The ultimate automated script to install, manage, and configure a full Linux desktop environment on Android via Termux.
Turning your Android device into a full-fledged Linux workstation has never been easier. Linux for Android Manager is a fully automated, interactive bash script that wraps around proot-distro to install, manage, backup, share, update, and configure highly customized graphical Linux environments directly on your smartphone or tablet.
Currently supported distributions:
- Ubuntu (apt)
- Debian (apt)
- Kali Linux (apt)
- Arch Linux (pacman)
- Fedora (dnf)
- OpenSUSE (zypper)
- Void Linux (xbps)
- True Linux Experience (Sudo): Sets up a proper non-root user (
user) withsudoprivileges. Install packages just like on a real PC! - VirGL 3D Hardware Acceleration: Automatically configures
virglrenderer-android, passing 3D OpenGL rendering directly to your phone's physical GPU for incredibly smooth graphics. - Hardware Acceleration (Termux:X11): Choose between traditional VNC (software rendering) or Termux:X11 for a much smoother, hardware-accelerated desktop experience.
- Dynamic Display Settings: Dynamically pick your screen resolution and UI scaling (Auto, 720p, 1080p, or Tablet size) to perfectly fit your device.
- 1-Click Universal Updater: Never manually type update commands again! The Manager Menu automatically detects your distro and updates it in the background.
- System Dashboard: Instantly view your Android phone's RAM availability, Termux storage consumption, and CPU architecture right from the manager menu.
- Advanced Audio Fixer: A built-in debugger that dynamically restarts PulseAudio and forcefully binds it to TCP protocols to instantly resolve any audio crackling issues.
- Hardware Accelerated Web Browsing: Easily optimize Chromium directly from the menu to force hardware-accelerated video decoding (
--enable-gpu-rasterization,--use-gl=egl), giving you silky smooth YouTube playback over VirGL. - Instant SSH Server: Start a native SSH server on port 8022 directly from the menu, allowing you to seamlessly remote into your phone from your PC.
- Portable Export & Import (Share with Friends!): Export your fully customized Linux OS as a
.tar.gzfile into your AndroidDownloadsfolder. Your friends can place the file in theirDownloadsfolder and use the "Import" button to instantly clone your exact setup! - Home-Screen Widgets: If you use the
Termux:Widgetapp, the script automatically generates a shortcut so you can launch your Linux desktop with one tap straight from your Android home screen!
- Download and install Termux from F-Droid.
⚠️ Warning: Do NOT use the Google Play Store version of Termux, as it is outdated and severely broken.
Copy and paste this snippet into your Termux terminal:
pkg update -y && pkg install git -y
git clone https://github.com/pdev-labs/Linux-For-Android.git
cd Linux-For-Android
chmod +x install_linux.sh
./install_linux.shWhen you run ./install_linux.sh, it will launch the interactive Manager Menu where you can Install, Update, SSH, view the Dashboard, Export, Import, Backup, Restore, or Uninstall any supported distribution.
Once installed, you never need to run the setup script again. Just type this anywhere in Termux:
start-linux(If you installed multiple OSs, it will automatically pop up a menu asking which one you want to boot!)
- Username:
user - Password (Sudo / VNC):
ubuntu
To safely kill the desktop, display servers, and audio systems, type:
stop-linuxStarting in Android 12, the Android OS aggressively limits the number of child processes an app can run in the background. Because a full Linux desktop environment requires many concurrent processes, Android may suddenly kill Termux while you are using Linux.
Symptom: Termux abruptly closes while you are working. When you reopen it, you see [Process completed (signal 9) - press Enter].
- Open your Android Settings > About phone.
- Tap the Build number 7 times to enable Developer Options.
- Go back to the main Settings menu > System > Developer options.
- Scroll down and toggle Disable child process restrictions to ON.
- Restart Termux.
(Note: For older Android 12/12L devices without this toggle, you will need to run an ADB command from a PC to disable the Phantom Process Killer. Search for "Termux ADB disable phantom process" for guides specific to your device).
Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome! If you want to improve this project, please fork the repository and submit a pull request.
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0). Any derivatives, forks, or modifications of this project must also remain open-source and be distributed under the same license.