Skip to main content

Build Aptos CLI from 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. Otherwise, install the prebuilt CLI binaries to ease ramp up and reduce variables in your environment.

Use setup script

Aptos offers the dev_setup.sh script for establishing your development environment. This script currently supports macOS and Ubuntu Linux with other Linux distributions working but untested. The script does not support Windows. See the instructions below to manually install necessary dependencies on Windows.

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. Rust
  2. Git
  3. CMake
  4. LLVM
  5. LLD

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

If on Windows, you must install these manually:

  1. Rust.
  2. Git.
  3. CMake.
  4. For Windows ARM, Visual Studio Preview.
  5. C++ build tools for Windows.
  6. 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.