Installation

The quickest way to install Runbooks is to download the pre-built binaries from the GitHub releases page.

Installing pre-built binaries

macOS

Using curl (Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3/etc.):

# Download the latest release
curl -Lo runbooks https://github.com/gruntwork-io/runbooks/releases/latest/download/runbooks_darwin_arm64

# Make it executable
chmod +x runbooks

# Move to your PATH
sudo mv runbooks /usr/local/bin/

Using curl (Intel Mac):

# Download the latest release
curl -Lo runbooks https://github.com/gruntwork-io/runbooks/releases/latest/download/runbooks_darwin_amd64

# Make it executable
chmod +x runbooks

# Move to your PATH
sudo mv runbooks /usr/local/bin/

Tip

Not sure which chip you have? Run uname -m in your terminal. If it says arm64, you have Apple Silicon. If it says x86_64, you have an Intel Mac.

Linux

Using curl (x86_64/AMD64):

# Download the latest release
curl -Lo runbooks https://github.com/gruntwork-io/runbooks/releases/latest/download/runbooks_linux_amd64

# Make it executable
chmod +x runbooks

# Move to your PATH
sudo mv runbooks /usr/local/bin/

Using curl (ARM64):

# Download the latest release
curl -Lo runbooks https://github.com/gruntwork-io/runbooks/releases/latest/download/runbooks_linux_arm64

# Make it executable
chmod +x runbooks

# Move to your PATH
sudo mv runbooks /usr/local/bin/

Tip

Not sure which architecture you have? Run uname -m in your terminal. If it says x86_64, use the amd64 version. If it says aarch64 or arm64, use the arm64 version.

Windows

Using PowerShell:

# Download the latest release
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/gruntwork-io/runbooks/releases/latest/download/runbooks_windows_amd64.exe" -OutFile "runbooks.exe"

# Move to a directory in your PATH (create if needed)
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\runbooks"
Move-Item -Force runbooks.exe "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\runbooks\runbooks.exe"

Then add %LOCALAPPDATA%\runbooks to your PATH:

1. Press Win + R, type sysdm.cpl, and press Enter
2. Go to the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables
3. Under “User variables”, select Path and click Edit
4. Click New and add %LOCALAPPDATA%\runbooks
5. Click OK to save

Tip

Alternatively, you can add to PATH via PowerShell (requires reopening your terminal):

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", $env:Path + ";$env:LOCALAPPDATA\runbooks", "User")

Building from source

As an alternative to downloading pre-built binaries, you can build the binaries yourself:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/gruntwork-io/runbooks.git
   cd runbooks

2. Build the frontend:

   cd web
   bun install
   bun run build

3. Build the binary:

   go build -o runbooks main.go

4. Move the binary to your PATH (optional):

   sudo mv runbooks /usr/local/bin/

5. Enable execute permissions for your binary

   chmod u+x /usr/local/bin/runbooks

6. Verify installation:

   runbooks

Verifying installation

Once installed, you can verify that runbooks is working by running:

runbooks version

Next

Now that you have Runbooks installed, let’s write your first runbook!