How to install Buildkite Agent

This page references the out-of-date Buildkite Agent v2.

For docs referencing the Buildkite Agent v3, see the latest version of this document.

The Buildkite Agent runs on your own machine, whether it's a VPS, server, desktop computer, embedded device. There are installers for:

Alternatively you can install it manually using the instructions below.

Manual installation

If you need to install the agent on a system not listed above you'll need to perform a manual installation using one of the binaries from buildkite-agent's releases page.

Once you have a binary, create bin and builds directories in ~/.buildkite-agent and copy the binary and bootstrap.sh file into place:

mkdir ~/.buildkite-agent ~/.buildkite-agent/bin ~/.buildkite-agent/builds
cp buildkite-agent ~/.buildkite-agent/bin
cp bootstrap.sh ~/.buildkite-agent/bootstrap.sh

You should now be able to start the agent:

buildkite-agent start --help

If your architecture isn't on the releases page send an email to support and we'll help you out, our check out the buildkite-agent's readme for instructions on how to compile it yourself.