112

I am trying to build a sample application with Go gRPC, but I am unable to generate the code using "protoc"

I have installed the required libraries and Go packages using:

  1. go get -u google.golang.org/grpc
  2. go get -u github.com/golang/protobuf/protoc-gen-go

I have tried setting the path as well, but no luck.

Sample "proto" file:

syntax = "proto3"; package greet; option go_package="greetpb"; service GreetService{}

Error message:

"protoc-gen-go: program not found or is not executable
--go_out: protoc-gen-go: Plugin failed with status code 1."

Improve this question
4
  • Can you add the exact command you are executing? Commented Aug 29, 2019 at 14:37
  • "protoc greet/greetpb/greet.proto --go_out=plugins=grpc:." Folder structure: greet->greetpb-> greet.proto file Commented Aug 29, 2019 at 17:02
  • 13
    For Mac Users: simply use brew install protoc-gen-go or another plugin like brew install protoc-gen-go-grpc, thereafter probably got install in /usr/local/Cellar/protoc-gen-go/version/bin, add it permanently either on .zshrc (recommend) or .bash_history or .bash_profile. check by protoc-gen-go --version simple! Commented Jan 16, 2022 at 23:23
  • @ArifMustafa This solved my issue well. Thanks. Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 6:46

19 Answers 19

Reset to default
87

Go 1.17+

From https://go.dev/doc/go-get-install-deprecation

Starting in Go 1.17, installing executables with go get is deprecated. go install may be used instead.

~/.bashrc

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

Install

go install google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go@latest

go: downloading google.golang.org/protobuf v1.27.1

go install google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc@latest

go: downloading google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc v1.2.0

go: downloading google.golang.org/grpc v1.44.0

file.go

protoc --go-grpc_out=. *.proto

Environment

Improve this answer
Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

5 Comments

In my case, it worked when I added this part export GOPATH=$HOME/go export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin to ~/.bash_profile
This probably isn't what most people want. Since most people are now using go mod, the appropriate option isn't to set GOPATH, but rather to use GOFLAGS=-mod=readonly go install {package} and then it will use GOPATH that's set in your go env.
always remember to re-run source ~/.bashrc in your terminal before spending hours cursing as to why the top voted answer doesn't work...
this guy is a hero
Setting the path to the one in the answer worked for me. The grpc docs say to set it to export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin", but that does NOT work for me.
62

I resolved it by following these steps:

Install the Go library using:

go get -u github.com/golang/protobuf/{proto,protoc-gen-go}
  1. Run vim ~/.bash_profile
  2. Add: 
    export GO_PATH=~/go export PATH=$PATH:/$GO_PATH/bin
  3. Run source ~/.bash_profile

Reference: Unable to build protobuf to go endpoint

Improve this answer

8 Comments

This wouldn't work as the protoc compiler can't resolve ~
As an aside, you really should be using .bashrc instead of .bash_profile
@TannishaHill .bash_profile or better yet .profile is preferable for env vars which you export because it is usually only executed once, by login shells. .bashrc is executed by all interactive shells, so you end up just blithely reexporting the env vars everytime you manually launch a child shell.
go: module github.com/golang/protobuf is deprecated: Use the "google.golang.org/protobuf" module instead. go get: installing executables with 'go get' in module mode is deprecated.
'go get' is no longer supported outside a module. To build and install a command, use 'go install' with a version. Here is a sample command to use: go install github.com/golang/protobuf/proto@latest github.com/golang/protobuf/protoc-gen-go@latest
|
55

Tannisha Hill indicated that the following package had to be added:

sudo apt install protobuf-compiler

In my case, I also had to add this one:

sudo apt install golang-goprotobuf-dev
Improve this answer

2 Comments

module github.com/golang/protobuf is deprecated: Use the "google.golang.org/protobuf" module instead
On what system and distribution (incl. versions)? Was it Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa)? Or something else?
34

There are two ways to install the protobuf compiler. If you're on Ubuntu you can use this:

sudo apt install protobuf-compiler

Then of course there's the standard way:

go get -u github.com/golang/protobuf/{proto,protoc-gen-go}

Here forward it's just adding the path. Assuming when you installed Go you did this,

echo 'export GOPATH=$HOME/Go' >> $HOME/.bashrc source $HOME/.bashrc

Now you can just extend this:

echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin' >> $HOME/.bashrc source $HOME/.bashrc

Strangely protoc can't expand ~.

Improve this answer

1 Comment

'go get' is no longer supported outside a module. To build and install a command, use 'go install' with a version Here is a sample command to use: go install github.com/golang/protobuf/proto@latest github.com/golang/protobuf/protoc-gen-go@latest
19

From the GitHub repository, this solution has worked for me.

The Go version is go version go1.14.1 Linux/amd64

Add this to .bashrc and source it.

export GOROOT=/usr/local/go export GOPATH=$HOME/go export GOBIN=$GOPATH/bin export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT:$GOPATH:$GOBIN

Ref.: protoc-gen-go: program not found or is not executable #795

Improve this answer

Comments

11

Also try the official solution from grpc.io documentation.

Go plugins for the protocol compiler:

Install the protocol compiler plugins for Go using the following commands:

export GO111MODULE=on # Enable module mode go get google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go \ google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc

Update your PATH so that the protoc compiler can find the plugins:

export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"

This worked for me.

Improve this answer

Comments

10

Make sure your GOBIN is set in the PATH variable. Otherwise, you may encounter this problem. Check GOBIN path by running go env and confirm GOBIN is not empty.

