Alacritty Installation Guide – Fedora

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Complete guide to install Alacritty terminal emulator on Fedora systems.

System Requirements

  • Fedora: 38, 39, 40, 41, or newer
  • Architecture: x86_64 (64-bit)
  • Internet connection: For downloading packages and source code

Method 1: DNF Package Manager (Recommended)

Check if Available in Repository

dnf search alacritty
sudo dnf install alacritty

If available in the official repositories, this is the easiest method.

Method 2: Build from Source

Step 1: Install Build Dependencies

sudo dnf install cmake freetype-devel fontconfig-devel libxcb-devel libxkbcommon-devel g++ git curl

Step 2: Install Rust Compiler

Option A – Using rustup (Recommended):

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env
rustup override set stable
rustup update stable

Option B – Using DNF:

sudo dnf install rust cargo

Step 3: Clone Alacritty Source Code

git clone https://github.com/alacritty/alacritty.git
cd alacritty

Step 4: Build Alacritty

Standard build:

cargo build --release

Wayland-only build:

cargo build --release --no-default-features --features=wayland

X11-only build:

cargo build --release --no-default-features --features=x11

Step 5: Install Alacritty System-wide

sudo cp target/release/alacritty /usr/local/bin
sudo cp extra/logo/alacritty-term.svg /usr/share/pixmaps/Alacritty.svg
sudo desktop-file-install extra/linux/Alacritty.desktop
sudo update-desktop-database

Step 6: Install Terminfo

# Check if already installed
infocmp alacritty

# Install if missing
sudo tic -xe alacritty,alacritty-direct extra/alacritty.info

Method 3: Cargo Installation (Binary Only)

Step 1: Install Dependencies

sudo dnf install cmake freetype-devel fontconfig-devel libxcb-devel libxkbcommon-devel g++

Step 2: Install Rust

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source ~/.cargo/env

Step 3: Install Alacritty

cargo install alacritty

Make sure cargo bin directory is in PATH:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Method 4: Flatpak (Universal)

sudo dnf install flatpak
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub org.alacritty.Alacritty

To run via Flatpak:

flatpak run org.alacritty.Alacritty

Post-Installation Setup

Install Manual Pages

Install dependencies:

sudo dnf install scdoc gzip

Install manual pages (from source directory):

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/share/man/man1 /usr/local/share/man/man5
scdoc < extra/man/alacritty.1.scd | gzip -c | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man1/alacritty.1.gz > /dev/null
scdoc < extra/man/alacritty-msg.1.scd | gzip -c | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man1/alacritty-msg.1.gz > /dev/null
scdoc < extra/man/alacritty.5.scd | gzip -c | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man5/alacritty.5.gz > /dev/null
scdoc < extra/man/alacritty-bindings.5.scd | gzip -c | sudo tee /usr/local/share/man/man5/alacritty-bindings.5.gz > /dev/null

Shell Completions

Bash Completions

Method 1 – Source from alacritty directory:

echo "source $(pwd)/extra/completions/alacritty.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

Method 2 – Copy to bash_completion directory:

mkdir -p ~/.bash_completion
cp extra/completions/alacritty.bash ~/.bash_completion/alacritty
echo "source ~/.bash_completion/alacritty" >> ~/.bashrc

Zsh Completions

mkdir -p ${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zsh_functions
echo 'fpath+=${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zsh_functions' >> ${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zshrc
cp extra/completions/_alacritty ${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zsh_functions/_alacritty

Fish Completions

From within fish shell:

mkdir -p $fish_complete_path[1]
cp extra/completions/alacritty.fish $fish_complete_path[1]/alacritty.fish

Configuration

Create Configuration Directory

mkdir -p ~/.config/alacritty

Basic Configuration Example

Create ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.yml:

# Alacritty configuration for Fedora
window:
  opacity: 0.95
  padding:
    x: 8
    y: 8
  dynamic_padding: false
  decorations: full

font:
  normal:
    family: "JetBrains Mono"
    style: Regular
  bold:
    family: "JetBrains Mono"
    style: Bold
  italic:
    family: "JetBrains Mono"
    style: Italic
  size: 11.0

