diff --git a/scripts/install.sh b/scripts/install.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e8a6a75e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# XXX: this script is intended to be run from
+# a fresh Digital Ocean droplet with Ubuntu
+
+# upon its completion, you must either reset
+# your terminal or run `source ~/.profile`
+
+# change this to a specific release or branch
+BRANCH=master
+
+sudo apt-get update -y
+sudo apt-get upgrade -y
+sudo apt-get install -y make
+
+# get and unpack golang
+curl -O https://storage.googleapis.com/golang/go1.10.linux-amd64.tar.gz
+tar -xvf go1.10.linux-amd64.tar.gz
+
+# move go binary and add to path
+mv go /usr/local
+echo "export PATH=\$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin" >> ~/.profile
+
+# create the goApps directory, set GOPATH, and put it on PATH
+mkdir goApps
+echo "export GOPATH=/root/goApps" >> ~/.profile
+echo "export PATH=\$PATH:\$GOPATH/bin" >> ~/.profile
+
+source ~/.profile
+
+# get the code and move into repo
+REPO=github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk
+go get $REPO
+cd $GOPATH/src/$REPO
+
+# build & install master
+git checkout $BRANCH
+make get_tools
+make get_vendor_deps
+make install
+make install_examples