Install tmux on Ubuntu & Linux
Linux is the native home of tmux. Every major Linux distribution includes tmux in its official package repositories. Choose your package manager below — or build the absolute latest version from source to access every new feature the moment it ships.
Install by Distribution
Select your Linux distribution for the exact package manager command.
APT Package Manager
The easiest way for Ubuntu/Debian users. Note: The apt version may be one or two releases behind the latest upstream tmux release.
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install tmux
$ tmux -V
Snap Package
Snap installs the latest tmux version available, bypassing the potentially older distribution repository version. Works on Ubuntu 16.04+ and any distro with snapd.
$ sudo snap install tmux --classic
$ tmux -V
Fedora / RHEL / CentOS
# Fedora
$ sudo dnf install tmux
# RHEL / CentOS (enable EPEL first if needed)
$ sudo yum install epel-release
$ sudo yum install tmux
$ tmux -V
Arch Linux / Manjaro
Arch mirrors typically carry the latest stable tmux release almost immediately after it's published.
$ sudo pacman -S tmux
$ tmux -V
Alpine Linux
Lightweight and fast — common in Docker containers and minimal server environments.
$ apk add tmux
$ tmux -V
Install build dependencies
tmux requires libevent, ncurses, bison, and build tools:
$ sudo apt install libevent-dev libncurses-dev build-essential bison pkg-config automake
Clone, configure, build, and install
$ git clone https://github.com/tmux/tmux.git
$ cd tmux
$ sh autogen.sh
$ ./configure && make
$ sudo make install
$ tmux -V
Ubuntu LTS Version Compatibility
Which version of tmux ships by default with each Ubuntu LTS release via apt.
| Ubuntu LTS | Released | tmux via apt | Latest tmux | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble) | Apr 2024 | 3.3a |
3.6a | Use snap or build from source for latest |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy) | Apr 2022 | 3.2a |
3.6a | Build from source for latest features |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal) | Apr 2020 | 3.0a |
3.6a | Strongly recommend build from source |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic) | Apr 2018 | 2.6 |
3.6a | EOL — upgrade OS or build from source |
Troubleshooting on Linux
Permission errors during install
sudo privileges. If you're on a shared server without sudo, build tmux from source into a local directory: pass ./configure --prefix=$HOME/.local during the build, then add $HOME/.local/bin to your PATH.
The apt version is too old — how do I get the latest tmux?
snap install tmux --classic for a more current version, (2) Build from source using the steps in the "Source" tab above, or (3) Wait for a backport. Building from source is the only guaranteed way to get the absolute latest version.
Locale / UTF-8 display issues
locale to check your current settings. Configure with sudo locale-gen en_US.UTF-8 and sudo update-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8. Also add export LANG=en_US.UTF-8 to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.
Colors not displaying correctly
~/.tmux.conf: set -g default-terminal "tmux-256color" and set -ga terminal-overrides ",*256col*:Tc". Also ensure your SSH connection or terminal emulator is passing through TERM=xterm-256color.