Default installation locations

The sdk-manager has its own, dedicated installation directory for downloading and installing SDKs and toolchains. Within this main installation directory:

• The SDK bundles are installed in subdirectories whose names correspond to the version of the SDK.
• The toolchain bundles are installed in the toolchains subdirectory, in which each toolchain is placed in a separate directory whose name is (most commonly) the SHA of the toolchain bundle.

The location of the main installation directory varies depending on your operating system:

Operating System	Default installation location for bundles	Notes
Windows	C:/ncs	Can be changed using --install-dir flag or permanently in the configuration settings.
Linux	$HOME/ncs (or ~/ncs)	Can be changed using --install-dir flag or permanently in the configuration settings.
macOS	/opt/nordic/ncs	Cannot be changed due to Python and dynamic loader requirements for a deterministic path. Requires initial root access to create directory: You will be prompted to grant the program admin rights for the creation of the folder on their first install. The folder will be created with some access rights to the user, so subsequent installs do not require root access. Don't run sdk-manager as root (for example, using sudo) to avoid permission issues.