Installing on Linux

There are many ways to install RetroArch in a Linux environment. If you can compile it from source, you can remove unneeded features and dependencies. Distro packages can be nice, but we don't control those builds (aside from the official PPAs) and can't guarantee their quality or how often they are updated. Universal packages, such as Snap and Flatpak are maintained by the libretro team but have some limitations resulting from their sandboxing techniques, such as lack of support for Vulkan and a small number of cores not functioning as expected.

These instructions will install RetroArch. Cores should be downloaded from within the program using the Online Updater's Core Updater, if possible. Some distros patch out the Online Updater, in which case you'll need to install cores using your package manager. There are core packages available in the PPAs, as well, and they will continue to be updated, but new packages for new cores will not be created.

Ubuntu

Stable version (RetroArch stable version):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libretro/stable && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install retroarch

Testing version (RetroArch nightly builds (Git)):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libretro/testing && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install retroarch

Arch Linux

Stable version:

sudo pacman -Sy retroarch

Git version:

yaourt -Sy retroarch-git

Flatpak

RetroArch on Flathub:

flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install --user flathub org.libretro.RetroArch

Update to the latest stable:

flatpak update --user org.libretro.RetroArch

Snap (installs latest stable by default; nightlies are available in the "edge" channel)

RetroArch on Snapcraft:

sudo snap install retroarch

Get it from the Snap Store

Steam

There is a stable version of each release in our Steam version. You will need a Steam account and Steam Client. Here you can register and download the client. After successful registration, you can search for RetroArch in the store or use this link to go to the appropriate page.

Itch.io

itch.io is a simple way to find and share indie games online for free.You can download Cores externally as well as Linux versions from our Itchio page. The versions here are only the stable version.You can reach our Itch.io page from this link.

available on Itch.io