# Linux installation

## Overview

Serial Studio ships three package formats for Linux, each available for x86_64 (`x64`) and
ARM64 (`arm64`). All of them come from the [releases page](https://github.com/Serial-Studio/Serial-Studio/releases/latest)
and contain the same application; pick the format that fits your distribution.

| Format   | File name                                  | Best for |
|----------|--------------------------------------------|----------|
| AppImage | `Serial-Studio-Pro-<version>-Linux-<arch>.AppImage` | Any distribution, no root required, portable |
| DEB      | `Serial-Studio-Pro-<version>-Linux-<arch>.deb`      | Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, and derivatives |
| RPM      | `Serial-Studio-Pro-<version>-Linux-<arch>.rpm`      | Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE, and derivatives |

A [Flathub package](https://flathub.org/apps/com.serial_studio.Serial-Studio) is also
available; it follows Flatpak's own signing and update mechanism and is not covered here.

## Signing key

> **Warning:** package signing was introduced after version 4.0.2, so the 4.0.2 packages are
> unsigned and fail the verification steps below. Signed packages are currently available
> from the [continuous build](https://github.com/Serial-Studio/Serial-Studio/releases/tag/continuous)
> only; version 4.0.3 will be the first signed release.

Release packages are signed with the Serial Studio release key:

| Field       | Value |
|-------------|-------|
| Owner       | Alex Spataru \<alex@serial-studio.com\> |
| Type        | RSA 4096 |
| Fingerprint | `3303 D913 F9F1 2D5F 2BC3 9852 EBB9 68D7 47D1 1692` |
| Download    | [https://serial-studio.com/gpg-key.asc](https://serial-studio.com/gpg-key.asc) |

The RPM carries the signature in its package header, the DEB carries a `debsigs` origin
signature, and the AppImage embeds a signature in its ELF payload. What your system checks
automatically differs per format; the sections below spell it out.

## RPM (Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE)

`rpm`, `dnf`, and `zypper` verify the header signature of standalone `.rpm` files. Without
the release key in the RPM database, installation warns about an unknown or missing key (for
example `Signature verification failed` or a prompt to trust an unknown key). Import the key
once:

```bash
sudo rpm --import https://serial-studio.com/gpg-key.asc
```

Verify the download:

```bash
rpm -K Serial-Studio-Pro-*-Linux-x64.rpm
```

Expected output:

```text
Serial-Studio-Pro-4.0.2-Linux-x64.rpm: digests signatures OK
```

Install with your package manager so dependencies resolve automatically:

```bash
sudo dnf install ./Serial-Studio-Pro-*-Linux-x64.rpm     # Fedora, RHEL
sudo zypper install ./Serial-Studio-Pro-*-Linux-x64.rpm  # openSUSE
```

The package installs the `serial-studio-pro` binary to `/usr/bin` and adds a **Serial Studio
Pro** entry to the application menu. Uninstall with `sudo dnf remove serial-studio-pro` (or
the `zypper` equivalent).

## DEB (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint)

```bash
sudo apt install ./Serial-Studio-Pro-*-Linux-x64.deb
```

The leading `./` matters: it tells `apt` to install a local file instead of searching the
configured repositories. Uninstall with `sudo apt remove serial-studio-pro`.

The package embeds a `debsigs` origin signature (the `_gpgorigin` member inside the `.deb`).
Note that `apt` and `dpkg` do not verify signatures of individual package files; on
Debian-based systems, trust normally flows through signed repository metadata, which does not
apply to a direct download. The embedded signature exists for auditing tools such as
`debsig-verify`; the download itself is protected by HTTPS.

## AppImage

The AppImage runs on any distribution without installation:

```bash
chmod +x Serial-Studio-Pro-*-Linux-x64.AppImage
./Serial-Studio-Pro-*-Linux-x64.AppImage
```

If launching fails with a FUSE error, install `libfuse2` (recent Ubuntu releases ship only
FUSE 3 by default):

```bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt install libfuse2
```

Without FUSE, the AppImage still works via self-extraction:

```bash
./Serial-Studio-Pro-*-Linux-x64.AppImage --appimage-extract
./squashfs-root/AppRun
```

The AppImage embeds a GPG signature from the release key. Display it with:

```bash
./Serial-Studio-Pro-*-Linux-x64.AppImage --appimage-signature
```

## Serial port permissions

On most distributions, regular users cannot open serial devices until they join the
`dialout` group (`uucp` on Arch-based systems):

```bash
sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER
```

Log out and back in for the group change to take effect. More first-connection fixes are in
[Getting Started](https://serial-studio.com/help/getting-started.md) and [Troubleshooting](https://serial-studio.com/help/troubleshooting.md).

## See also

- [Getting Started](https://serial-studio.com/help/getting-started.md): first connection walkthrough for all platforms.
- [Troubleshooting](https://serial-studio.com/help/troubleshooting.md): fixes for common connection and parsing problems.
- [Command Line Interface](https://serial-studio.com/help/command-line-interface.md): flags for running Serial Studio from
  scripts and headless environments.