Install the Solana CLI for local development

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7 Dec 2023

This quickstart guide will demonstrate how to quickly install and setup your local development environment, getting you ready to start developing and deploying Solana programs to the blockchain.

What you will learn #

how to install the Solana CLI locally
how to setup a localhost Solana cluster/validator
how to create a Solana wallet for developing
how to airdrop SOL tokens for your wallet

Windows users only #

Users on Windows 10 or 11 should install:

Windows Subsystem for Linux, which provides a Linux environment that runs inside your existing Windows installation. You can then run regular Linux software, including the Linux versions of Solana CLI.
Windows Terminal, a modern terminal for Windows.

Once you've installed both Windows Subsystem for Linux and Windows Terminal, open Windows Terminal and start a new tab for your Linux distribution (e.g. 'Ubuntu') using the wsl command.
Then continue with this guide, running each of the terminal commands within this Linux terminal.

Install the Solana CLI #

To interact with the Solana clusters from your terminal, install the Solana CLI tool suite on your local system:

sh -c "$(curl -sSfL https://release.solana.com/stable/install)"

Setup a localhost blockchain cluster #

The Solana CLI comes with the test validator built in. This command line tool will allow you to run a full blockchain cluster on your machine.

solana-test-validator

PRO TIP: Run the Solana test validator in a new/separate terminal window that will remain open. The command line program must remain running for your localhost cluster to remain online and ready for action.

Configure your Solana CLI to use your localhost validator for all your future terminal commands:

solana config set --url localhost

At any time, you can view your current Solana CLI configuration settings:

solana config get

Create a file system wallet #

To deploy a program with Solana CLI, you will need a Solana wallet with SOL tokens to pay for the cost of transactions.
Let's create a simple file system wallet for testing:

solana-keygen new

By default, the solana-keygen command will create a new file system wallet located at ~/.config/solana/id.json. You can manually specify the output file location using the --outfile /path option.

NOTE: If you already have a file system wallet saved at the default location, this command will NOT override it (unless you explicitly force override using the --force flag).

Set your new wallet as default #

With your new file system wallet created, you must tell the Solana CLI to use this wallet to deploy and take ownership of your on chain program:

solana config set -k ~/.config/solana/id.json

Airdrop SOL tokens to your wallet #

Once your new wallet is set as the default, you can request a free airdrop of SOL tokens to it:

solana airdrop 2

NOTE: The solana airdrop command has a limit of how many SOL tokens can be requested per airdrop for each cluster (localhost, testnet, or devnet). If your airdrop transaction fails, lower your airdrop request quantity and try again.

You can check your current wallet's SOL balance any time: