# balena CLI Advanced Installation Options

**These are alternative, advanced installation options. Most users would prefer the [recommended,
streamlined installation
instructions](https://github.com/balena-io/balena-cli/blob/master/INSTALL.md).**

There are 3 options to choose from to install balena's CLI:

* [Executable Installer](#executable-installer): the easiest method on Windows and macOS, using the
  traditional graphical desktop application installers.
* [Standalone Zip Package](#standalone-zip-package): these are plain zip files with the balena CLI
  executable in them: extract and run. Available for all platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS.
  Recommended also for scripted installation in CI (continuous integration) environments.
* [NPM Installation](#npm-installation): recommended for Node.js developers who may be interested
  in integrating the balena CLI in their existing projects or workflow.

Some specific CLI commands have a few extra installation steps: see section [Additional
Dependencies](#additional-dependencies).

## Executable Installer

This is the recommended installation option on macOS and Windows. Follow the specific OS
instructions:

* [Windows](./INSTALL-WINDOWS.md)
* [macOS](./INSTALL-MAC.md)

> Note regarding WSL ([Windows Subsystem for
> Linux](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about))  
> If you would like to use WSL, follow the [installations instructions for
> Linux](./INSTALL-LINUX.md) rather than Windows, as WSL consists of a Linux environment.

If you had previously installed the CLI using a standalone zip package, it may be a good idea to
check your system's `PATH` environment variable for duplicate entries, as the terminal will use the
entry that comes first. Check the [Standalone Zip Package](#standalone-zip-package) instructions
for how to modify the PATH variable.

By default, the CLI is installed to the following folders:

OS  | Folders
--- | ---
Windows: | `C:\Program Files\balena-cli\`
macOS:   | `/usr/local/lib/balena-cli/` <br> `/usr/local/bin/balena`

## Standalone Zip Package

1. Download the latest zip file from the [releases page](https://github.com/balena-io/balena-cli/releases).
   Look for a file name that ends with the word "standalone", for example:  
   `balena-cli-vX.Y.Z-linux-x64-standalone.zip`  ← _also for the Windows Subsystem for Linux_  
   `balena-cli-vX.Y.Z-macOS-x64-standalone.zip`  
   `balena-cli-vX.Y.Z-windows-x64-standalone.zip`

2. Extract the zip file contents to any folder you choose. The extracted contents will include a
   `balena-cli` folder.

3. Add the `balena-cli` folder to the system's `PATH` environment variable.  
   See instructions for:
   [Linux](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14637979/how-to-permanently-set-path-on-linux-unix) |
   [macOS](https://www.architectryan.com/2012/10/02/add-to-the-path-on-mac-os-x-mountain-lion/#.Uydjga1dXDg) |
   [Windows](https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm)

> * If you are using macOS 10.15 or later (Catalina, Big Sur), [check this known issue and
>   workaround](https://github.com/balena-io/balena-cli/issues/2244).
> * **Linux Alpine** and **Busybox:** the standalone zip package is not currently compatible with
>   these "compact" Linux distributions, because of the alternative C libraries they ship with.
>   For these, consider the [NPM Installation](#npm-installation) option.
> * Note that moving the `balena` executable out of the extracted `balena-cli` folder on its own
>   (e.g. moving it to `/usr/local/bin/balena`) will **not** work, as it depends on the other
>   folders and files also present in the `balena-cli` folder.

To update the CLI to a new version, download a new release zip file and replace the previous
installation folder. To uninstall, simply delete the folder and edit the PATH environment variable
as described above.

## NPM Installation

If you are a Node.js developer, you may wish to install the balena CLI via [npm](https://www.npmjs.com).
The npm installation involves building native (platform-specific) binary modules, which require
some additional development tools to be installed first:

* [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) version 10 (min **10.20.0**) or 12 (version 14 is not yet fully supported)
  * **Linux, macOS** and **Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL):**  
    Installing Node via [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/blob/master/README.md) is recommended.
    When the "system" or "default" Node.js and npm packages are installed with "apt-get" in Linux
    distributions like Ubuntu, users often report permission or compilation errors when running
    "npm install".
* [Python 2.7](https://www.python.org/), [git](https://git-scm.com/), [make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/), [g++](https://gcc.gnu.org/)
  * **Linux** and **Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL):**  
    `sudo apt-get install -y python git make g++`
  * **macOS:** install Apple's Command Line Tools by running on a Terminal window:  
    `xcode-select --install`

On **Windows (not WSL),** the dependencies above and additional ones can be met by installing:

* Node.js from the [Nodejs.org download page](https://nodejs.org/en/download/).
* The [MSYS2 shell](https://www.msys2.org/), which provides `git`, `make`, `g++`, `7z` and more:
  * `pacman -S git gcc make openssh p7zip`
  * [Set a Windows environment variable](https://www.onmsft.com/how-to/how-to-set-an-environment-variable-in-windows-10): `MSYS2_PATH_TYPE=inherit`
  * Note that a bug in the MSYS2 launch script (`msys2_shell.cmd`) makes text-based
    interactive CLI menus to misbehave. [Check this Github issue for a
    workaround](https://github.com/msys2/MINGW-packages/issues/1633#issuecomment-240583890).
* The Windows Driver Kit (WDK), which is needed to compile some native Node modules. It is **not**
  necessary to install Visual Studio, only the WDK, which is "step 2" in the following guides:
  * [WDK for Windows 10](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/download-the-wdk#download-icon-step-2-install-wdk-for-windows-10-version-1903)
  * [WDK for earlier versions of Windows](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/other-wdk-downloads#step-2-install-the-wdk)
* The [windows-build-tools](https://www.npmjs.com/package/windows-build-tools) npm package (which
  provides Python 2.7 and more), by running the following command on an [administrator
  console](https://www.howtogeek.com/194041/how-to-open-the-command-prompt-as-administrator-in-windows-8.1/):
  
  `npm install -g --production windows-build-tools`

With these dependencies in place, the balena CLI installation command is:

```sh
$ npm install balena-cli -g --production --unsafe-perm
```

`--unsafe-perm` is required when `npm install` is executed as the root user, or on systems where
the global install directory is not user-writable. It allows npm install steps to download and save
prebuilt native binaries, and also allows the execution of npm scripts like `postinstall` that are
used to patch dependencies. It is usually possible to omit `--unsafe-perm` if installing under a
regular (non-root) user account, especially if using a user-managed node installation such as
[nvm](https://github.com/creationix/nvm).

## Additional Dependencies

The `balena ssh`, `scan`, `build`, `deploy` and `preload` commands may require
additional software to be installed. Check the Additional Dependencies sections for each operating
system:

* [Windows](./INSTALL-WINDOWS.md#additional-dependencies)
* [macOS](./INSTALL-MAC.md#additional-dependencies)
* [Linux](./INSTALL-LINUX.md#additional-dependencies)

Where Docker or balenaEngine are required, they may be installed on the local machine (where the
balena CLI is executed), on a remote server, or on a balenaOS device running a [balenaOS development
image](https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/OS/overview/2.x/#dev-vs-prod-images)). Reasons why this
may be desirable include:

* To avoid having to install Docker on the development machine / laptop.
* To take advantage of a more powerful server (CPU, memory).
* To build or run images "natively" on an ARM device, avoiding the need for QEMU emulation.

To use a remote Docker Engine (daemon) or balenaEngine, specify the remote machine's IP address and
port number with the `--dockerHost` and `--dockerPort` command-line options. The `preload` command
has additional requirements because the bind mount feature is used. For more details, see
`balena help` for each command or the [online
reference](https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/cli/#cli-command-reference).