[Solved] unable to set CGO_ENABLED=1 – Go

set CGO_ENABLED=1
go run -race .

The Problem:

Unable to set the CGO_ENABLED environment variable to 1. This is preventing the usage of the -race flag with go run.

The Solutions:

Solution 1: Using a Batch Script

Create a batch script named run.bat with the following contents:

set CGO_ENABLED=1
go run -race .

Execute the batch script to run your code with CGO enabled.

Solution 2: Modifying Environment Variables in Visual Studio Code

Modify the environment variables within a launch script in Visual Studio Code.

1. Open your project directory in Visual Studio Code.
2. Create a launch configuration file (e.g., .vscode/launch.json) with the following JSON:

“`json
{
“version”: “0.2.0”,
“configurations”: [
{
“name”: “Go (CGO Enabled)”,
“type”: “go”,
“request”: “launch”,
“mode”: “auto”,
“program”: “${workspaceFolder}/your_main_go_file.go”,
“env”: {
“CGO_ENABLED”: “1”
}
}
]
}
“`

3. Select the “Go (CGO Enabled)” configuration from the debugging dropdown in Visual Studio Code.
4. Run your code with CGO enabled using the debugger.

Solution 2: Setting CGO_ENABLED Environment Variable

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt or terminal.
2. Set the CGO_ENABLED environment variable using the command:

   go env -w CGO_ENABLED=1

   This command modifies the environment variables for the current Go environment, setting CGO_ENABLED to 1.

3. Verify the change by running the command:

   go env

   You should see a line like:
   GOENV: CGO_ENABLED=1

If you don’t have a C compiler installed on your system, you may encounter an error message after setting CGO_ENABLED. To install a C compiler, follow these instructions for your operating system from the Visual Studio Code documentation:

• Windows: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/config-mingw
• Linux: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/config-linux

Video Explanation:

The following video, titled "Building Go Executables: The cgo / Docker Problem - YouTube", provides additional insights and in-depth exploration related to the topics discussed in this post.

@MikiTebeka shows us how cgo can create some roadblocks with our Alpine Docker image and how to solve them. ... Set cgo_enabled=0 in order to tell ...