x/build/cmd/release: darwin/arm64 installer prompts for installing Rosetta 2

[usmannajib]

What version of Go are you using (go version)?

1.16beta1

$ go version

Does this issue reproduce with the latest release?

Yes

What operating system and processor architecture are you using (go env)?

MacOS Big Sur on arm64 M1

go env Output

$ go env

What did you do?

Ran installation

What did you expect to see?

The installer should have installed Go in native M1 mode.

What did you see instead?

The installer asked for Rosetta to be installed as a mandatory install dependency.

[cherrymui]

Just to be sure, is https://golang.org/dl/go1.16beta1.darwin-arm64.pkg the installer you used?

cc @dmitshur

[usmannajib]

Yes take a look at the screenshot below

[dmitshur]

Thanks for reporting. Perhaps there's some configuration in the installer causing macOS to think Rosetta will be needed, when that shouldn't be the case. We'll take a look.

After installing, does go version output end with "darwin/arm64"?
Also, what macOS version did you test with?

[dmitshur]

The problem may be that we're not including a hostArchitectures property in the installer Distribution options:

$ pkgutil --expand go1.16beta1.darwin-arm64.pkg out
$ cat out/Distribution | grep options
    <options customize="never" allow-external-scripts="no"/>

It likely needs to be set to a value that includes arm64:

<options hostArchitectures="arm64" customize="never" allow-external-scripts="no"/>

CC @golang/release, @markmentovai.

[usmannajib]

I actually didn't install it as I wanted a "pure" experience 😄

I am testing with 11.1

Let me know if it helps to actually install it.

[dmitshur]

Thanks.

We should fix this in time for the next pre-release of Go 1.16. If you'd like, you can wait until then, but you certainly don't have to. This issue affects only the installer, the actual Go distribution is already built for ARM64. You can also use the go1.16beta1.darwin-arm64.tar.gz archive to avoid having to install Rosetta 2.

[usmannajib]

@dmitshur Thank you

[dmitshur]

I tested the change described in #43422 (comment) by making use of pkgutil --expand and pkgutil --flatten to adjust the distribution XML:

$ pkgutil --expand go1.16rc1.darwin-arm64.pkg out
$ $EDITOR out/Distribution  # set hostArchitectures="arm64" in options
$ pkgutil --flatten out go1.16rc1.darwin-arm64-edited.pkg

(This process strips the signing, but that's not a problem for the purpose of testing the change described here.)

I tested this on a Mac without Rosetta 2 installed (thanks @cagedmantis). Prior to explicitly setting hostArchitectures, Rosetta 2 was required and the installer would not proceed without it. After setting it, Go was successfully installed without Rosetta 2.

It also had the added benefit of reporting "Go can't be installed on this computer." if the ARM64 installer is opened on an Intel-based Mac (previously, the ARM64 installer would run without letting the user know it's the wrong architecture, but then the installed distribution wouldn't work because Intel-based Macs can't run arm64 binaries).

We've updated our release process to apply this change, so the next Go 1.16 release will have this fix. Thanks again for the report. Closing.

[ifacodes]

Hi. this still happens to me on my M1 Mac with version 1.17.

[dmitshur]

@ifamakes I've checked the Distribution file in go1.17.darwin-arm64.pkg, and it still has hostArchitectures="arm64" set, so that hasn't regressed on our side.

Since this issue has been closed for a good while, I think we should treat this as a possible new problem. Can you please file a new issue that references this one, and provide more information, such as what macOS version you've tested with. Thank you.