# 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. [Windows](#windows)
        14. [Clear Linux](#clear-linux)
        15. [Other](#other)
2. [Building](#building)
    1. [Linux/Windows](#linux--windows)
        1. [Desktop Entry](#desktop-entry)
    2. [MacOS](#macos)
    3. [Cargo](#cargo)
    4. [Debian/Ubuntu](#debianubuntu-1)
3. [Manual Page](#manual-page)
4. [Shell Completions](#shell-completions)
    1. [Zsh](#zsh)
    2. [Bash](#bash)
    3. [Fish](#fish)
5. [Terminfo](#terminfo)

## 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

You can build alacritty using `cargo deb` and use your system's package manager
to maintain the application using the instructions [below](#debianubuntu-1).

If you'd still 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-get install cmake pkg-config libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig1-dev libxcb-xfixes0-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
```

#### 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
```

#### 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
yum 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
```

#### Slackware

Compiles out of the box for 14.2

#### Void Linux

On [Void Linux](https://voidlinux.eu), 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
```

#### 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
```

#### 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
```

#### 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).

#### 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
```

#### Other

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

## Building

### Linux / Windows

Once all the prerequisites are installed, compiling Alacritty should be easy:

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

If all goes well, this should place a binary at `target/release/alacritty`.
On Windows this directory should also contain the `winpty-agent.exe`.

#### Desktop Entry

Many linux distributions support desktop entries for adding applications to
system menus. To install the desktop entry for Alacritty, run

```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
```

### MacOS

To build an application for macOS, run

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

### Cargo

If you don't want to clone the repository, you can install Alacritty directly using cargo:

```sh
cargo install --git https://github.com/alacritty/alacritty
```

### Debian/Ubuntu

Using `cargo deb`, you can create and install a deb file.

```sh
cargo install cargo-deb
cargo deb --install -p alacritty
```

To choose a default terminal app, use Debian's `update-alternatives`.

```sh
update-alternatives --config x-terminal-emulator
```

## Manual Page

Installing the manual page requires the additional dependency `gzip`.
To install the manual page, run

```sh
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/share/man/man1
gzip -c extra/alacritty.man | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man1/alacritty.1.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, run

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

## Terminfo

The terminfo database contains entries describing the terminal
emulator's capabilities. Programs need these in order to function
properly.

Alacritty should work with the standard `xterm-256color` definition,
but to allow programs to make best use of alacritty's capabilities,
use its own terminfo definition instead.

Unless the user has set the `TERM` environment variable in the
alacritty configuration, the `alacritty` terminfo definition will be
used if it has been installed. If not, then `xterm-256color` is used
instead.

To install alacritty's terminfo entry globally:

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