git-annex/ install

## Pick your OS

detailed instructions | quick install
--- | ---
Linux |
Debian | `apt-get install git-annex`
Ubuntu | `apt-get install git-annex`
Fedora | `yum install git-annex`
ArchLinux | `pacman -S git-annex`
AlpineLinux | `apk add git-annex`
NixOS | `nix-env -i git-annex`
Gentoo | `emerge git-annex`
Guix | `guix package -i git-annex`
Void | `xbps-install git-annex`
ScientificLinux
RHEL
openSUSE | `zypper in git-annex`
Docker |
conda | `conda install -c conda-forge git-annex`
OSX
Homebrew | `brew install git-annex`
FreeBSD | `pkg install hs-git-annex`
OpenBSD | `pkg_add git-annex`
Android | beta
Windows | beta
PyPI | `uv tool install git-annex`

## Historical builds

Many of historical builds available from the https://downloads.kitenet.net/.git/ git-annex repository. Visit downloads.kitenet.net for more information.

## Building it yourself

git-annex is Free Software, written in Haskell. Experienced users should not find it too hard to build and install it from source.

## See also

- autobuild overview
- upgrades

Cataline build missing
Somehow the Catalina binary got lost. Considering that homebrew also fails due to the old OS this is a problem. I'd be happy if this was made available again.
Comment by h0b0 — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
Git for Windows installation -- support for symlinks
The Git for Windows installer has a setting to turn on support for symlinks, which is not the default. It says something about symlinks requiring special permissions. What setting should be used with git-annex?
Comment by Ilya_Shlyakhter — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
comment 8
@seregynp, you need git-annex version 7 to use that.
Comment by joey — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
Cannot upgrade to v6

I'm running Ubuntu:

    Distributor ID: Ubuntu                                                                  │
    Description:    Ubuntu 16.04.5 LTS                                                      │
    Release:        16.04                                                                   │
    Codename:       xenial

Installed git annex with: "apt-get install git-annex".

And here is the my "git-annex version":

    git-annex version: 5.20151208-1build1                                                   │
    build flags: Assistant Webapp Webapp-secure Pairing Testsuite S3 WebDAV Inotify DBus Des│
    ktopNotify XMPP DNS Feeds Quvi TDFA TorrentParser Database                              │
    key/value backends: SHA256E SHA256 SHA512E SHA512 SHA224E SHA224 SHA384E SHA384 SHA3_256│
    E SHA3_256 SHA3_512E SHA3_512 SHA3_224E SHA3_224 SHA3_384E SHA3_384 SKEIN256E SKEIN256 S│
    KEIN512E SKEIN512 SHA1E SHA1 MD5E MD5 WORM URL                                          │
    remote types: git gcrypt S3 bup directory rsync web bittorrent webdav tahoe glacier ddar│
     hook external

When i'm trying to "git annex init --version=6" it says: "Usage: git-annex init [DESC]".
Meaning v5 git annex does not support "--version" option for "init" command.

If i'm running "git annex upgrade", it says: "upgrade . ok".
But then "git annex version" shows v5 again.

Is it possible to upgrade from v5 to v6 currently ?
Am i doing anything wrong ?

Comment by seregynp — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
re: git-annex-webapp missing from Fedora 27

@dittigas git-annex can be built without the webapp, if the libraries it uses are not made available at build time. I suggest you get in touch with the Fedora maintainers and ask them to enable the webapp in their builds.

Comment by joey — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
git-annex-webapp missing from Fedora 27
My installation does not seem to include the webapp feature. I.e git-annex webapp, git annex webapp or git-annex-webapp are not abailble.
Comment by dittigas — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
No package for debian stretch, armh?
I cannot find a package for Debian Stretch for the armh architecture. I don't see git-annex in the official packages, and armh is not available in neurodebian. Is building from source the only option?
Comment by Alan — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
For Debian/Ubuntu users -- get git-annex-standalone from NeuroDebian
We provide quite an up-to-date standalone backport build of git-annex (package name git-annex-standalone) through NeuroDebian for all Debian/Ubuntus, so you might want to enable NeuroDebian repository (`apt-get install neurodebian` on a recent debian/ubuntu or follow NeuroDebian website for instructions).
Comment by yarikoptic — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
Use an older version e.g. from archive.org

This happens sometimes and will eventually get fixed when joey notices it. Currently the binary is only on his laptop apparently.

You can use an older version which is eventually available on archive.org:

[[!format bash """ yann in yann-desktop-nixos in …/OSX/current/10.15_Catalina on  master took 2s123ms 🐟 ❯ git co d8a7d5d54d24d17810f07c0756e7334e998650fe HEAD ist jetzt bei d8a7d5d54d publishing git-annex 10.20250630 10.20250606 yann in yann-desktop-nixos in …/OSX/current/10.15_Catalina on  HEAD (d8a7d5d) 🐟 ❯ git annex whereis whereis git-annex.dmg (1 copy) 5dc2ccd1-e534-4dae-8e8c-f31c8015e26e -- archive.org via S3

The following untrusted locations may also have copies: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001 -- web

web: http://archive.org/download/git-annex-builds/SHA256E-s28610967--7fc0dbf3f0a1f275a95730899327694b90dcd60c4ba8d8070a3efde44983a719.dmg ok """]]

So for example this link:

Comment by nobodyinperson — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
Old versions from distributions (e.g. Debian stable) fail with online instructions.

Hello everyone.

Be aware that your distribution's package may be very old. For example, at the time I write this, latest Debian stable is Debian 7.5 which is 2 months old. But git-annex package there is two years old (tomorrow, it will be exactly two yezrs old).

So, beware. If following online walkthrough, either install a more recent git-annex (e.g. from Debain backports) or follow instructions from your local `/usr/share/doc/git-annex/html/walkthrough.html` instead.

Comment by https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawm7eqCMh_B7mxE0tnchbr0JoYu11FUAFRY — Wed Oct 29 14:05:27 2025
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