Modding:Installing SMAPI on Linux

Player's guide to using mods

This page explains how to install SMAPI (the tool which lets you use mods) on Linux.

See instructions for: Android • macOS • Steam Deck • Windows.

Install

If you installed Steam through Flatpak, see these instructions:

instructions for Flatpak

When using Flatpak, you need to change the default game location:

Open Steam.
Go to Steam > Settings > Downloads.
Click Steam Library Folders under Content Libraries.
Navigate to /home/[your username]/.local/share/Steam, and click Select.
Make sure the new location you just created is selected, then click "..." and select Make Default.
You may need to uninstall & reinstall the game to move it to the correct folder.

Run the install on Linux.sh file, and follow the on-screen instructions.
(If the installer asks for your game install path, see how to find your game folder.)
WARNING: The install on Linux.sh has to be run in a terminal window using ./install\ on\ Linux.sh (assuming your terminal window's path is inside the SMAPI installer folder) as there is a bug that can cause issues with the system's syslog by continuously writing log entries for SMAPI versions older than 4.1.0 (which is currently not released).
In case the .sh file was run via GUI (i.e. double-clicked) instead of via terminal it can be safely terminated through a GUI task manager or through the kill -SIGINT [PID] command where [PID] is the process ID of the running shell process.

To install manually instead, see instructions in the installer's readme.

Just install the new version; the installer will automatically clean up previous versions.

If the SMAPI window no longer appears after a game update, reinstall SMAPI to fix the launcher.
SMAPI tries to find a compatible terminal or use your default terminal, but some terminals aren't compatible. If the installer or launcher don't launch a terminal, try installing xterm (doesn't need to be your default terminal).
See the troubleshooting page for general troubleshooting.

If you're trying to install SMAPI for Stardew 1.5.6, be forewarned you need to install libssl1.x. See below for instructions:

distros	prerequisites
Debian-based (Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint)	Install LibSSL 1.1 by running `sudo apt install libssl1.1` in a terminal.
Arch-based (Arch, Manjaro, EndeavourOS)	Install OpenSSL 1.1 by running `sudo pacman -S openssl-1.1` in a terminal.
NixOS	Use steam-run to run `install on Linux.sh`. In case you don't have steam installed, enter a shell with steam-run available: `NIXPKGS_ALLOW_UNFREE=1 nix-shell -p steam-run`. Run this command to start the installer: `steam-run ./install\ on\ Linux.sh` The `./` is very important, otherwise it will NOT work!
Fedora	Install OpenSSL 1.1 by running `sudo dnf install openssl1.1` in a terminal.
Gentoo	Install OpenSSL 1.1 compatibility by running `sudo emerge --ask dev-libs/openssl-compat` in a terminal.
RHEL 8-based (RHEL 8, CentOS 8, Rocky 8, Alma 8)	Install OpenSSL 1.1 by running `sudo dnf install openssl` in a terminal.