Installation

██████╗ ███╗   ███╗███████╗
██╔══██╗████╗ ████║██╔════╝
██║  ██║██╔████╔██║███████╗
██║  ██║██║╚██╔╝██║╚════██║
██████╔╝██║ ╚═╝ ██║███████║
╚═════╝ ╚═╝     ╚═╝╚══════╝

This guide covers installation of DankMaterialShell across different Linux distributions and methods.

Dependencies

Quickshell (required) - The core framework
cava (optional) - Audio visualizer widget
cliphist + wl-clipboard (optional) - Clipboard history
dgop (optional) - System telemetry for resource widgets
dsearch (optional) - Filesystem search engine
matugen (optional) - Material Design color palette generation
niri (optional) - DMS Team's choice of Wayland compositor
qt6-multimedia (optional) - System sound feedback

For pre-built packages on Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, and OpenSUSE, see the DankLinux Repository page.

note

Only Quickshell is required. All other dependencies are optional and enable specific features.

Arch & Derivatives

dms is available on the AUR, it is assumed that you have an aur helper installed such as paru or yay.

For the sake of consistency, we will use paru in the examples.

Stable Release

paru -S dms-shell-bin

Latest Development Build

paru -S dms-shell-git

These packages ship the shell, widgets, and CLI. Pair them with niri, hyprland, sway, mangowc, or labwc packages from the official repositories for a complete desktop stack.

Fedora & CentOS

DankMaterialShell is available through COPR repositories for Fedora 41/42/43 rawhide and CentOS 10. Enable the COPR repositories managed by the team to install prebuilt packages:

Stable Release

sudo dnf copr enable avengemedia/dms
sudo dnf install dms

Latest Development Build

sudo dnf copr enable avengemedia/dms-git
sudo dnf install dms

The COPR repositories also provide companion packages such as quickshell-git, cliphist, matugen, and other utilities used by the default configuration.

Debian & Ubuntu

DankMaterialShell is available through Open Build Service (OBS) for Debian and Launchpad PPA for Ubuntu.

Debian

For Debian 13 (Trixie):

# DankLinux repository
curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/Debian_13/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/danklinux.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/danklinux.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/danklinux/Debian_13/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/danklinux.list

# DMS stable repository
curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/Debian_13/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/Debian_13/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/avengemedia-dms.list

# DMS development repository
curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/Debian_13/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms-git.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms-git.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/Debian_13/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/avengemedia-dms-git.list
sudo apt update

For Debian Testing:

# DankLinux repository
curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/Debian_Testing/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/danklinux.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/danklinux.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/danklinux/Debian_Testing/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/danklinux.list

# DMS stable repository
curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/Debian_Testing/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/Debian_Testing/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/avengemedia-dms.list

# DMS development repository
curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/Debian_Testing/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms-git.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms-git.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/Debian_Testing/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/avengemedia-dms-git.list
sudo apt update

For Debian Sid:

# DankLinux repository
curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/Debian_Sid/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/danklinux.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/danklinux.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/danklinux/Debian_Sid/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/danklinux.list

# DMS stable repository
curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/Debian_Sid/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/Debian_Sid/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/avengemedia-dms.list

# DMS development repository
curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/Debian_Sid/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms-git.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/avengemedia-dms-git.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/Debian_Sid/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/avengemedia-dms-git.list
sudo apt update

Install Packages

Install the stable release:

sudo apt install dms

Install the latest development build:

sudo apt install dms-git

Ubuntu

Ubuntu 25.10+ (Questing) is supported via Launchpad PPA.

Stable Release

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:avengemedia/danklinux
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:avengemedia/dms
sudo apt update
sudo apt install dms

Latest Development Build

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:avengemedia/danklinux
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:avengemedia/dms-git
sudo apt update
sudo apt install dms-git

tip

Visit the DankLinux Repository page for OBS and PPA links and more information about available packages.
Add niri or niri-git to your system to get the best experience.

OpenSUSE & Derivatives

DankMaterialShell is available through the Open Build Service (OBS) for OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, Leap 16/16.1 & Slowroll.

