Installing Aptos CLI

The aptos tool is a command line interface (CLI) for developing on the Aptos blockchain, debugging Move contracts, and conducting node operations. This document describes how to install the aptos CLI tool. See Use Aptos CLI for how to use the CLI.

To download the Aptos source code, related tools, and IDE plugins for the Move programming language, follow Getting Started.

Install the CLI by downloading the precompiled binary for your platform, as described below.

Move Prover Dependencies

If you want to use the Move Prover to validate your Move code, install the Move Prover dependencies after installing the CLI binary.

Download precompiled binary

macOS

macOS

tip

These instructions have been tested on macOS Monterey (12.6)

1. Go to the Aptos CLI Release list.

2. Click the Assets expandable menu for the latest release.

3. You will see the zip files with the filename of the format: aptos-cli-<version>-<platform>. These are the platform-specific pre-compiled binaries of the CLI. Download the zip file for your platform, dismissing any warnings.

4. Unzip the downloaded file. This will extract the aptos CLI binary file into your default downloads folder. For example, on macOS it is the ~/Downloads folder.

5. Move this extracted aptos binary file into your preferred local folder. For example, place it in the ~/bin/aptos folder on macOS to make it accessible from the command line.

   :::tip Upgrading? Remember to look in the default download folder When you update the CLI binary with the latest version, note that the newer version binary will be downloaded to your default Downloads folder. Remember to move this newer version binary from the Downloads folder to the ~/bin/aptos folder to update and overwrite the older version. :::

6. Make this ~/bin/aptos an executable by running this command:

   • chmod +x ~/bin/aptos.
   • On macOS when you attempt to run the aptos tool for the first time, you will be blocked by the macOS that this app is from an "unknown developer". This is normal. Follow the simple steps recommended by the Apple support in Open a Mac app from an unidentified developer to remove this blocker.

7. Type ~/bin/aptos help to read help instructions.

8. Add ~/bin to your path in your .bashrc or .zshrc file for future use.

Linux

Linux

tip

These instructions have been tested on Ubuntu 20.04.

1. Go to the Aptos CLI release page.

2. Click the Assets expandable menu for the latest release.

3. You will see the zip files with the filename of the format: aptos-cli-<version>-<platform>. These are the platform-specific pre-compiled binaries of the CLI. Download the zip file for your platform, dismissing any warnings.

4. Unzip the downloaded file. This will extract the aptos CLI binary file into your default downloads folder.

5. Move this extracted aptos binary file into your preferred local folder.

   Upgrading? Remember to look in the default download folder

   When you update the CLI binary with the latest version, note that the newer version binary will be downloaded to your default Downloads folder. Remember to move this newer version binary from the Downloads folder to ~/bin/aptos folder (overwriting the older version).

6. Make this ~/bin/aptos an executable by running this command:

   • chmod +x ~/bin/aptos.

7. Type ~/bin/aptos help to read help instructions.

8. Add ~/bin to your path in your .bashrc or .zshrc file for future use.

Windows 10, 11 and Windows Server 2022+

Windows 10, 11 and Windows Server 2022+

tip

These instructions have been tested on Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022. Windows support is new and some features may be not complete. Open Github issues for bugs.

1. Go to the Aptos CLI release page.
2. Click the Assets expandable menu for the latest release.
3. You will see the zip files with the filename of the format: aptos-cli-<version>-<platform>. These are the platform-specific pre-compiled binaries of the CLI. Download the zip file for your platform, dismissing any warnings.
4. Unzip the downloaded file. This will extract the aptos CLI binary file into your default downloads folder. For example, on Windows it is the \Users\user\Downloads folder.
5. Move this extracted aptos binary file into your preferred local folder.
   Upgrading? Remember to look in the default download folder

   When you update the CLI binary with the latest version, note that the newer version binary will be downloaded to your default Downloads folder. Remember to move this newer version binary from the Downloads folder to your preferred location.

6. Open a powershell terminal via the windows start menu
7. In the powershell terminal, you can get help instructions by running the command with help. For example .\Downloads\aptos-cli-0.3.5-Windows-x86_64\aptos.exe help to read help instructions.

(Optional) Install the dependencies of Move Prover

If you want to use the Move Prover, install the dependencies by following the below steps:

tip

Currently, Windows is not supported by the Move Prover.

