Installation

Requirements

Nextflow can be used on any POSIX-compatible system (Linux, macOS, etc), and on Windows through WSL. It requires Bash 3.2 (or later) and Java 17 (or later, up to 23) to be installed. You can see which version you have using the following command:

java -version

Changed in version 24.11.0-edge: Support for Java versions prior to 17 was dropped.

If you don’t have a compatible version of Java installed in your computer, it is recommended that you install it through SDKMAN!, and that you use the latest LTS version of Temurin. See this website for more information.

To install Java with SDKMAN:

Install SDKMAN:
```
curl -s https://get.sdkman.io | bash
```
Open a new terminal.
Install Java:
```
sdk install java 17.0.10-tem
```
Confirm that Java is installed correctly:
```
java -version
```

Install Nextflow

Nextflow is distributed as a self-installing package, in order to make the installation process as simple as possible:

Install Nextflow:
```
curl -s https://get.nextflow.io | bash
```
This will create the nextflow executable in the current directory.

Tip

You can set export CAPSULE_LOG=none to make the installation logs less verbose.
Make Nextflow executable:
```
chmod +x nextflow
```
Move Nextflow into an executable path. For example:
```
mkdir -p $HOME/.local/bin/
mv nextflow $HOME/.local/bin/
```
Tip

Ensure the directory $HOME/.local/bin/ is included in your PATH variable. Temporarily add this directory to PATH by setting export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin". Add the directory to PATH permanently by adding the export command to your shell configuration file, such as ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc. Alternatively, move the nextflow executable to a directory already in your PATH.

Warning

Nextflow will update its executable during the self update process, therefore the update can fail if the executable is placed in a directory with restricted permissions.
Confirm that Nextflow is installed correctly:
```
nextflow info
```

Updates

With Nextflow installed in your environment, you can update to the latest version using the following command:

nextflow self-update

You can also temporarily switch to a specific version of Nextflow with the NXF_VER environment variable. For example:

NXF_VER=23.10.0 nextflow info

Stable and edge releases

A stable version of Nextflow is released every six months, in the 4th and 10th month of each year.

Additionally, an edge version is released on a monthly basis. The edge releases can be used to access the latest updates and experimental features.

To use the latest edge release, set NXF_EDGE=1 when updating:

NXF_EDGE=1 nextflow self-update

You can also use NXF_VER to temporarily switch to any edge release. For example:

NXF_VER=24.06.0-edge nextflow info

Standalone distribution

The Nextflow standalone distribution (i.e. the dist distribution) consists of self-contained nextflow executable file that includes all the application dependencies for core functionalities, and it can run without downloading third parties libraries. This distribution is mainly useful for offline environments.

Note however the support for cloud services e.g. AWS, Seqera Platform, Wave, etc. still require the download of the corresponding Nextflow plugins.

To use the standalone distribution:

Download it from the GitHub releases page, under the “Assets” section for a specific
Grant execution permissions to the downloaded file e.g.
```
chmod -x nextflow-24.10.1-dist
```
Then you can use it as a drop-in replacement for nextflow command. For example:
```
./nextflow-24.10.1-dist run hello
```