Update multiple versions of dev tools under Ubuntu

Aug 15, 2021 Linux
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Overview

Since different projects may require different versions of the same dev tool, we have to install multiple versions of them and provide a way for quick switch. This post introduces how to use update-alternatives command to switch dev tool versions under Ubuntu.

I will take protoc for example.

  • ProjectA requires protoc 3.6.1
  • ProjectB requires protoc 3.17.0

Install multiple versions of protoc

  • Download different releases for Protocol Buffers

3.17.0: https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/archive/refs/tags/v3.17.0.tar.gz

3.16.1: https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/archive/refs/tags/v3.6.1.tar.gz

  • Compile and install Protocol Buffers respectively

protoc will be installed under /usr/local/bin

  • Rename the protoc file in different names

3.17.0 -> protoc3.17

3.6.1 -> protoc3.6

  • Install them into update-alternatives
1# install protoc3.17 with priority 170 as an alternative for protoc
2$ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/local/bin/protoc protoc /usr/local/bin/protoc3.17 170
3
4# install protoc3.6 with priority 60 as another alternative for protoc
5$ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/local/bin/protoc protoc /usr/local/bin/protoc3.6 60

Query protoc version

1$ sudo update-alternatives --display protoc
2
3protoc - auto mode
4  link best version is /usr/local/bin/protoc3.17
5  link currently points to /usr/local/bin/protoc3.17
6  link protoc is /usr/local/bin/protoc
7/usr/local/bin/protoc3.17 - priority 170
8/usr/local/bin/protoc3.6 - priority 60

Switch version of protoc

 1$ sudo update-alternatives --config protoc
 2
 3There are 2 choices for the alternative protoc (providing /usr/local/bin/protoc).
 4
 5  Selection    Path                       Priority   Status
 6------------------------------------------------------------
 7* 0            /usr/local/bin/protoc3.17   170       auto mode
 8  1            /usr/local/bin/protoc3.17   170       manual mode
 9  2            /usr/local/bin/protoc3.6    60        manual mode
10
11Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:

An alternative with a higher priority will be set as the default choice. We can enter the number listed above to switch to another version.

  • Query version before switching
1$ protoc --version
2
3libprotoc 3.17.0
  • Query version after switching
 1$ sudo update-alternatives --config protoc
 2
 3There are 2 choices for the alternative protoc (providing /usr/local/bin/protoc).
 4
 5  Selection    Path                       Priority   Status
 6------------------------------------------------------------
 7* 0            /usr/local/bin/protoc3.17   170       auto mode
 8  1            /usr/local/bin/protoc3.17   170       manual mode
 9  2            /usr/local/bin/protoc3.6    60        manual mode
10
11Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 2
12update-alternatives: using /usr/local/bin/protoc3.6 to provide /usr/local/bin/protoc (protoc) in manual mode
13
14$ protoc --version
15
16libprotoc 3.6.1

Alias

It’s too long to enter a full update-alternatives command to switch versions. Consider to config an alias for this command.

Open ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc, append the following line at the end:

alias switchprotoc="sudo update-alternatives --config protoc"

Save and quit, use source command to make it works:

1$ source ~/.zshrc

Now, instead of entering the full long command, we can use the short one switchprotoc to switch protoc version directly:

1$ switchprotoc
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