Installation

Note

The IronPLC VS Code extension is currently unavailable on the Visual Studio Marketplace. Install via:

• Open VSX (Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium)

• Direct VSIX from IronPLC GitHub releases

Existing installs continue to work; automatic updates from the Marketplace are paused. We are working with Microsoft to restore the listing.

IronPLC supports the following platforms:

• Windows (x64, arm64)

• macOS (x64, arm64)

• Linux (x64)

Prerequisites

The first step is to install a supported development environment:

• Visual Studio Code

• Cursor

Other development environments that support VS Code extensions (via the Open VSX Registry) also work. The instructions below use Visual Studio Code, but the steps are the same in all supported environments.

Install Steps

Follow the steps below to install IronPLC.

Windows

Install IronPLC CLI

1. Download the latest IronPLC installer from IronPLC GitHub releases:

   • x64 ironplcc-x86_64-windows.exe

   • Arm64 ironplcc-aarch64-windows.exe

2. Run the installer and follow the prompts to complete installation of the CLI.

Install IronPLC Extension

1. Download the latest IronPLC extension ironplc-vscode-extension.vsix from IronPLC GitHub releases.

Run your development environment, then:

1. Go to the Extensions view by clicking on the Extensions icon in Activity Bar on the side of the window or using the View: Extensions command (Ctrl+Shift+X).

2. In the Extensions view, select … (View and More Actions) ‣ Install from VSIX… button.

3. In the Install from VSIX dialog, select the VSIX file you downloaded earlier.

macOS

Install IronPLC CLI

Option 1 — Homebrew (recommended):

1. Go to Homebrew then follow the instructions to install Homebrew.

2. Open a Terminal and run:

   brew tap ironplc/tap
   brew install ironplc
   

Option 2 — install script:

Open a Terminal and run:

curl -fsSL https://www.ironplc.com/install.sh | sh

This installs ironplcc, ironplcvm, and ironplcmcp into $HOME/.ironplc/bin and adds that directory to your PATH via your shell profile.

Install IronPLC Extension

1. Download the latest IronPLC extension ironplc-vscode-extension.vsix from IronPLC GitHub releases.

Run your development environment, then:

1. Go to the Extensions view by clicking on the Extensions icon in Activity Bar on the side of the window or using the View: Extensions command (⌘+Shift+X).

2. In the Extensions view, select … (View and More Actions) ‣ Install from VSIX… button.

3. In the Install from VSIX dialog, select the VSIX file you downloaded earlier.

Linux

Install IronPLC CLI

Open a terminal and run:

curl -fsSL https://www.ironplc.com/install.sh | sh

This installs ironplcc, ironplcvm, and ironplcmcp into $HOME/.ironplc/bin and adds that directory to your PATH via your shell profile.

To install a specific version:

curl -fsSL https://www.ironplc.com/install.sh | IRONPLC_VERSION=v0.201.0 sh

Prebuilt binaries are currently provided for x86_64 Linux only.

Install IronPLC Extension

1. Download the latest IronPLC extension ironplc-vscode-extension.vsix from IronPLC GitHub releases.

Run your development environment, then:

1. Go to the Extensions view by clicking on the Extensions icon in Activity Bar on the side of the window or using the View: Extensions command (Ctrl+Shift+X).

2. In the Extensions view, select … (View and More Actions) ‣ Install from VSIX… button.

3. In the Install from VSIX dialog, select the VSIX file you downloaded earlier.

Next Steps

You are ready to start programming. In the next chapter, you will learn how PLC programs work before writing your first one.

Continue to How a PLC Program Works.