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

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."

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 ~.

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: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28099004/unable-to-build-protobuf-to-go-endpoint

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

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

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.

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

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

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

• Apple M1 Pro
• Go version go1.17.8 darwin/arm64

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).

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.

Step 1:

sudo apt install protobuf-compiler

Step 2:

go install google.golang.org/protobuf/cmd/protoc-gen-go@v1.26

Step 3:

go install google.golang.org/grpc/cmd/protoc-gen-go-grpc@v1.1

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

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

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

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{}

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!