Anchor is a popular framework for developing Solana programs, leveraging Rust macros to make the process simpler and more efficient. There are two main ways to install the Anchor CLI and related tools:
  1. Using Anchor Version Manager (AVM) – Recommended: AVM simplifies the process of installing and managing different Anchor versions, making updates easier in the future. We will present this way step by step.
  2. Without AVM – A more manual method that makes version updates less convenient.
The AVM allows you to easily install, switch between, and update different versions of Anchor on your system. Install AVM with the following command: 
cargo install --git https://github.com/coral-xyz/anchor avm --force
Test the installation to ensure AVM is correctly installed and accessible: 
avm --version
Install the latest version of the Anchor CLI using AVM: 
avm install latest
avm use latest
If you want to install a specific version, replace latest with the version number: 
avm install 0.29.1
avm use 0.29.1
Don’t forget to run the avm use command to declare which version of the Anchor CLI should be used on your system. Verify the installation was successful by checking the Anchor CLI version: 
anchor --version
You should see output similar to: 
anchor-cli 0.30.1

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Common Errors

  • Rust Version Error (Box<_> type annotation error): If you encounter the following error during installation:
error[E0282]: type annotations needed for `Box<_>`
This error can occur with certain versions of Rust. To resolve this, switch to Rust version 1.79.0 and try the installation again:
  • Permission Denied (Linux/WSL linker error): When installing Anchor CLI on Linux or WSL, you may encounter this error:
rustup default 1.79.0