How do I SET the GOPATH environment variable on Ubuntu? What file must I edit?

Question

I am trying to do a go get:

go get github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql 

and it fails with the following error:

package github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql: cannot download, $GOPATH not set. For more details see: go help gopath 

when I do a go env , a list of Go values is shown as below:

ubuntu@ip-xxx-x-xx-x:~$ go env GOARCH="amd64" GOBIN="" GOCHAR="6" GOEXE="" GOHOSTARCH="amd64" GOHOSTOS="linux" GOOS="linux" GOPATH="" GORACE="" GOROOT="/usr/lib/go" GOTOOLDIR="/usr/lib/go/pkg/tool/linux_amd64" CC="gcc" GOGCCFLAGS="-g -O2 -fPIC -m64 -pthread" CGO_ENABLED="1" 

clearly the GOPATH is not set, how and where do I set it?

I see many threads that mention this error but none that provide an answer to my question, which file needs to be edited to provide a value for this path?

Answer 1

New Way:

Check out this answer.

Old Way:

Just add the following lines to ~/.bashrc and this will persist. However, you can use other paths you like as GOPATH instead of $HOME/go in my sample.

export GOPATH=$HOME/go export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT/bin:$GOPATH/bin 

Answer 2

New Way: Go Modules

Since Go 1.11, you don't have to use GOPATH anymore. Simply go to your project directory and do this once:

go mod init github.com/youruser/yourrepo 

• With this, Go creates a module root at that directory.
• You can create as many modules as you want.
• For step by step instructions, also see this answer.

---

Old Way: GOPATH

If you insist on working with GOPATH then heed this:

• Since Go 1.8, you don't need to set your GOPATH or GOROOT.
• GOPATH by default is under your user/home directory.

From the documentation:

If no GOPATH is set, it is assumed to be $HOME/go on Unix systems and %USERPROFILE%\go on Windows. If you want to use a custom location as your workspace, you can set the GOPATH environment variable.