installing-looker-cli

Installing Looker CLI

Checks if looker-cli is already available on the system. If it is not found, downloads and installs the appropriate pre-compiled binary from the GitHub Releases page of the looker-cli repository (https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases).

Prerequisites

• Active internet connection to download the binary from GitHub.
• Privileges to write to local binary directories (e.g. /usr/local/bin or

~/.local/bin).

Instructions

1. Check for Existing Installation

Before downloading, check if the CLI is already installed and accessible:

looker-cli --help

If this command executes successfully and prints the help menu, the CLI is ready. Skip the installation steps below and proceed directly to Step 3 (Authentication).

2. Perform OS-Specific Installation

If looker-cli is not found, determine the operating system of the environment and execute the corresponding installation steps.

Option A: macOS & Linux

1. Retrieve latest release tag: Query the GitHub API or check the releases

page (https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases) to identify the latest version tag (e.g., v1.0.0).

1. Download and install: Run the following sequence to download, rename,

and move the binary to your local bin path:

For macOS (arm64 Apple Silicon):

    curl -Lo looker-cli https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases/latest/download/looker-cli-darwin-arm64
    chmod +x looker-cli
    mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv looker-cli ~/.local/bin/

For macOS (amd64 Intel):

    curl -Lo looker-cli https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases/latest/download/looker-cli-darwin-amd64
    chmod +x looker-cli
    mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv looker-cli ~/.local/bin/

For Linux (amd64):

    curl -Lo looker-cli https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases/latest/download/looker-cli-linux-amd64
    chmod +x looker-cli
    mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv looker-cli ~/.local/bin/

Note: If `~/.local/bin` is not in your `PATH` or you have root permissions, you can choose to move it to `/usr/local/bin/` instead.

Option B: Windows

1. Download: Download the latest Windows binary (e.g. using PowerShell):

    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/looker-open-source/looker-cli/releases/latest/download/looker-cli-windows-amd64.exe" -OutFile "looker-cli.exe"

1. Add to Path: Move looker-cli.exe to a directory in your system

%PATH% (or add its directory to the Environment Variables).

3. Verify the Installation

Run the help command again to verify the installation succeeded:

looker-cli --help

Confirm that the output shows the Looker CLI help menu correctly. If it fails, check that the destination directory is indeed in your shell's PATH.