block. It is optional to put catch block if we want to handle the exception specifically.
At finally block we close the connection after we have used disposable object. Otherwise, we won’t be able to perform silent installation because the process is still being used by another process.
A more concise way to apply dispose pattern in C# is to use using statement, but since PowerShell doesn’t have the syntax for the pattern we can use try-finally block as the alternative.
using namespace System.IO
using namespace System.Net.Http
# Define download URL and installer location
$golangUrl = "https://go.dev/dl/go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
$installer = "$env:TEMP\go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
# Download Golang installer
try {
$client = [HttpClient]::new()
try {
$stream = $client.GetStreamAsync($golangUrl)
try {
$fileStream = [FileStream]::new($installer, [FileMode]::Create)
$stream.GetAwaiter().GetResult().CopyTo($fileStream)
}
finally {
<#Do this after the try block regardless of whether an exception occurred or not#>
$fileStream.Dispose()
}
}
finally {
<#Do this after the try block regardless of whether an exception occurred or not#>
$stream.Dispose()
}
}
finally {
<#Do this after the try block regardless of whether an exception occurred or not#>
$client.Dispose()
}
# Install Golang silently
Start-Process -FilePath "msiexec.exe" -ArgumentList "/i $installer /qn" -Wait
# Remove installer
Remove-Item $installer
Embed C# code then invoke it from PowerShell
In this approach, we copy and paste our C# code to PowerShell, then enclose it with Add-Type -TypeDefinition in order to add it to PowerShell session. Then, we will be able to call the method to download the file from PowerShell.
# Define download URL and installer location
$golangUrl = "https://go.dev/dl/go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
$installer = "$env:TEMP\go1.22.0.windows-amd64.msi"
# Create C# Code to Download Golang installer
Add-Type -TypeDefinition @"
using System.IO;
using System.Net.Http;
public static class Downloader {
public static void DownloadInstaller() {
using (var client = new HttpClient())
{
using (var s = client.GetStreamAsync(@"$golangUrl"))
{
using (var fs = new FileStream(@"$installer", FileMode.OpenOrCreate))
{
s.Result.CopyTo(fs);
}
}
}
}
}
"@
[Downloader]::DownloadInstaller()
# Install Golang silently
Start-Process -FilePath "msiexec.exe" -ArgumentList "/i $installer /qn" -Wait
# Remove installer
Remove-Item $installer
Conclusion
To install Golang using PowerShell, we could download the file first and then perform silent installation. To download the file, there are some cmdlets we can use: using Invoke-WebRequest or Invoke-RestMethod. We can also use .NET Framework class like WebClient or HttpClient to download the installer.
If we already have the installer or download it manually, we can perform silent installation directly. After installation process finished, we remove the installer using Remove-Item cmdlet.