Installing on Linux

The full Hiberden desktop app runs on Linux: the same projects, archives, verification, restore, virtual tape drive, and bundled AI connector as on Windows, reading and writing the same catalog and archive format. This page walks through installing it, verifying what you downloaded, and the notes specific to Linux.

Before you start

The Linux desktop is built on Ubuntu 22.04, so it runs on Ubuntu 22.04 and later, Debian 12 and later, and equivalent distributions, on x86_64. Two packages are published:

A .deb for Ubuntu and Debian family systems. This is the recommended install: the package declares the system libraries the app itself needs, including the file-picker helper behind its Browse and Save buttons, so apt pulls them in for you. It does not cover LTFS, which no Ubuntu or Debian repository carries. If you are connecting a real tape drive, you build LTFS once from source, using the recipe further down this page.
An AppImage that runs on other distributions without a package manager. Its Browse and Save buttons need your desktop's file-picker service, xdg-desktop-portal plus the backend for your desktop. zenity on its own is enough for the .deb but not for the AppImage. On a minimal system, install a portal backend first, or use the .deb.

Downloading and installing does not start your trial and does not create any account. The 30-day trial starts only when you explicitly opt in later, the first time you try to archive without a license.

Install the .deb

Get the package from hiberden.app/download (enter your name and work email, then choose Linux; the same links arrive by email so you can grab them again later). Then, in your download folder, verify the checksum and install:

curl -fsSLO https://cdn.hiberden.app/downloads/hiberden-desktop-linux-x86_64.deb.sha256
sha256sum -c hiberden-desktop-linux-x86_64.deb.sha256
sudo apt install ./hiberden-desktop-linux-x86_64.deb

sha256sum -c must print OK before you install. The published checksums are also listed on hiberden.app/linux so you can confirm them out of band.

Then launch Hiberden from your applications menu.

Or run the AppImage

The AppImage is on the same download page. Verify, make it executable, and run:

curl -fsSLO https://cdn.hiberden.app/downloads/hiberden-desktop-linux-x86_64.AppImage.sha256
sha256sum -c hiberden-desktop-linux-x86_64.AppImage.sha256
chmod +x hiberden-desktop-linux-x86_64.AppImage
./hiberden-desktop-linux-x86_64.AppImage

First launch

When Hiberden opens for the first time it creates its local catalog at ~/.hiberden/catalog.db and invites you to create your first project. There is no sign-in, no telemetry, and no phone-home: everything lives locally. Credentials and the per-install signing key are kept under ~/.hiberden/keys/, readable only by your user.

Licensing works the same as on Windows: the free 30-day trial covers every feature, restore and verify always work, license or not, and a license from hiberden.app/register activates on Linux the same way. See What your license covers. No internet on that machine? Activation works offline with a USB stick: see Activate a computer that is offline.

Linux notes

Evaluate tape without hardware. The built-in virtual tape drive writes an archive to a cartridge, reads it back, verifies it, and restores it, with no drive attached and no LTFS software installed. For a real drive, see Set up tape below.
Same format, always readable. The archive format and catalog are the same ones the Windows app writes and reads.

Set up tape

Archiving to disk, NAS and cloud works straight away. A real tape drive needs LTFS installed first. Skip this section if you are evaluating with the built-in virtual tape drive.

If you are connecting a real drive, install the .deb rather than the AppImage. The AppImage carries its own copy of some system libraries and hands them to the programs it starts, which can stop the tape tools from running.

Ubuntu and Debian do not package LTFS, so you build it once from source on the machine that has the drive. It takes a few minutes.

Install the build tools

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential automake autoconf libtool pkg-config git libfuse-dev uuid-dev libxml2-dev libicu-dev

libfuse-dev is the one to watch. If apt cannot find it, enable the universe component and try again:

sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt update

libfuse3-dev is not a substitute. LTFS needs the older FUSE headers, and already having fuse3 on the machine does not cover it.

Get the source

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/LinearTapeFileSystem/ltfs.git ~/src/ltfs
cd ~/src/ltfs
git checkout v2.4.8.4-10522
git submodule update --init --recursive

Use --recurse-submodules. Without it the build runs a long way and then stops on a missing header.

Point the build at ICU

Ubuntu and Debian split ICU into three pieces and ship no single description of it, so the LTFS setup step reports ICU missing even though you just installed it. Bridge it with a small file inside the source tree:

mkdir -p .pkgconfig-shim
cat > .pkgconfig-shim/icu.pc <<EOF
Name: icu
Description: local shim
Version: $(pkg-config --modversion icu-uc || echo 0.21)
Requires: icu-i18n icu-uc icu-io
EOF
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$PWD/.pkgconfig-shim:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH"

Check it took before you go on:

pkg-config --exists "icu >= 0.21" && echo ok

Stay in that shell for the next step. The last line applies only to the shell you ran it in.

Build and install

./autogen.sh
./configure --prefix=/usr/local --disable-snmp
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

Run those as written. --prefix=/usr/local matters: Hiberden looks in /usr/local/bin and /usr/bin on its own, and anywhere else has to be set by hand in Settings.

Check it worked:

ltfs -o device_list
mkltfs --help

ltfs -o device_list prints the tape devices it can see. With no drive connected the list is empty, which is the right answer. It also exits with an error code when it finds nothing, which is normal. mkltfs is what formats a cartridge, so it needs to be there too.

Let your account reach the drive

LTFS talks to the drive through a device file your account cannot open by default:

sudo usermod -aG tape,disk "$USER"

Then log out and back in. The change does not reach a session that is already open, and an app started from that session keeps the old permissions.

While you are here, confirm FUSE is present, because LTFS mounts through it and cannot work without it:

ls -l /dev/fuse

Do this before the drive arrives rather than on the day it does. Note that disk is a broad group: fine on a machine dedicated to archiving, worth a thought on a shared one.

Connect your drive

Open Settings > Tape:

Mount point. A folder to mount cartridges at, for example /mnt/ltfs.
Device path. The drive's device file, for example /dev/sg0. Linux has no way to list drives, so this one is required.

Restart Hiberden to apply, then click Re-check on the LTFS card in Settings to confirm Hiberden has found it.

Headless or air-gapped server?

The Hiberden command-line tools and AI connector also run on Linux with no desktop at all; see hiberden.app/linux for the headless kit. The command-line tools catalog and write; reading a copy back and restoring it are desktop features today.