Requirements

govman is designed to work with minimal dependencies on all supported platforms.

System Requirements

Operating System

govman supports:

• Linux (kernel 2.6+ recommended)
• macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or later
• Windows 10 or later (Windows 7/8 may work with limitations)

Architecture

• amd64 (x86_64)
• arm64 (ARM 64-bit, including Apple Silicon)

Disk Space

• govman binary: ~10-20 MB
• Per Go version: ~100-500 MB (varies by version and platform)
• Download cache: Varies (can be cleaned with govman clean)

Recommended minimum: 1 GB free for comfortable usage with multiple Go versions.

Software Dependencies

Linux

Required:

• One of: curl or wget (for downloading)
• tar and gzip (for extracting archives)
• A supported shell: bash, zsh, or fish

Optional:

• git (for development workflows)

Installation on Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install curl tar gzip

Installation on RHEL/CentOS/Fedora:

sudo yum install curl tar gzip

macOS

Required:

• curl (pre-installed on macOS)
• tar (pre-installed on macOS)
• A supported shell: bash, zsh, or fish (zsh is default on macOS 10.15+)

Optional:

• Homebrew (for alternative installation methods)
• git (typically installed via Xcode Command Line Tools)

Windows

Required:

• PowerShell 5.1+ or PowerShell Core 7+ (recommended)
• OR Command Prompt (with limited features)

Optional:

• curl.exe (included in Windows 10 1803+)
• PowerShell 7+ for better experience
• Windows Terminal (recommended for better UI)
• Git Bash or WSL (for bash shell integration)

Network Requirements

govman requires internet access for:

• Downloading govman binary during installation
• Fetching available Go release information
• Downloading Go versions
• Updating govman itself

Firewall Configuration: Ensure access to:

• https://go.dev (Go official releases and API)
• https://golang.org (Go downloads)
• https://github.com (govman releases and updates)
• https://api.github.com (self-update feature)

Proxy Support: govman respects standard HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, and NO_PROXY environment variables.

Shell Compatibility

govman provides shell integration for automatic version switching:

Fully Supported Shells

Limited Support

Permissions

Linux/macOS

• No root/sudo required for installation and usage
• Write access to ~/.govman/ directory
• Write access to shell configuration files (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.)

Windows

• No administrator privileges required
• Write access to %USERPROFILE%\.govman\
• Ability to modify user PATH environment variable
• PowerShell execution policy must allow running scripts

To configure PowerShell execution policy:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

Optional Dependencies

For Development

If you plan to build govman from source:

• Go 1.25 or later
• Git
• Make (on Linux/macOS)

For Enhanced Features

• Git: For project-based workflows and version control integration
• jq: For parsing JSON configuration (though not required by govman)
• direnv: Can work alongside govman for environment management

Compatibility Notes

Darwin/ARM64 (Apple Silicon)

• govman fully supports Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3)
• For Go versions before 1.16, govman automatically falls back to amd64 binaries (which run via Rosetta 2)

WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

• govman works fully in WSL
• Use the Linux installation method within WSL
• Shell integration works as on native Linux

Docker/Containers

govman can be used in containers, but note:

• Shell auto-switching requires shell integration setup
• Consider using explicit govman use commands in Dockerfiles
• May need to install download dependencies (curl, tar) in base images

Known Limitations

1. Command Prompt (Windows): No support for automatic version switching (.govman-goversion files)
2. Network Isolation: govman requires internet connectivity for most operations
3. Concurrent Installations: Multiple simultaneous govman install commands may conflict
4. Symlink Support: Some restricted Windows environments may have symlink limitations

Verification

To verify your system meets the requirements:

# Check shell
echo $SHELL  # Linux/macOS
echo $0      # Current shell

# Check curl/wget
curl --version
wget --version

# Check tar/gzip
tar --version
gzip --version

# Check available disk space
df -h ~/.govman  # Linux/macOS
dir %USERPROFILE%\.govman  # Windows