Upgrade ZVM

Install ZVM from GitHub

Your copy of ZVM may ship with an auto-upgrade command. If you have installed ZVM from GitHub or zvm.app you can upgrade to the latest version of ZVM with zvm upgrade.

The latest version of ZVM should install on your machine, regardless of where your binary lives (though if you have your binary in a privileged folder, you may have to run this command with sudo).

Install via Package Manager

ZVM can also be built without its auto upgrader (zvm upgrade). This is to make installing ZVM via a package manager easier for those who prefer this method.

When you run a build of ZVM with the autoupgrader disabled, you will see a builder-specified message when you run zvm upgrade.

go build -ldflags=-w -s -X 'main.BuildUpgradeMessage=Command to upgrade ZVM goes here.'

Remember, ZVM is an open source project. Anyone can customize and distribute it.

Clean up build artifacts

# Example
zvm clean

Use zvm clean to remove build artifacts (Good if you’re on Windows).

After a successful install or upgrade, ZVM auto-cleans leftover .tar.xz and .zip artifacts under ~/.zvm/, so manual cleanup is only needed for older installs or if a download was interrupted.

Reliability

As of v0.8.18, zvm upgrade runs as a download → verify → atomic rename sequence. If the network drops partway through, your existing zvm binary is left untouched — you no longer end up with a half-installed executable.

On Windows, the PowerShell installer (install.ps1) now calls Unblock-File on the freshly downloaded zvm.exe to clear the “downloaded from the internet” zone flag before Windows Defender scans it. If Defender still quarantines the binary on your machine, the installer prints a clearer message pointing to your antivirus.