Cross-compile a Go binary with GOOS / GOARCH / CGO_ENABLED
domain: go.dev · 5 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Pick a target from `go tool dist list` (prints all supported os/arch pairs, ~48 on go1.24).
Build: `GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 go build -o app-linux-arm64 ./` — GOOS sets target OS, GOARCH target architecture, -o the output name.
For dependency-free static-style binaries and to avoid needing a C cross-toolchain, add `CGO_ENABLED=0`: `GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o app-darwin-arm64 ./` (verified: produces a Mach-O arm64 executable from a Linux host).
Windows targets should end in .exe: `GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o app.exe ./` (verified: produces a PE32+ executable).
Docs: https://go.dev/doc/install/source (env var reference) and `go help environment`
Known gotchas
If any dependency uses cgo, cross-compiling with CGO enabled requires a C cross-compiler for the target; CGO_ENABLED=0 sidesteps this but disables cgo-dependent packages (e.g. some sqlite drivers).
Source files named like name_linux_amd64.go carry implicit build constraints from the filename — they silently drop out of builds for other targets.
Without -o, the output binary name comes from the package and does not encode the target platform — easy to overwrite your host build.
-race cannot be combined with most cross-compilation targets (see race detector platform list).
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