OpenSUSE Tumbleweed

Stable Release

# DankLinux repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux.repo

# DMS repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:AvengeMedia:dms.repo
sudo zypper refresh

# Install DMS
sudo zypper install dms

Latest Development Build

# DankLinux repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux.repo

# DMS repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:AvengeMedia:dms-git.repo
sudo zypper refresh

# Install DMS
sudo zypper install dms-git

OpenSUSE Leap 16

Stable Release

# DankLinux repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/16.0/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux.repo

# DMS repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/16.0/home:AvengeMedia:dms.repo
sudo zypper refresh

# Install DMS
sudo zypper install dms

Latest Development Build

# DankLinux repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/16.0/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux.repo

# DMS repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/16.0/home:AvengeMedia:dms-git.repo
sudo zypper refresh

# Install DMS
sudo zypper install dms-git

OpenSUSE Leap 16.1

Stable Release

# DankLinux repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/16.1/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux.repo

# DMS repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/16.1/home:AvengeMedia:dms.repo
sudo zypper refresh

# Install DMS
sudo zypper install dms

Latest Development Build

# DankLinux repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/16.1/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux.repo

# DMS repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/16.1/home:AvengeMedia:dms-git.repo
sudo zypper refresh

# Install DMS
sudo zypper install dms-git

OpenSUSE Slowroll

Stable Release

# DankLinux repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/openSUSE_Slowroll/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux.repo

# DMS repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms/openSUSE_Slowroll/home:AvengeMedia:dms.repo
sudo zypper refresh

# Install DMS
sudo zypper install dms

Latest Development Build

# DankLinux repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/openSUSE_Slowroll/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux.repo

# DMS repository
sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/dms-git/openSUSE_Slowroll/home:AvengeMedia:dms-git.repo
sudo zypper refresh

# Install DMS
sudo zypper install dms-git

NixOS

tip

NixOS has dedicated documentation with two installation methods:

Native nixpkgs installation - Recommended for NixOS unstable users
Flake-based installation - For NixOS stable, home-manager support, or quicker updates

All Other Distributions

warning

This guide doesn't cover compositor installation. You need a compatible Wayland compositor (niri, Hyprland, sway, dwl/MangoWC, etc.).

1. Install Essential Dependencies

Quickshell

If your distribution does not provide a quickshell package, you'll need to build it from source. Quickshell requires:

Base dependencies:

cmake, qt6base, qt6declarative, qtshadertools, pkg-config, cli11
Private Qt headers for qt6declarative (and qt6wayland on Qt < 6.10)
Qt 6.6 or newer

Key features and their dependencies:

Wayland support (enabled by default) - qt6wayland, wayland, wayland-protocols
Crash reporter (recommended) - google-breakpad
Jemalloc (recommended for better memory management) - jemalloc
System tray - qt6dbus
PAM authentication - pam

For complete build instructions and feature flags, see the Quickshell BUILD.md.

AccountsService

note

AccountsService is needed to persist user profile configurations such as profile pictures. Available in most repositories as accountsservice.

# Arch + Friends
sudo pacman -S accountsservice
# Fedora + Friends
sudo dnf install accountsservice
# Debian, Ubuntu + Friends
sudo apt install accountsservice
# openSUSE + Friends
sudo zypper install accountsservice
# Gentoo
sudo emerge --ask sys-apps/accountsservice

2. Clone the DMS Repository

git clone https://github.com/AvengeMedia/DankMaterialShell.git ~/dms

3. Compile & Install the DMS Backend

Requires GO 1.24+

cd ~/dms
sudo make install

note

To uninstall a source build, run sudo make uninstall from the repository directory.

4. Install Optional Integrations

Install optional components for full functionality using your distribution's package manager:

dgop - Detailed system metrics and process lists
dsearch - Filesystem search engine
matugen - Material Design color palette generation
i2c-tools - ddc monitor backlight control
wl-clipboard + cliphist - Clipboard history
cava - Audio visualizer widget
qt6-multimedia - System sound feedback

Post Install

After completing installation:

Enable the systemd service (recommended) or add dms run to your compositor config
Configure your compositor keybinds - see the Keybinds & IPC guide
Customize appearance via Themes
Extend functionality with Plugins

See Managing Your Installation for detailed guidance on service management, environment variables, and updates.

