---
title: Install on Linux
description: Download, verify, and install the magus binary on Linux (amd64 or arm64) and put it on your PATH - no root, no sudo.
tags: [download, install, linux, path]
---

# Install on Linux

> [!NOTE]
> linux/amd64 is the one continuously tested platform - the full suite runs on it every CI
> run. linux/arm64 is not covered by CI, but the release binary and the test suites have been
> executed on real arm64 hardware.
>
> See [platform support](../setup.md#platform-support) for the full matrix.

magus ships as a single self-contained binary. Download it with `curl`, extract it into a `PATH` directory you own - no root, no `sudo` - then [verify it](verify.md) before first run.

## Quick install

```sh
# The hosted docs substitute the latest release tag below; on GitHub it reads
# literally - get the real value from https://github.com/egladman/magus/releases
VERSION=v0.4.2
ARCH=amd64            # or arm64 - see below
curl -fLO "https://github.com/egladman/magus/releases/download/${VERSION}/magus_${VERSION}_linux_${ARCH}_static.tar.gz"
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
tar -xzf "magus_${VERSION}_linux_${ARCH}_static.tar.gz" magus
mv magus ~/.local/bin/
magus version
```

The archive also carries `LICENSE`, `THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES`, `README.md`, and a
`BUILDINFO` file naming the exact version, commit, platform, and variant. Naming
`magus` on the `tar` line above extracts just the binary; drop it to unpack all of
them. `BUILDINFO` is readable without running anything, which is the point if a
dynamically linked build will not start.

## Which `ARCH`

| `ARCH`  | Hardware                                                            |
| ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `amd64` | Any 64-bit x86 machine.                                             |
| `arm64` | 64-bit ARM: Raspberry Pi 3 and up on a 64-bit OS, Ampere, Graviton. |

`uname -m` reports the kernel's architecture: `x86_64` is `amd64` and `aarch64` is
`arm64`. On ARM the kernel alone does not settle it - a 64-bit Pi kernel often runs a
32-bit userland, and there `uname -m` says `aarch64` while the userland is 32-bit.
Check with `dpkg --print-architecture` (or `getconf LONG_BIT`): `arm64` (64) means take
`arm64`; `armhf` (32) means there is no archive for this machine yet.

No 32-bit ARM archive is published. The build works, but nothing has run it end to end
on 32-bit hardware or under emulation, and an untested binary is worse than an absent
one. If you need one, build from source.

`${VERSION}` above is the current release. Releases ship the `_static` archive only: it
links nothing, so it runs on musl and glibc alike, and it is what the installer and
`magus self update` fetch.

A dynamically linked build is still supported, just not published - it needs
`libzstd.so.1` and `liblzma.so.5` on the running machine, which holds on a mainstream
distro but not in a slim container or on musl. Build one from source if you want it:

```sh
magus run release-build:dynamic
```

## Verify the download

Fetch the manifest and its signature next to the tarball:

```sh
curl -fLO "https://github.com/egladman/magus/releases/download/${VERSION}/SHA256SUMS"
curl -fLO "https://github.com/egladman/magus/releases/download/${VERSION}/SHA256SUMS.sig"
```

Then verify the Ed25519 signature _first_, and only then the checksum - checking a hash against an unverified manifest proves nothing. The exact commands are in [Verify a release](verify.md).

## Put it on your PATH

If `magus version` prints `command not found`, the install directory is not on your `PATH`. Add it once, in your shell rc:

```sh
# bash or zsh: append to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
```

Open a new shell afterward, then re-run `magus version`.

## Next steps

- [Verify the release](verify.md) before first run.
- Set up [shell completion](shell-setup.md#shell-completion), and add the [`mgs` shorthand](shell-setup.md#mgs-shorthand) with `magus self install-shorthand`.
- Keep it current with [`magus self update`](../setup.md#update).