---
title: Debian
sidebar:
  order: 1
i18nReady: true
---

import ShowSolution from '@components/ShowSolution.astro';
import { Steps } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

The stock Debian package generated by the Tauri bundler has everything you need to ship your application to Debian-based Linux distributions, defining your application's icons, generating a Desktop file, and specifying the dependencies `libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0` and `libgtk-3-0`, along with `libappindicator3-1` if your app uses the system tray.

:::note

GUI apps on macOS and Linux do not inherit the `$PATH` from your shell dotfiles (`.bashrc`, `.bash_profile`, `.zshrc`, etc). Check out Tauri's [fix-path-env-rs](https://github.com/tauri-apps/fix-path-env-rs) crate to fix this issue.

:::

## Limitations

Core libraries such as glibc frequently break compatibility with older systems. For this reason, you must build your Tauri application using the oldest base system you intend to support. A relatively old system such as Ubuntu 18.04 is more suited than Ubuntu 22.04, as the binary compiled on Ubuntu 22.04 will have a higher requirement of the glibc version, so when running on an older system, you will face a runtime error like `/usr/lib/libc.so.6: version 'GLIBC_2.33' not found`. We recommend using a Docker container or GitHub Actions to build your Tauri application for Linux.

See the issues [tauri-apps/tauri#1355](https://github.com/tauri-apps/tauri/issues/1355) and [rust-lang/rust#57497](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/57497), in addition to the [AppImage guide](https://docs.appimage.org/reference/best-practices.html#binaries-compiled-on-old-enough-base-system) for more information.

## Custom Files

Tauri exposes a few configurations for the Debian package in case you need more control.

If your app depends on additional system dependencies you can specify them in `tauri.conf.json > bundle > linux > deb`.

To include custom files in the Debian package, you can provide a list of files or folders in `tauri.conf.json > bundle > linux > deb > files`. The configuration object maps the path in the Debian package to the path to the file on your filesystem, relative to the `tauri.conf.json` file. Here's an example configuration:

```json
{
  "bundle": {
    "linux": {
      "deb": {
        "files": {
          "/usr/share/README.md": "../README.md", // copies the README.md file to /usr/share/README.md
          "/usr/share/assets": "../assets/" // copies the entire assets directory to /usr/share/assets
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

## Cross-Compiling for ARM-based Devices

This guide covers manual compilation. Check out our [GitHub Action guide](/distribute/pipelines/github/#arm-runner-compilation) for an example workflow that leverages QEMU to build the app. This will be much slower but will also be able to build AppImages.

Manual compilation is suitable when you don't need to compile your application frequently and prefer a one-time setup. The following steps expect you to use a Linux distribution based on Debian/Ubuntu.

<Steps>

1. #### Install Rust targets for your desired architecture

   - For ARMv7 (32-bit): `rustup target add armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf`
   - For ARMv8 (ARM64, 64-bit): `rustup target add aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu`

2. #### Install the corresponding linker for your chosen architecture

   - For ARMv7: `sudo apt install gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf`
   - For ARMv8 (ARM64): `sudo apt install gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu`

3. #### Open or create the file `<project-root>/.cargo/config.toml` and add the following configurations accordingly

   ```toml
   [target.armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf]
   linker = "arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc"

   [target.aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu]
   linker = "aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc"
   ```

4. #### Enable the respective architecture in the package manager

   - For ARMv7: `sudo dpkg --add-architecture armhf`
   - For ARMv8 (ARM64): `sudo dpkg --add-architecture arm64`

5. #### Adjusting Package Sources

   On Debian, this step should not be necessary, but on other distributions, you might need to edit /etc/apt/sources.list to include the ARM architecture variant. For example on Ubuntu 22.04 add these lines to the bottom of the file (Remember to replace jammy with the codename of your Ubuntu version):

   ```
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy main restricted
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-updates main restricted
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy universe
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-updates universe
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy multiverse
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-updates multiverse
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-security main restricted
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-security universe
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-security multiverse
   ```

   Then, to prevent issues with the main packages, you have to add the correct main architecture to all other lines the file contained beforehand. For standard 64-bit systems you need to add [arch=amd64], the full file on Ubuntu 22.04 then looks similar to this:

    <ShowSolution>

   ```
   # See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
   # newer versions of the distribution.
   deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy main restricted
   # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy main restricted

   ## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
   ## distribution.
   deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-updates main restricted
   # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-updates main restricted

   ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
   ## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
   ## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
   deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy universe
   # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy universe
   deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-updates universe
   # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-updates universe

   ## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
   ## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
   ## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
   ## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
   ## security team.
   deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy multiverse
   # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy multiverse
   deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-updates multiverse

   ## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
   ## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
   ## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
   ## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
   ## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
   deb [arch=amd64] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
   # deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse

   deb [arch=amd64] http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted
   # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted
   deb [arch=amd64] http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security universe
   # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security universe
   deb [arch=amd64] http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security multiverse
   # deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security multiverse

   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy main restricted
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-updates main restricted
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy universe
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-updates universe
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy multiverse
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-updates multiverse
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-security main restricted
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-security universe
   deb [arch=armhf,arm64] http://ports.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-ports jammy-security multiverse
   ```

    </ShowSolution>

6. #### Update the package information: `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y`

7. #### Install the required webkitgtk library for your chosen architecture

   - For ARMv7: `sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev:armhf`
   - For ARMv8 (ARM64): `sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev:arm64`

8. #### Install OpenSSL or use a vendored version

   This is not always required so you may want to proceed first and check if you see errors like `Failed to find OpenSSL development headers`.

   - Either install the development headers system-wide:
     - For ARMv7: `sudo apt install libssl-dev:armhf`
     - For ARMv8 (ARM64): `sudo apt install libssl-dev:arm64`
   - Or enable the vendor feature for the OpenSSL Rust crate which will affect all other Rust dependencies using the same minor version. You can do so by adding this to the dependencies section in your `Cargo.toml` file:

   ```toml
   openssl-sys = {version = "0.9", features = ["vendored"]}
   ```

9. #### Set the `PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR` to the appropriate directory based on your chosen architecture

   - For ARMv7: `export PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR=/usr/arm-linux-gnueabihf/`
   - For ARMv8 (ARM64): `export PKG_CONFIG_SYSROOT_DIR=/usr/aarch64-linux-gnu/`

10. #### Build the app for your desired ARM version

    - For ARMv7: cargo tauri build --target armv7-unknown-linux-gnueabihf
    - For ARMv8 (ARM64): cargo tauri build --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu

    Choose the appropriate set of instructions based on whether you want to cross-compile your Tauri application for ARMv7 or ARMv8 (ARM64). Please note that the specific steps may vary depending on your Linux distribution and setup.

</Steps>
