Installation

Dagger needs a container runtime. Docker works out of the box; Podman, nerdctl, and Apple Container also work.

Install the Dagger CLI

The commands below install Dagger v0.21.4, the version this documentation covers.

macOS

curl -fsSL https://dl.dagger.io/dagger/install.sh | DAGGER_VERSION=0.21.4 BIN_DIR=/usr/local/bin sh

If your user can't write to /usr/local/bin, run the script with sudo -E:

curl -fsSL https://dl.dagger.io/dagger/install.sh | DAGGER_VERSION=0.21.4 BIN_DIR=/usr/local/bin sudo -E sh

Linux

curl -fsSL https://dl.dagger.io/dagger/install.sh | DAGGER_VERSION=0.21.4 BIN_DIR=$HOME/.local/bin sh

Make sure $HOME/.local/bin is in your PATH. To install system-wide instead, set BIN_DIR=/usr/local/bin and run the script with sudo -E:

curl -fsSL https://dl.dagger.io/dagger/install.sh | DAGGER_VERSION=0.21.4 BIN_DIR=/usr/local/bin sudo -E sh

Windows

In PowerShell 7 or later:

iwr -useb https://dl.dagger.io/dagger/install.ps1 | iex; Install-Dagger -DaggerVersion 0.21.4 -AddToPath

This installs dagger.exe in %USERPROFILE%\dagger and adds it to your user PATH.

Verify the installation:

dagger version
# version:     v0.21.4

To upgrade or switch versions, re-run the install command with the version you want.

Package managers

Homebrew and winget carry the latest stable release only, which may differ from the version this documentation covers.

macOS

brew install dagger/tap/dagger

Windows

winget install Dagger.Cli

To run v0.21.4 from a package-managed CLI, set DAGGER_X_RELEASE or pass --x-release. The CLI builds and caches that release on first use, then runs as that version:

# Every command in this shell session
export DAGGER_X_RELEASE=v0.21.4
dagger version

# Or per command
dagger --x-release=v0.21.4 version

Unset the variable or drop the flag to return to the installed version. Commands in this documentation omit the prefix and assume the matching release is active.