# Dracula theme colors
colors:
  primary:
    background: '#282a36'
    foreground: '#f8f8f2'
  cursor:
    text: '#282a36'
    cursor: '#f8f8f2'
  normal:
    black:   '#000000'
    red:     '#ff5555'
    green:   '#50fa7b'
    yellow:  '#f1fa8c'
    blue:    '#bd93f9'
    magenta: '#ff79c6'
    cyan:    '#8be9fd'
    white:   '#bfbfbf'
  bright:
    black:   '#4d4d4d'
    red:     '#ff6e67'
    green:   '#5af78e'
    yellow:  '#f4f99d'
    blue:    '#caa9fa'
    magenta: '#ff92d0'
    cyan:    '#9aedfe'
    white:   '#e6e6e6'

key_bindings:
  - { key: V, mods: Control|Shift, action: Paste }
  - { key: C, mods: Control|Shift, action: Copy }
  - { key: Plus, mods: Control, action: IncreaseFontSize }
  - { key: Minus, mods: Control, action: DecreaseFontSize }
  - { key: Key0, mods: Control, action: ResetFontSize }
  - { key: N, mods: Control|Shift, action: SpawnNewInstance }

Fedora-Specific Configurations

SELinux Considerations

If you encounter SELinux issues:

# Check SELinux status
sestatus

# Allow Alacritty if needed
sudo setsebool -P allow_execheap 1

Wayland Integration

For optimal Wayland experience on Fedora:

# Add to alacritty.yml
env:
  WINIT_UNIX_BACKEND: wayland

GNOME Integration

Set Alacritty as default terminal in GNOME:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.default-applications.terminal exec 'alacritty'
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.default-applications.terminal exec-arg ''

Troubleshooting

Build Issues

Missing dependencies:

sudo dnf install cmake freetype-devel fontconfig-devel libxcb-devel libxkbcommon-devel gcc-c++ python3

Rust version issues:

# If using system Rust, update
sudo dnf update rust cargo

# If using rustup
rustup update stable

Link errors:

# Install additional development tools
sudo dnf groupinstall "Development Tools"
sudo dnf install pkgconf-devel

Runtime Issues

Font issues:

# Install popular programming fonts
sudo dnf install jetbrains-mono-fonts fira-code-fonts google-noto-fonts

GPU acceleration problems:

# Check graphics drivers
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"

# For AMD users
sudo dnf install mesa-dri-drivers

# For NVIDIA users
sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda

Wayland issues:

# Force X11 backend if Wayland has issues
env WAYLAND_DISPLAY= alacritty

SELinux Issues

Permission denied errors:

# Check SELinux denials
sudo ausearch -m AVC -ts recent

# Generate and install policy if needed
sudo audit2allow -a -M alacritty-local
sudo semodule -i alacritty-local.pp

Desktop Environment Integration

KDE Plasma

Add to KDE shortcuts:

# System Settings > Shortcuts > Custom Shortcuts
# Command: alacritty
# Shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+T

GNOME

# Set keyboard shortcut
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys custom-keybindings "['/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/']"
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/ name 'Alacritty'
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/ command 'alacritty'
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings/custom0/ binding '<Primary><Alt>t'

i3 Window Manager

Add to ~/.config/i3/config:

bindsym $mod+Return exec alacritty

Updates and Maintenance

System Package Updates

sudo dnf update alacritty

Source Build Updates

cd alacritty
git pull
cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/alacritty /usr/local/bin

Cargo Installation Updates

cargo install alacritty --force

Flatpak Updates

flatpak update org.alacritty.Alacritty

Performance Tuning

Optimize for Fedora

# Add to alacritty.yml for better performance
scrolling:
  history: 10000
  multiplier: 3

# Enable hardware acceleration
window:
  startup_mode: Windowed
  dynamic_title: true

# Optimize drawing
draw_bold_text_with_bright_colors: true

Memory Usage Optimization

# Monitor memory usage
ps aux | grep alacritty

# Reduce history if needed
# scrolling.history: 5000 in config

Uninstallation

Remove Package Installation

sudo dnf remove alacritty

Remove Source Installation

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/alacritty
sudo rm /usr/share/applications/Alacritty.desktop
sudo rm /usr/share/pixmaps/Alacritty.svg
sudo update-desktop-database

Remove Flatpak Installation

flatpak uninstall org.alacritty.Alacritty

Remove Configuration

rm -rf ~/.config/alacritty

Remove Completions

rm ~/.bash_completion/alacritty
rm ${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zsh_functions/_alacritty

Fedora Note: Fedora’s rapid release cycle means packages are frequently updated. Always run sudo dnf update before installing new software to ensure compatibility.

 

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Über chukfinley

I am a long time Linux user and FLOSS enthusiast. I use Debian with DWM. Furthermore, I know how to code in Python, Flutter, HTML (How to meet ladies). I also love minimalism.

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