path: root/INSTALL.md

# Cargo Installation

If you're just interested in the Alacritty binary and you don't need the
[terminfo file](#terminfo), [desktop entry](#desktop-entry),
[manual page](#manual-page) or [shell completions](#shell-completions), you can
install it directly through cargo:

```sh
cargo install alacritty
```

Note that you will still need to install the dependencies for your OS of choice.
Please refer to the [Dependencies](#dependencies) section.

# Manual Installation

1. [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
    1. [Source Code](#clone-the-source-code)
    2. [Rust Compiler](#install-the-rust-compiler-with-rustup)
    3. [Dependencies](#dependencies)
        1. [Debian/Ubuntu](#debianubuntu)
        2. [Arch Linux](#arch-linux)
        3. [Fedora](#fedora)
        4. [CentOS/RHEL 7](#centosrhel-7)
        5. [openSUSE](#opensuse)
        6. [Slackware](#slackware)
        7. [Void Linux](#void-linux)
        8. [FreeBSD](#freebsd)
        9. [OpenBSD](#openbsd)
        10. [Solus](#solus)
        11. [NixOS/Nixpkgs](#nixosnixpkgs)
        12. [Gentoo](#gentoo)
        13. [Clear Linux](#clear-linux)
        14. [GNU Guix](#gnu-guix)
        15. [Alpine Linux](#alpine-linux)
        16. [Windows](#windows)
        17. [Other](#other)
2. [Building](#building)
    1. [Linux/Windows/BSD](#linux--windows--bsd)
    2. [macOS](#macos)
3. [Post Build](#post-build)
    1. [Terminfo](#terminfo)
    2. [Desktop Entry](#desktop-entry)
    3. [Manual Page](#manual-page)
    4. [Shell completions](#shell-completions)
        1. [Zsh](#zsh)
        2. [Bash](#bash)
        3. [Fish](#fish)

## Prerequisites

### Clone the source code

Before compiling Alacritty, you'll have to first clone the source code:

```sh
git clone https://github.com/alacritty/alacritty.git
cd alacritty
```

### Install the Rust compiler with `rustup`

1. Install [`rustup.rs`](https://rustup.rs/).

3. To make sure you have the right Rust compiler installed, run

   ```sh
   rustup override set stable
   rustup update stable
   ```

### Dependencies

These are the minimum dependencies required to build Alacritty, please note
that with some setups additional dependencies might be desired.

If you're running Wayland with an Nvidia GPU, you'll likely want the EGL
drivers installed too (these are called `libegl1-mesa-dev` on Ubuntu).

#### Debian/Ubuntu

If you'd like to build a local version manually, you need a few extra libraries
to build Alacritty. Here's an apt command that should install all of them. If
something is still found to be missing, please open an issue.

```sh
apt install cmake pkg-config libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig1-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev libxkbcommon-dev python3
```

#### Arch Linux

On Arch Linux, you need a few extra libraries to build Alacritty. Here's a
`pacman` command that should install all of them. If something is still found
to be missing, please open an issue.

```sh
pacman -S cmake freetype2 fontconfig pkg-config make libxcb libxkbcommon python
```

#### Fedora

On Fedora, you need a few extra libraries to build Alacritty. Here's a `dnf`
command that should install all of them. If something is still found to be
missing, please open an issue.

```sh
dnf install cmake freetype-devel fontconfig-devel libxcb-devel libxkbcommon-devel g++
```

#### CentOS/RHEL 7

On CentOS/RHEL 7, you need a few extra libraries to build Alacritty. Here's a `yum`
command that should install all of them. If something is still found to be
missing, please open an issue.

```sh
yum install cmake freetype-devel fontconfig-devel libxcb-devel libxkbcommon-devel xcb-util-devel
yum group install "Development Tools"
```

#### RHEL 8

On RHEL 8, like RHEL 7, you need a few extra libraries to build Alacritty. Here's a `dnf`
command that should install all of them. If something is still found to be
missing, please open an issue.

```sh
dnf install cmake freetype-devel fontconfig-devel libxcb-devel libxkbcommon-devel
dnf group install "Development Tools"
```

#### openSUSE

On openSUSE, you need a few extra libraries to build Alacritty. Here's
a `zypper` command that should install all of them. If something is
still found to be missing, please open an issue.

```sh
zypper install cmake freetype-devel fontconfig-devel libxcb-devel libxkbcommon-devel
```

#### Slackware

Compiles out of the box for 14.2

#### Void Linux

On [Void Linux](https://voidlinux.org), install following packages before
compiling Alacritty:

```sh
xbps-install cmake freetype-devel expat-devel fontconfig-devel libxcb-devel pkg-config python3
```

#### FreeBSD

On FreeBSD, you need a few extra libraries to build Alacritty. Here's a `pkg`
command that should install all of them. If something is still found to be
missing, please open an issue.

```sh
pkg install cmake freetype2 fontconfig pkgconf python3
```

#### OpenBSD

On OpenBSD 6.5, you need [Xenocara](https://xenocara.org) and Rust to build
Alacritty, plus Python 3 to build its XCB dependency. If something is still
found to be missing, please open an issue.

```sh
pkg_add rust python
```

Select the package for Python 3 (e.g. `python-3.6.8p0`) when prompted.

The default user limits in OpenBSD are insufficient to build Alacritty. A
`datasize-cur` of at least 3GB is recommended (see [login.conf](https://man.openbsd.org/login.conf)).

