How to upgrade the go version in a go mod

Question

What is the proper way to upgrade the go version in a go mod, specifically 1.13 to 1.14?
Do you simply edit the go.mod file and change go 1.13 to go 1.14 ?

I'm not asking about how to edit the go.mod file, I'm asking if it is proper to simply change the go version in the go.mod file, and everything else (all the dependencies) is still ok for the project?

Answer 1

Command go: Edit go.mod from tools or scripts:

Usage:

 go mod edit [editing flags] [go.mod]

Edit provides a command-line interface for editing go.mod, for use primarily by tools or scripts. It reads only go.mod; it does not look up information about the modules involved. By default, edit reads and writes the go.mod file of the main module, but a different target file can be specified after the editing flags.

...

The -go=version flag sets the expected Go language version.

So simply:

go mod edit -go=1.14

But you may also edit go.mod manually, it's a simple text file. go mod edit is primilary for scripts so making changes to go.mod can easily be automated.

Answer 2

The other answer is good, but as another method, say you have this:

module north

go 1.13

you can just delete the go line, and run go mod tidy . Result:

module north

go 1.16

https://golang.org/cmd/go#hdr-Add_missing_and_remove_unused_modules

Answer 3

go build and go test : these commands check go.mod and automatically download missing dependencies. So no, there is no need to use go mod tidy when versions are modified in go.mod. In some cases (mainly CI), you would like to use go mod download to download modules in the cache, before it is needed by a build (or a test).

Answer 4

The answers supplied here helped me alot. But a little adjustment may be due especially for Windows users.

I used on the command prompt:

go mod edit -go 1.17

And not:

go mod edit -go=1.17

Note the omission of ''=" sign.

Answer 5

This is how I have done it

go mod edit -go 1.18
go mod tidy