If it is empty then try like below

export GOPATH=$HOME/go export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin protoc --go_out=plugins=grpc:. *.proto
Improve this answer

1 Comment

Exactly, as the docs state: "Set the $GOBIN environment variable to change the installation location. It must be in your $PATH for the protocol buffer compiler to find it."
7

Use go get to download the following packages:

go get google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go go get google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc

For setting GOPATH and GOROOT, follow the below procedure:

But, first, run go env.

If you see that the Go is not installed, you can install it via Homebrew. If you see the output, then your Go is installed. It shows you all the environments that are set and are not.

If you see empty for GOPATH:

Create any directory anywhere on your computer for Go projects in my case: ~/GO_PROJECTS then export GOPATH=~/GO_PROJECTS.

If you see empty for GOROOT:

Run which go (on my computer: /usr/local/bin/go) then edit your ~/.zshrc file to add the following line export like this export GOROOT=/usr/local/go.

You can also edit your ~/.zshrc file to add the following line to set up the GOPATH and GOROOT:

If you have installed Go from the original pkg, download from https://golang.org/doc/install.

export GOPATH=$HOME/dev/go-workspace export GOROOT=/usr/local/go export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT/bin

If you have installed Go using Homebrew.

export GOPATH=$HOME/dev/go-workspace export GOROOT=/usr/local/opt/go/libexec export PATH=$PATH:$GOPATH/bin export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT/bin

Save and exit your editor. Then, source your ~/.zshrc.

source ~/.zshrc
Improve this answer

1 Comment

But only on Mac (since Homebrew is mentioned)? What version of macOS was it tried on?
5

I tried multiple solutions, but at the end I found out that Go environment variables are the actual culprits for this.

If you are on Linux, add these variables in your .bashrc or .bash_profile file.

export GOROOT=/usr/local/go export GOPATH=$HOME/go export GOBIN=$GOPATH/bin export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT:$GOPATH:$GOBIN

And don't forget to source it after editing (e.g., $source ~/.bashrc).

Improve this answer

2 Comments

Worked for me once I had added /home/username/go and /home/username/go/bin to PATH (Go 1.16). It did not seem to make a difference whether env variables $GOPATH and $GOBIN are set or not (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
The only best solution that worked for me in Ubuntu 20.04 WSL on Windows 10. The magic was in adding below to the ~/.bashrc => export GOROOT=/usr/local/go export GOPATH=$HOME/go export GOBIN=$GOPATH/bin export PATH=$PATH:$GOROOT:$GOPATH:$GOBIN
3

For this was what worked

export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"

Improve this answer

Comments

2

Step 1:

sudo apt install protobuf-compiler

Step 2:

go install google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/[email protected]

Step 3:

go install google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/[email protected]

Update your PATH so that the protoc compiler can find the plugins:

export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"
Improve this answer

Comments

1

Many of the other responses address path issues, but if it's not installed, you can install it using the following command:

go install google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc
Improve this answer

Comments

1

When you run go get -u github.com/golang/protobuf/protoc-gen-go in Visual Studio Code terminal, and if Visual Studio Code doesn't find $GOPATH and $GOBIN, it will install the package at the default user's home directory /home/$username/go{/bin}

The solution is to move all files in the bin and pkg folders to your current go path (/usr/local/go{/bin}). The go path is the one which contains the go file in the bin folder. And add this line to the end of the .bashrc file:

export GOPATH=/usr/local/go:$PATH export GOBIN=/usr/local/go/bin:$PATH

Then reboot the computer.

Improve this answer

Comments

1

After installing Go, use go get to download the following packages:

$ go get google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go

$ go get google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc

Improve this answer

Comments

1

The reason you are seeing this message is because Go cannot reach the executable. Go looks for ~/go/bin to find the executables when it is called. Let's check to see if your PATH variable has the executable. But first, let's look at the error.

protoc-gen-go: program not found or is not executable

To solve this, we should first inspect to see if ~/go/bin is in our path.

echo $PATH

Inspect the result to see if ~/go/bin is in your path.

If not, let's add it to our path:

export PATH=$PATH:/$GO_PATH/bin

Everything should work now if protoc-gen-go is installed.

If not, install protoc-gen-go.

go install google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go@latest
Improve this answer

Comments

1

None of above works for me. It turns out you have to go to this page and download the suitable file for your platform at unzip it into your GOPATH. For example this protoc-21.5-osx-x86_64.zip for Intel macOS or this one for linux 64 bit protoc-21.5-linux-x86_64.zip

Improve this answer

Comments

1

It's worked for me:

check protoc-gen-go install on your system if it's not installed then install it on your system. For mac *

brew install protoc-gen-go
Improve this answer

Comments

0

NB: Switch to root privileges on your terminal and follow these steps. This got me out of the ditch

  1. git clone https://github.com/micro/protoc-gen-micro.git /usr/local/go/bin/src/github.com/micro/protoc-gen-micro
  2. cd src/github.com/micro/protoc-gen-micro
  3. go build
  4. cp protoc-gen-micro /bin

Happy coding!

Improve this answer

Comments

0

In case someone is facing the same issue nowadays.

Install the Go library using

go get -u github.com/golang/protobuf/{proto,protoc-gen-go}

Make sure the GOPATH variable is set. In my case I created a folder called gocode, but if your code is located in another folder you have to change it.

export GOPATH=$HOME/gocode export Path=$Path:$GOPATH/bin

After following these steps, I found another error protoc-gen-go failed :: The import path must contain at least one forward slash ('/') character. To solve this, change the path in the option

syntax = "proto3"; package greet; option go_package="./greet/greetpb"; service GreetService{}
Improve this answer

Comments

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.