#### Solus

On [Solus](https://solus-project.com/), you need a few extra libraries to build
Alacritty. Here's a `eopkg` command that should install all of them. If
something is still found to be missing, please open an issue.

```sh
eopkg install fontconfig-devel
```

#### NixOS/Nixpkgs

The following command can be used to get a shell with all development
dependencies on [NixOS](https://nixos.org).

```sh
nix-shell -A alacritty '<nixpkgs>'
```

#### Gentoo

On Gentoo, you need a few extra libraries to build Alacritty. The following
command should install all of them. If something is still found to be missing,
please open an issue.

```sh
emerge --onlydeps x11-terms/alacritty
```

#### Clear Linux

On Clear Linux, you need a few extra libraries to build Alacritty. Here's a
`swupd` command that should install all of them. If something is still found
to be missing, please open an issue.

```sh
swupd bundle-add devpkg-expat devpkg-freetype devpkg-libxcb devpkg-fontconfig
```

#### GNU Guix

The following command can be used to get a shell with all development
dependencies on [GNU Guix](https://guix.gnu.org/).

```sh
guix environment alacritty
```

#### Alpine Linux

On Alpine Linux, you need a few extra libraries to build Alacritty. Here's an
`apk` command that should install all of them. If something is still found to
be missing, please open an issue.

```sh
sudo apk add cmake pkgconf freetype-dev fontconfig-dev python3 libxcb-dev
```

#### Windows

On windows you will need to have the `{architecture}-pc-windows-msvc` toolchain
installed as well as [Clang 3.9 or greater](http://releases.llvm.org/download.html).

#### Other

If you build Alacritty on another distribution, we would love some help
filling in this section of the README.

## Building

### Linux / Windows / BSD

```sh
cargo build --release
```

On Linux/BSD, if it is desired to build Alacritty without support for either the
X11 or Wayland rendering backend the following commands can be used.

```sh
# Force support for only Wayland
cargo build --release --no-default-features --features=wayland

# Force support for only X11
cargo build --release --no-default-features --features=x11
```

If all goes well, this should place a binary at `target/release/alacritty`.

### macOS

```sh
make app
cp -r target/release/osx/Alacritty.app /Applications/
```

#### Universal Binary

The following will build an executable that runs on both x86 and ARM macos
architectures:

```sh
rustup target add x86_64-apple-darwin aarch64-apple-darwin
make app-universal
```

## Post Build

There are some extra things you might want to set up after installing Alacritty.
All the post build instruction assume you're still inside the Alacritty
repository.

### Terminfo

To make sure Alacritty works correctly, either the `alacritty` or
`alacritty-direct` terminfo must be used. The `alacritty` terminfo will be
picked up automatically if it is installed.

If the following command returns without any errors, the `alacritty` terminfo is
already installed:

```sh
infocmp alacritty
```

If it is not present already, you can install it globally with the following
command:

```
sudo tic -xe alacritty,alacritty-direct extra/alacritty.info
```

### Desktop Entry

Many Linux and BSD distributions support desktop entries for adding applications
to system menus. This will install the desktop entry for Alacritty:

```sh
sudo cp target/release/alacritty /usr/local/bin # or anywhere else in $PATH
sudo cp extra/logo/alacritty-term.svg /usr/share/pixmaps/Alacritty.svg
sudo desktop-file-install extra/linux/Alacritty.desktop
sudo update-desktop-database
```

If you are having problems with Alacritty's logo, you can replace it with
prerendered PNGs and simplified SVGs available in the `extra/logo/compat`
directory.

### Manual Page

Installing the manual page requires the additional dependencies `gzip` and `scdoc`.

```sh
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/share/man/man1
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/share/man/man5
scdoc < extra/man/alacritty.1.scd | gzip -c | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man1/alacritty.1.gz > /dev/null
scdoc < extra/man/alacritty-msg.1.scd | gzip -c | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man1/alacritty-msg.1.gz > /dev/null
scdoc < extra/man/alacritty.5.scd | gzip -c | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man5/alacritty.5.gz > /dev/null
scdoc < extra/man/alacritty-bindings.5.scd | gzip -c | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man5/alacritty-bindings.5.gz > /dev/null
```

### Shell completions

To get automatic completions for Alacritty's flags and arguments you can install the provided shell completions.

#### Zsh

To install the completions for zsh, you can place the `extra/completions/_alacritty` file in any
directory referenced by `$fpath`.

If you do not already have such a directory registered through your `~/.zshrc`, you can add one like this:

```sh
mkdir -p ${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zsh_functions
echo 'fpath+=${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zsh_functions' >> ${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zshrc
```

Then copy the completion file to this directory:

```sh
cp extra/completions/_alacritty ${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zsh_functions/_alacritty
```

#### Bash

To install the completions for bash, you can `source` the `extra/completions/alacritty.bash` file
in your `~/.bashrc` file.

If you do not plan to delete the source folder of alacritty, you can run

```sh
echo "source $(pwd)/extra/completions/alacritty.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
```

Otherwise you can copy it to the `~/.bash_completion` folder and source it from there:

```sh
mkdir -p ~/.bash_completion
cp extra/completions/alacritty.bash ~/.bash_completion/alacritty
echo "source ~/.bash_completion/alacritty" >> ~/.bashrc
```

#### Fish

To install the completions for fish, from inside the fish shell, run

```
mkdir -p $fish_complete_path[1]
cp extra/completions/alacritty.fish $fish_complete_path[1]/alacritty.fish
```