Install
Debian / Ubuntu
- Supported versions
- Install via apt repository:
Mac OS X
- Supported versions
- Install via Homebrew
Container image
Binary release tar ball
Building from source

Install

Acton is available for Linux and Mac OS X.

The platforms listed here are for developing with Acton. The final binary executable produced from compiling an .act can run on other platforms, for example Ubuntu 18.04 and can be made to run on even older systems through static linking, see Acton by Example: compilation

Debian / Ubuntu

Supported versions

Install via apt repository:

The APT configuration is for bullseye but the Acton package is forward compatible and works just fine on bookworm as well as similarly modern Ubuntu releases.

wget -q -O - https://apt.acton-lang.io/acton.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://apt.acton-lang.io/ bullseye main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/acton.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -qy acton

Mac OS X

Supported versions

Install via Homebrew

brew install actonlang/acton/acton

Container image

Acton also publishes a container image for trying Acton without installing it locally, running builds in CI, or pinning a reproducible toolchain for examples and tutorials. For day-to-day development, the native APT and Homebrew packages are usually more convenient.

Check the installed Acton version in the image:

docker run --rm ghcr.io/actonlang/acton:latest version

Build the Acton project in the current directory:

docker run --rm -v "$PWD":/work -w /work ghcr.io/actonlang/acton:latest build

For CI and long-lived examples, pin a version tag instead of using latest.

Binary release tar ball

There are pre-built binary release tar balls available for download for Linux and Mac OS X in case the above package formats are not suitable. See the guide, installing Acton from a release tar ball.

Building from source

See building from source.