Installation

Note

The IronPLC extension is published to two registries under two different names:

Both listings are the same extension; only the name differs, because the two registries are separate namespaces. Visual Studio Code installs from the Marketplace, and editors such as Cursor, Kiro, Devin, and VSCodium install from Open VSX. Each release on IronPLC GitHub releases attaches one VSIX per registry for manual installation.

IronPLC supports the following platforms:

  • Windows (x64, arm64)

  • macOS (x64, arm64)

  • Linux (x64)

Prerequisites

The first step is to install a supported development environment:

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.

Note

In Cursor, IronPLC works in the Cursor IDE interface. It is not available in Cursor’s newer agent-first interface. Switch to the IDE interface to use IronPLC.

Install Steps

Follow the steps below to install IronPLC.

Install IronPLC CLI

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

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

Install IronPLC Extension

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. Search for ironplc.

  3. Select IronPLC IDE in Visual Studio Code, or IronPLC in editors that install from Open VSX, then select Install.

Install IronPLC Extension from a VSIX

If your development environment cannot reach either registry, install the extension manually.

  1. Download the VSIX that matches your development environment from IronPLC GitHub releases:

    Each registry uses a different extension ID, so the two VSIX files are not interchangeable. Visual Studio Code updates an extension from the Marketplace listing that matches its ID, so a VS Code installation of the Open VSX VSIX never receives updates.

Then, in the Extensions view:

  1. Select the … (View and More Actions) ‣ Install from VSIX… button.

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

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 IronPLC into $HOME/.ironplc/bin and adds that directory to your PATH via your shell profile.

Install IronPLC Extension

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. Search for ironplc.

  3. Select IronPLC IDE in Visual Studio Code, or IronPLC in editors that install from Open VSX, then select Install.

Install IronPLC Extension from a VSIX

If your development environment cannot reach either registry, install the extension manually.

  1. Download the VSIX that matches your development environment from IronPLC GitHub releases:

    Each registry uses a different extension ID, so the two VSIX files are not interchangeable. Visual Studio Code updates an extension from the Marketplace listing that matches its ID, so a VS Code installation of the Open VSX VSIX never receives updates.

Then, in the Extensions view:

  1. Select the … (View and More Actions) ‣ Install from VSIX… button.

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

Install IronPLC CLI

Open a terminal and run:

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

This installs IronPLC 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

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. Search for ironplc.

  3. Select IronPLC IDE in Visual Studio Code, or IronPLC in editors that install from Open VSX, then select Install.

Install IronPLC Extension from a VSIX

If your development environment cannot reach either registry, install the extension manually.

  1. Download the VSIX that matches your development environment from IronPLC GitHub releases:

    Each registry uses a different extension ID, so the two VSIX files are not interchangeable. Visual Studio Code updates an extension from the Marketplace listing that matches its ID, so a VS Code installation of the Open VSX VSIX never receives updates.

Then, in the Extensions view:

  1. Select the … (View and More Actions) ‣ Install from VSIX… button.

  2. 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.