‍Rust is a versatile and high-performance programming language that prioritizes memory safety, concurrency, and type safety. Unlike other memory-safe languages, Rust ensures memory safety without relying on a garbage collector or reference counting. If you’re looking to install Rust on your Debian 12 system, this tutorial will guide you through the process.

Installing Rust on Debian 12

To get started with Rust on Debian 12, you’ll need to install it using the rustup command line tool. Follow the steps below to install Rust:

1. Begin by installing curl if it’s not already installed on your system. Open the terminal and run the following command:

apt install curl -y

2. Once curl is installed, use it to download the rustup command by running the following command:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.3 https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh

3. After executing the command, the installer will download and install the official Rust compiler and its package manager, Cargo. The installation directory for Rustup metadata and toolchains will be /root/.rustup, which can be modified using the RUSTUP_HOME environment variable. The Cargo home directory will be /root/.cargo, which can be modified using the CARGO_HOME environment variable.
4. The installation process will also add the cargo,rustc,rustup, and other Rust commands to the Cargo bin directory ( /root/.cargo/bin ), which will be added to your PATH environment variable by modifying the profile files located at /root/.profile and /root/.bashrc.
5. During the installation, you’ll be prompted with installation options. The default options should be sufficient for most users. Press1 to proceed with the installation.
6. After the installation is complete, run the following command to add the Rust toolchain directory to your PATH environment variable:

source "$HOME/.cargo/env"

7. To verify that the installation was successful, run the following command to check the Rust version:

rustc --version

If everything was installed correctly, you should see the Rust version displayed in the output.

Installing a Compiler

Before you start creating, compiling, and running Rust programs, it’s recommended to update the Apt package index and upgrade your system. Follow these steps to update and upgrade:

1. Open the terminal and run the following command to update the Apt package index:

apt update

2. After the update is complete, run the following command to upgrade your system:

apt upgrade

Once the upgrades are finished, you can proceed with installing the necessary packages to compile Rust programs.

Creating, Compiling, and Running a Test Program

To get hands-on experience with Rust, let’s create a simple test program and compile it. Follow the steps below to create, compile, and run a test program:

1. Start by creating a directory to store your test script. Open the terminal and run the following commands:

mkdir ~/rustprojects
cd ~/rustprojects
mkdir testdir
cd testdir

2. Next, create a file in the testdir directory to store your Rust code. Run the following command to open a new file using the nano text editor:

nano test.rs

3. Inside the test.rs file, add the following code and save the file:

fn main() {
println!("Congratulations! You have installed Rust and your program works.");
}

4. Now it’s time to compile the code using the rustc command. Run the following command in the terminal:

rustc test.rs

5. After the code is successfully compiled, you can run the resulting executable by executing the following command:

./test

If everything went smoothly, you should see the message “Congratulations! You have installed Rust and your program works.” displayed in the terminal.

Updating Rust

To keep your Rust installation up to date, you can use the rustup update command. Follow these steps to update Rust:

1. Open the terminal and navigate to the directory where you created your test program ( testdir in this case).
2. Run the following command to update Rust:

rustup update

The command will sync channel updates for the stable-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu version of Rust and check for self-updates. If any updates are available, they will be downloaded and installed.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed and tested Rust on your Debian 12 system. You’re now ready to explore the capabilities of this powerful programming language.

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Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered the step-by-step process of installing Rust on Debian 12. By following these instructions, you can set up a Rust development environment and start writing efficient and safe code. Remember to regularly update your Rust installation to benefit from the latest features and improvements. Now that you have Rust up and running, you can explore its vast ecosystem and leverage its performance, type safety, and concurrency features to build powerful applications.

Christian Wells