cargo-install(1)

NAME

cargo-install --- Build and install a Rust binary

SYNOPSIS

cargo install [options] crate[@version]...
cargo install [options] --path path
cargo install [options] --git url [crate...]
cargo install [options] --list

DESCRIPTION

This command manages Cargo‘s local set of installed binary crates. Only packages which have executable [[bin]] or [[example]] targets can be installed, and all executables are installed into the installation root’s bin folder. By default only binaries, not examples, are installed.

The installation root is determined, in order of precedence:

  • --root option
  • CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT environment variable
  • install.root Cargo config value
  • CARGO_HOME environment variable
  • $HOME/.cargo

There are multiple sources from which a crate can be installed. The default location is crates.io but the --git, --path, and --registry flags can change this source. If the source contains more than one package (such as crates.io or a git repository with multiple crates) the crate argument is required to indicate which crate should be installed.

Crates from crates.io can optionally specify the version they wish to install via the --version flags, and similarly packages from git repositories can optionally specify the branch, tag, or revision that should be installed. If a crate has multiple binaries, the --bin argument can selectively install only one of them, and if you'd rather install examples the --example argument can be used as well.

If the package is already installed, Cargo will reinstall it if the installed version does not appear to be up-to-date. If any of the following values change, then Cargo will reinstall the package:

  • The package version and source.
  • The set of binary names installed.
  • The chosen features.
  • The profile (--profile).
  • The target (--target).

Installing with --path will always build and install, unless there are conflicting binaries from another package. The --force flag may be used to force Cargo to always reinstall the package.

If the source is crates.io or --git then by default the crate will be built in a temporary target directory. To avoid this, the target directory can be specified by setting the CARGO_TARGET_DIR environment variable to a relative path. In particular, this can be useful for caching build artifacts on continuous integration systems.

Dealing with the Lockfile

By default, the Cargo.lock file that is included with the package will be ignored. This means that Cargo will recompute which versions of dependencies to use, possibly using newer versions that have been released since the package was published. The --locked flag can be used to force Cargo to use the packaged Cargo.lock file if it is available. This may be useful for ensuring reproducible builds, to use the exact same set of dependencies that were available when the package was published. It may also be useful if a newer version of a dependency is published that no longer builds on your system, or has other problems. The downside to using --locked is that you will not receive any fixes or updates to any dependency. Note that Cargo did not start publishing Cargo.lock files until version 1.37, which means packages published with prior versions will not have a Cargo.lock file available.

Configuration Discovery

This command operates on system or user level, not project level. This means that the local configuration discovery is ignored. Instead, the configuration discovery begins at $CARGO_HOME/config.toml. If the package is installed with --path $PATH, the local configuration will be used, beginning discovery at $PATH/.cargo/config.toml.

OPTIONS

Install Options

Feature Selection

The feature flags allow you to control which features are enabled. When no feature options are given, the default feature is activated for every selected package.

See the features documentation for more details.

Compilation Options

Manifest Options

Miscellaneous Options

Display Options

Common Options

ENVIRONMENT

See the reference for details on environment variables that Cargo reads.

EXIT STATUS

  • 0: Cargo succeeded.
  • 101: Cargo failed to complete.

EXAMPLES

  1. Install or upgrade a package from crates.io:

    cargo install ripgrep
    
  2. Install or reinstall the package in the current directory:

    cargo install --path .
    
  3. View the list of installed packages:

    cargo install --list
    

SEE ALSO

cargo(1), cargo-uninstall(1), cargo-search(1), cargo-publish(1)