How to update Geth on Ubuntu without using the PPA

Question

I originally downloaded Geth using the instructions on the original (read: old) Ethereum homepage, using a curl command in a Bash one-liner. I now want to update to a version that will support Homestead.

The current Ubuntu installation instructions are based on apt-get, which pulls things from the official repository.

Is there any way I can update without moving to using the repository method? If I do now have to use the repository method, how do I remove the old version of Geth without losing my account data?

Answer 1

Building Geth (command line client)

Clone the repository to a directory of your choosing:

git clone https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum

Install latest distribution of Go (v1.4) if you don't have it already:

Building geth requires some external libraries to be installed:

sudo apt-get install -y build-essential libgmp3-dev golang

Finally, build the geth program using the following command.

cd go-ethereum
make geth

Updating

cd go-ethereum
git pull
make geth

from the wiki

Answer 2

You can compile yourself and avoid the repository.

The detailed instructions are here

A quick summary of the building process is:

1. Clone the repo:

   git clone https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum
   

2. Install dependencies.

3. Build the software:

   cd go-ethereum && make geth
   

Answer 3

The bash script you used to install added the repository key to your local keyring and updated your sources. Check /etc/apt/sources.list and have a look at what's there, you'll find ethereum.

As for your concerns about losing your account data when you upgrade or reinstall, you needn't worry. First, because you will (obviously, right?) back up all your app data anyway, at least your keystore folder. And second, because the application data directory is not removed or altered by you upgrading or reinstalling the application. The data directory for geth (on linux) is in a hidden folder ~/.ethereum. Use Ctrl+h in file manager if you want to access via GUI.