Prover macOS installation

macOS

tip

These instructions have been tested on macOS Monterey (12.6)

1. Ensure you have brew installed https://brew.sh/.

2. Ensure you have git installed https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git.

3. Clone the Aptos core repo: git clone https://github.com/aptos-labs/aptos-core.git.

4. Change directory into aptos-core: cd aptos-core

5. Run the dev setup script to prepare your environment: ./scripts/dev_setup.sh -yp

6. Source the profile file: source ~/.profile.

   info

   Note that you have to include environment variable definitions in ~/.profile into your shell. Depending on your setup, the ~/.profile may be already automatically loaded for each login shell, or it may not. If not, you may need to add . ~/.profile to your ~/.bash_profile or other shell configuration manually.

7. You can now run the Move Prover to prove an example:

   aptos move prove --package-dir aptos-move/move-examples/hello_prover/

Prover Linux installation

Linux

tip

Some Linux distributions are not supported. Currently, OpenSUSE and Amazon Linux do not support the automatic installation via the dev_setup.sh script.

1. Ensure you have git installed https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git.

2. Clone the Aptos core repo: git clone https://github.com/aptos-labs/aptos-core.git.

3. Change directory into aptos-core: cd aptos-core

4. Run the dev setup script to prepare your environment: ./scripts/dev_setup.sh -yp

5. Source the profile file: source ~/.profile.

   info

   Note that you have to include environment variable definitions in ~/.profile into your shell. Depending on your setup, the ~/.profile may be already automatically loaded for each login shell, or it may not. If not, you may need to add . ~/.profile to your ~/.bash_profile or other shell configuration manually.

6. You can now run the Move Prover to prove an example:

   aptos move prove --package-dir aptos-move/move-examples/hello_prover/

(Advanced users only) Build the CLI binary from the source code

If you are an advanced user and would like to build the CLI binary by downloading the source code, follow the below steps. This is not recommended unless you are on a platform unsupported by the prebuilt binaries.

macOS

macOS

Setup dependencies

> Using the automated script

1. If on Mac, ensure you have brew installed https://brew.sh/
2. Ensure you have git installed https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git.
3. Clone the Aptos core repo: git clone https://github.com/aptos-labs/aptos-core.git.
4. Change directory into aptos-core: cd aptos-core
5. Run the dev setup script to prepare your environment: ./scripts/dev_setup.sh
6. Update your current shell environment: source ~/.cargo/env.

> Manual installation of dependencies

If the script above doesn't work for you, you can install these manually, but it's not recommended.

1. Install Rust
2. Install Git
3. Install CMake
4. Install LLVM

Building the Aptos CLI

1. Checkout the correct branch git checkout --track origin/<branch>, where <branch> is:
   • devnet for building on the Aptos devnet.
   • testnet for building on the Aptos testnet.
   • main for the current development branch.
2. Build the CLI tool: cargo build --package aptos --release.
3. The binary will be available in at
   • target/release/aptos
4. (Optional) Move this executable to a place on your path e.g. ~/bin/aptos.
5. You can now get help instructions by running ~/bin/aptos help

Linux

Linux

Setup dependencies

> Using the automated script

1. If on Mac, ensure you have brew installed https://brew.sh/
2. Ensure you have git installed https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git.
3. Clone the Aptos core repo: git clone https://github.com/aptos-labs/aptos-core.git.
4. Change directory into aptos-core: cd aptos-core
5. Run the dev setup script to prepare your environment: ./scripts/dev_setup.sh
6. Update your current shell environment: source ~/.cargo/env

> Manual installation of dependencies

If the script above does not work for you, you can install these manually, but it is not recommended:

1. Rust.
2. Git.
3. CMake.
4. LLVM.

Building the Aptos CLI

1. Checkout the correct branch git checkout --track origin/<branch>, where <branch> is:
   • devnet for building on the Aptos devnet.
   • testnet for building on the Aptos testnet.
   • main for the current development branch.
2. Build the CLI tool: cargo build --package aptos --release.
3. The binary will be available in at
   • target/release/aptos
4. (Optional) Move this executable to a place on your path e.g. ~/bin/aptos.
5. You can now get help instructions by running ~/bin/aptos help

Windows

Windows

Setup dependencies

tip

The aptos-core codebase currently has no script similar to the dev_setup.sh script for Windows. All dependencies must be manually installed.

> Manual installation of dependencies

1. Install Rust.
2. Install Git.
3. Install CMake.
4. If on Windows ARM, install Visual Studio Preview.
5. Install C++ build tools for Windows.
6. Install LLVM.

Building aptos-core

1. Checkout the correct branch git checkout --track origin/<branch>, where <branch> is:
   • devnet for building on the Aptos devnet.
   • testnet for building on the Aptos testnet.
   • main for the current development branch.
2. Build the CLI tool: cargo build --package aptos --release.
3. The binary will be available at - target\release\aptos.exe
4. You can now get help instructions by running target\release\aptos.exe in a Powershell window.