Install

Prerequisites

Bulker requires a container engine to run commands. Install one before proceeding:

• Docker: docs.docker.com/get-docker — works on Linux, macOS, and Windows (WSL2).
• Apptainer: apptainer.org/docs — preferred on HPC clusters; formerly known as Singularity.

Bulker auto-detects whichever engine is available at runtime. If both are installed, you can specify one explicitly (see the Optional: customize config section below).

Quick install

curl -sL https://bulker.io/install.sh | bash

Downloads the binary to ~/.local/bin/bulker and adds the shell function to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc. Restart your shell or source ~/.bashrc after installing.

Linux x86_64

curl -sL https://github.com/databio/bulkers/releases/latest/download/bulker-Linux-musl-x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz && mv bulker ~/.local/bin/

Then add the shell function to your RC file:

Bash

Add to ~/.bashrc:

eval "$(bulker init-shell bash)"

Zsh

Add to ~/.zshrc:

eval "$(bulker init-shell zsh)"

Linux aarch64

curl -sL https://github.com/databio/bulkers/releases/latest/download/bulker-Linux-musl-arm64.tar.gz | tar xz && mv bulker ~/.local/bin/

Then add the shell function to your RC file:

Bash

Add to ~/.bashrc:

eval "$(bulker init-shell bash)"

Zsh

Add to ~/.zshrc:

eval "$(bulker init-shell zsh)"

macOS Apple Silicon

curl -sL https://github.com/databio/bulkers/releases/latest/download/bulker-macOS-arm64.tar.gz | tar xz && mv bulker ~/.local/bin/

Then add the shell function to your RC file:

eval "$(bulker init-shell zsh)"

Add this line to ~/.zshrc.

macOS Intel

curl -sL https://github.com/databio/bulkers/releases/latest/download/bulker-macOS-x86_64.tar.gz | tar xz && mv bulker ~/.local/bin/

Then add the shell function to your RC file:

eval "$(bulker init-shell zsh)"

Add this line to ~/.zshrc.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/databio/bulkers
cd bulkers
cargo build --release
./install.sh

The install script adds the shell function automatically.

Verify installation

bulker --version
bulker crate list

Migrating from Python bulker

# Remove the Python version
pip uninstall bulker

# Install bulker (your existing crates and config are compatible)
curl -sL https://bulker.io/install.sh | bash

Your existing crate manifests work with both versions — no changes needed.

Optional: customize config

Bulker works out of the box with no configuration. On first use, it auto-detects your container engine and creates ~/.config/bulker/bulker_config.yaml with sensible defaults.

To explicitly (re)generate the config or choose a specific engine:

Auto-detect

bulker config init

Docker

bulker config init -e docker

Apptainer

bulker config init -e apptainer

Use --force to overwrite an existing config. See the Configuration reference for all settings.

Uninstall

# Remove the binary
rm ~/.local/bin/bulker

# Remove config and cached manifests
rm -rf ~/.config/bulker

# Remove the shell function line from your RC file
# Delete the `eval "$(bulker init-shell ...)"` line from ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc

Next Steps

Now that you have bulker installed, follow the Tutorial to see bulker in action with practical examples.