Linux

Linux

On Debian, Ubuntu, and their derivatives both halves are one apt command each. Everywhere else, use the AppImage and your own package manager.

1. Install Texpile

Debian and Ubuntu

Install the .deb with apt rather than dpkg and it resolves the dependencies for you. The leading ./ matters: without it apt looks for a package by that name in your repositories instead of reading the local file.

wget https://dl.texpile.com/latest/deb -O texpile.deb
sudo apt install ./texpile.deb

Everywhere else

The AppImage runs on most distributions without installing anything. Make it executable and run it:

wget https://dl.texpile.com/latest/linux -O Texpile.AppImage
chmod +x Texpile.AppImage
./Texpile.AppImage

AppImages need FUSE 2, which recent distributions no longer install by default. If it exits complaining about libfuse.so.2 or dlopen, add it:

sudo apt install libfuse2t64   # Ubuntu 24.04 and newer
sudo apt install libfuse2      # Debian 12, Ubuntu 23.10 and older
All downloads

2. Install TeX Live

With apt

On Debian, Ubuntu, and their derivatives this is much the easier route. One command, nothing to add to your PATH afterwards, and TeX updates arrive with the rest of your system updates:

sudo apt install texlive-full

`texlive-full` is around 5 GB because it pulls in every package Debian ships. If you would rather not, this is a much smaller starting point that still builds most papers, and you can add packages later:

sudo apt install texlive-latex-recommended texlive-latex-extra latexmk

Other distributions package TeX Live too, under their own names: look for a texlive-scheme-full or texlive meta package in dnf, pacman, or zypper.

From upstream

Any packaged build trails the current TeX Live release, often by a year or more. If you need the current release, or a package your distribution does not carry, install upstream instead. This is TeX Live’s own recipe, and it does not need root as long as you can write to the destination:

cd /tmp
curl -L -o install-tl-unx.tar.gz https://mirror.ctan.org/systems/texlive/tlnet/install-tl-unx.tar.gz
zcat < install-tl-unx.tar.gz | tar xf -
cd install-tl-2*
perl ./install-tl --no-interaction

That installs everything, which is 7 GB or more and can take a long time. For a much smaller install, roughly the equivalent of BasicTeX at 600 MB or so:

perl ./install-tl --no-interaction --scheme=small --no-doc-install --no-src-install

The default paper size is A4. Run tlmgr paper letter afterwards to change it.

Setting your PATH

Only for the upstream install; apt does this for you. The installer prints the exact line to add when it finishes. Put it in your shell’s init file, substituting your release year and platform:

export PATH=/usr/local/texlive/2026/bin/x86_64-linux:$PATH

Skipping this is the usual reason a fresh TeX install appears to be missing. Texpile reads the environment when it launches, so after editing your init file, log out and back in, then restart Texpile, before deciding something went wrong.

3. Check it worked

Checking the install