# Error while using update\_julia()

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182>\
**Category:** New to Julia\
**Tags:** question\
**Created:** [August 25, 2023, 9:14am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182 "2023-08-25T09:14:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sahil\_Khan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sahil_khan/32/47573_2.png) [@Sahil\_Khan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Sahil_Khan)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 9:14am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/1 "2023-08-25T09:14:36Z")

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I’m facing issue while updating julia version. I keep getting this error. Can someone explain where exactly is issue?

```julia
ERROR: failed process: Process(`ln -sf /Applications/Julia-1.9.3.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia /usr/local/bin/julia`, ProcessExited(1)) [1]

Stacktrace:
 [1] pipeline_error
   @ ./process.jl:565 [inlined]
 [2] run(::Cmd; wait::Bool)
   @ Base ./process.jl:480
 [3] run
   @ ./process.jl:477 [inlined]
 [4] link(executable::String, bin::String, command::String, systemwide::Bool, v::VersionNumber)
   @ UpdateJulia ~/.julia/packages/UpdateJulia/57YLT/src/UpdateJulia.jl:388
 [5] update_julia(version::String; os_str::String, arch::String, prefer_gui::Bool, fetch::Bool, _v_url::Tuple{VersionNumber, String}, v::VersionNumber, migrate_packages::Bool, url::String, aliases::Vector{String}, systemwide::Bool, install_location::String, bin::String, dry_run::Bool, verbose::Bool)
   @ UpdateJulia ~/.julia/packages/UpdateJulia/57YLT/src/UpdateJulia.jl:232
 [6] update_julia(version::String)
   @ UpdateJulia ~/.julia/packages/UpdateJulia/57YLT/src/UpdateJulia.jl:166
 [7] update_julia()
   @ UpdateJulia ~/.julia/packages/UpdateJulia/57YLT/src/UpdateJulia.jl:161
 [8] top-level scope
   @ REPL[81]:1

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ufechner7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ufechner7/32/51363_2.png) [@ufechner7](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ufechner7)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 9:30am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/2 "2023-08-25T09:30:20Z")

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Which operating system are you using?

How and where did you execute update\_julia() ?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sahil\_Khan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sahil_khan/32/47573_2.png) [@Sahil\_Khan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Sahil_Khan)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 10:13am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/3 "2023-08-25T10:13:03Z")

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im using mac OS Montery 12.3.1.

I excuted it in REPL .

```julia
julia> using UpdateJulia

julia> update_julia()

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 10:20am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/4 "2023-08-25T10:20:43Z")

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Does the command `ln -sf /Applications/Julia-1.9.3.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia /usr/local/bin/julia` work?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sahil\_Khan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sahil_khan/32/47573_2.png) [@Sahil\_Khan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Sahil_Khan)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 10:40am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/5 "2023-08-25T10:40:18Z")

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no, it doesn’t work.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 10:54am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/6 "2023-08-25T10:54:23Z")

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OK. Why? The command `ln -sf` is trying to make a symbolic link.

Does `/Applications/Julia-1.9.3.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia` exist? Is `/usr/local/bin/julia` writable?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sahil\_Khan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sahil_khan/32/47573_2.png) [@Sahil\_Khan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Sahil_Khan)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 11:05am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/7 "2023-08-25T11:05:49Z")

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it exists but I’m not really sure about its writable or not but when i run `ls -l /usr/local/bin` I get

```julia
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 64 Aug 3 16:46 julia -> /Applications/Julia-1.9.2.app/Contents/Resources/julia/bin/julia

```

and also before that error message I got this : `ln: /usr/local/bin/julia: Permission denied` So, i think its not writable.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![maxkapur](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/maxkapur/32/21208_2.png) [@maxkapur](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/maxkapur)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 11:25am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/8 "2023-08-25T11:25:25Z")

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Not a Mac user, but you can probably work around this by `chown`ing the relevant directory. See e.g.

> <https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/1393/are-my-permissions-for-usr-local-correct>

Note that the author of UpdateJulia.jl recommends juliaup as an alternative …

> **[GitHub - LilithHafner/UpdateJulia.jl: Simple cross platform Julia installer](https://github.com/LilithHafner/UpdateJulia.jl)**
>
> Simple cross platform Julia installer. Contribute to LilithHafner/UpdateJulia.jl development by creating an account on GitHub.

… as does the official Julia install guide:

> **[Platform Specific Instructions for Official Binaries](https://julialang.org/downloads/platform/#juliaup)**
>
> The official website for the Julia Language. Julia is a language that is fast, dynamic, easy to use, and open source. Click here to learn more.

juliaup seems to be more popular and well-tested across platforms.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sahil\_Khan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sahil_khan/32/47573_2.png) [@Sahil\_Khan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Sahil_Khan)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 11:44am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/9 "2023-08-25T11:44:37Z")

</div>

I used this and it worked.

```julia
using UpdateJulia
update_julia(systemwide=false)

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sahil\_Khan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/sahil_khan/32/47573_2.png) [@Sahil\_Khan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Sahil_Khan)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/error-while-using-update-julia/103182/10 "2024-02-27T13:25:31Z")

</div>

Also using “juliaup” works:

One can install it on terminal with `curl -fsSL https://install.julialang.org | sh -s -- <ARGS>`

Once done. Close terminal and open it again. Then just type ` juliaup update` on terminal and it will do the job.