Installation

Installation methods

oForum can be installed in three ways:

Install script (recommended) - Quick installation via curl
Pre-built binaries - Download and install manually
From source - Build from the Go source code

Choose the method that best fits your workflow.

System requirements

Before installing, ensure you have:

PostgreSQL

Any recent version (12+)

Go 1.25+

Only required if building from source

Linux or macOS

amd64 or arm64 architecture

Disk space

~10MB for the binary

Windows is not currently supported. Use WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) if you’re on Windows.

Method 1: Install script

The fastest way to install oForum is using the official install script:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arcten/oforum/main/install.sh | sudo sh

How it works

The script automatically:

Detects your operating system (macOS/Linux)
Detects your CPU architecture (amd64/arm64)
Downloads the latest release from GitHub
Installs the binary to /usr/local/bin/oforum
Installs the man page to /usr/local/share/man/man1
Makes the binary executable and available system-wide

Script output example

Detected: darwin/arm64
Latest:   v0.0.2
Downloading oforum-0.0.2-darwin-arm64...
✓ man page installed (man oforum)
✓ oforum v0.0.2 installed to /usr/local/bin/oforum
Run 'oforum' to start

Custom install directory

If you don’t have sudo access or want to install to a different location:

INSTALL_DIR=~/.local/bin curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arcten/oforum/main/install.sh | sh

Make sure ~/.local/bin is in your PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Add this to your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or equivalent to make it permanent.

Verify installation

Check that oForum is installed correctly:

oforum version

Expected output:

oforum v0.0.2
Run 'oforum update' to check for updates

Method 2: Pre-built binaries

Download pre-built binaries manually from the releases page.

Available platforms

macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon)
- oforum-{version}-darwin-amd64
- oforum-{version}-darwin-arm64
Linux (x86-64 and ARM64)
- oforum-{version}-linux-amd64
- oforum-{version}-linux-arm64

Installation steps

Download the binary

Download the appropriate binary for your platform:

curl -L -o oforum https://github.com/arcten/oforum/releases/download/v0.0.2/oforum-0.0.2-darwin-arm64

Replace v0.0.2 with the latest version from the releases page.

Make it executable

chmod +x oforum

Move to PATH

Move the binary to a directory in your PATH:

sudo mv oforum /usr/local/bin/

Or without sudo:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
mv oforum ~/.local/bin/
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Verify

oforum version

Method 3: Build from source

If you want to modify oForum or build the latest development version, you can compile it from source.

Prerequisites

Go 1.25 or later
Git
PostgreSQL (for running/testing)

Build steps

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/arcten/oforum.git
cd oforum

Build the binary

go build -o oforum .

Or use the provided Makefile:

make build

The binary will be created in the current directory as oforum.

Install system-wide (optional)

sudo mv oforum /usr/local/bin/

Or to your local bin:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
mv oforum ~/.local/bin/

Verify

oforum version

Build for all platforms

To cross-compile for all supported platforms:

make release

This creates binaries in the dist/ directory for:

Linux (amd64, arm64)
macOS (amd64, arm64)

Platform-specific instructions

macOS

Install PostgreSQL on macOS

Using Homebrew:

brew install postgresql@16
brew services start postgresql@16

Create the database:

createdb oforum

Fix 'unidentified developer' warning

If macOS blocks the binary, run:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/oforum

Or allow it in System Preferences → Security & Privacy.

Linux

Install PostgreSQL on Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update
sudo apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib
sudo systemctl start postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql

Create a user and database:

sudo -u postgres createuser -s $USER
createdb oforum

Install PostgreSQL on Fedora/RHEL

sudo dnf install postgresql-server postgresql-contrib
sudo postgresql-setup --initdb
sudo systemctl start postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql

Create a user and database:

sudo -u postgres createuser -s $USER
createdb oforum

Install PostgreSQL on Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S postgresql
sudo -u postgres initdb -D /var/lib/postgres/data
sudo systemctl start postgresql
sudo systemctl enable postgresql

Create a user and database:

sudo -u postgres createuser -s $USER
createdb oforum

Verification steps

After installation, verify everything works:

Check binary version

oforum version

Check PostgreSQL connection

psql -d oforum -c "SELECT version();"

This should print your PostgreSQL version.

Initialize and test

oforum init
oforum migrate

If migrations succeed, your setup is working correctly.

Updating oForum

Keep oForum up to date with the built-in update command:

oforum update

This downloads and installs the latest release automatically.

The update command requires the same permissions as installation. If you installed with sudo, run sudo oforum update.

Troubleshooting

Command not found: oforum

The binary is not in your PATH. Either:

Add the install directory to your PATH:
```
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"
```
Or run with the full path:
```
/usr/local/bin/oforum version
```

Permission denied when installing

You need write access to /usr/local/bin. Either:

Use sudo:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arcten/oforum/main/install.sh | sudo sh

Or install to your home directory:

INSTALL_DIR=~/.local/bin curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arcten/oforum/main/install.sh | sh

Cannot connect to PostgreSQL

Make sure PostgreSQL is running:

brew services list | grep postgresql
brew services start postgresql@16

Test the connection:

psql -d oforum -c "SELECT 1;"

Build fails with Go version error

Ensure you have Go 1.25 or later:

go version

If your version is older, update Go:

Official Go downloads
Or use your package manager (Homebrew, apt, etc.)

Architecture not supported

oForum supports:

macOS: amd64 (Intel), arm64 (Apple Silicon)
Linux: amd64 (x86-64), arm64 (aarch64)

Check your architecture:

uname -m

If you’re on an unsupported platform, you can try building from source with:

GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm go build -o oforum .

Installation script fails to download

If the GitHub API is blocked or rate-limited:

Download the binary manually from releases
Install it using Method 2 (pre-built binaries) above

Next steps

Quickstart

Get oForum running with a step-by-step guide

Environment variables

Learn about environment variables and settings

Self-hosting

Deploy oForum to production environments

Development setup

Set up a local development environment

Get Started

Self-Hosting

User Guide

Administration

CLI Reference

Installation methods

System requirements

PostgreSQL

Go 1.25+

Linux or macOS

Disk space

Method 1: Install script

How it works

Custom install directory

Verify installation

Method 2: Pre-built binaries

Available platforms

Installation steps

Method 3: Build from source

Prerequisites

Build steps

Build for all platforms

Platform-specific instructions

macOS

Linux

Verification steps

Updating oForum

Troubleshooting

Next steps

Quickstart

Environment variables

Self-hosting

Development setup

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Self-Hosting

User Guide

Administration

CLI Reference

​Installation methods

​System requirements

PostgreSQL

Go 1.25+

Linux or macOS

Disk space

​Method 1: Install script

​How it works

​Custom install directory

​Verify installation

​Method 2: Pre-built binaries

​Available platforms

​Installation steps

​Method 3: Build from source

​Prerequisites

​Build steps

​Build for all platforms

​Platform-specific instructions

​macOS

​Linux

​Verification steps

​Updating oForum

​Troubleshooting

​Next steps

Quickstart

Environment variables

Self-hosting

Development setup

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Installation methods

System requirements

Method 1: Install script

How it works

Custom install directory

Verify installation

Method 2: Pre-built binaries

Available platforms

Installation steps

Method 3: Build from source

Prerequisites

Build steps

Build for all platforms

Platform-specific instructions

macOS

Linux

Verification steps

Updating oForum

Troubleshooting

Next steps