Systemd Integration (Recommended)

DankInstall Users

If you used dankinstall, this is already configured. The installer runs systemctl --user enable --now dms during setup.

Enable autostart:

systemctl --user enable dms

Manual control:

# Start DMS now
systemctl --user start dms

# Check status
systemctl --user status dms

# View logs
journalctl --user -u dms -f

# Restart DMS
systemctl --user restart dms

# Disable autostart
systemctl --user disable dms

warning

If using systemd autostart, remove dms run / spawn "dms" "run" / exec-once=dms run from your compositor's configuration to avoid running DMS twice.

Compositor-Specific Systemd Setup

Different compositors have different levels of systemd session integration. Choose the section that matches your compositor.

Why use add-wants?

If you have multiple desktop environments installed (e.g., Plasma, GNOME, niri), using systemctl --user enable dms starts DMS in all of them. Using add-wants binds DMS to a specific compositor's service or session target, so it only runs where you want it. DMS won't launch when you log into Plasma or GNOME.

niri

niri has native systemd session integration. Bind DMS to niri's service:

systemctl --user add-wants niri.service dms

DMS starts when niri starts and stops when niri exits. It won't run in other sessions.

Hyprland

Hyprland doesn't initialize the systemd user session by default. You need to export the environment to systemd for user services to work.

Create a session target:

~/.config/systemd/user/hyprland-session.target
[Unit]
Description=Hyprland Session Target
Requires=graphical-session.target
After=graphical-session.target

Add to your Hyprland config (after any env = lines):

~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf
exec-once = dbus-update-activation-environment --systemd WAYLAND_DISPLAY XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
exec-once = systemctl --user start hyprland-session.target

Bind DMS to the session target:

systemctl --user add-wants hyprland-session.target dms

MangoWC

MangoWC is a dynamic tiling compositor based on dwl (wlroots). Like other wlroots compositors, it requires manual environment export for systemd user services.

Create a session target:

~/.config/systemd/user/mango-session.target
[Unit]
Description=MangoWC Session Target
Requires=graphical-session.target
After=graphical-session.target

Add to your MangoWC config:

~/.config/mango/config.conf
exec-once=dbus-update-activation-environment --systemd WAYLAND_DISPLAY XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
exec-once=systemctl --user start mango-session.target

Bind DMS to the session:

systemctl --user add-wants mango-session.target dms

Sway

Sway (wlroots-based) needs the environment exported for systemd services:

~/.config/sway/config
exec dbus-update-activation-environment --systemd WAYLAND_DISPLAY XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP

Create a session target and bind DMS:

systemctl --user add-wants sway-session.target dms

Dependencies​

Arch & Derivatives​

Stable Release​

Latest Development Build​

Fedora & CentOS​

Stable Release​

Latest Development Build​

Debian & Ubuntu​

Debian​

Install Packages​

Ubuntu​

Stable Release​

Latest Development Build​

OpenSUSE & Derivatives​

OpenSUSE Tumbleweed​

Stable Release​

Latest Development Build​

OpenSUSE Leap 16​

Stable Release​

Latest Development Build​

OpenSUSE Leap 16.1​

Stable Release​

Latest Development Build​

OpenSUSE Slowroll​

Stable Release​

Latest Development Build​

NixOS​

All Other Distributions​

1. Install Essential Dependencies​

Quickshell​

AccountsService​

2. Clone the DMS Repository​

3. Compile & Install the DMS Backend​

4. Install Optional Integrations​

Post Install​

Systemd Integration (Recommended)​

Compositor-Specific Systemd Setup​

niri​

Hyprland​

MangoWC​

Sway​

Dependencies

Arch & Derivatives

Stable Release

Latest Development Build

Fedora & CentOS

Stable Release

Latest Development Build

Debian & Ubuntu

Debian

Install Packages

Ubuntu

Stable Release

Latest Development Build

OpenSUSE & Derivatives

OpenSUSE Tumbleweed

Stable Release

Latest Development Build

OpenSUSE Leap 16

Stable Release

Latest Development Build

OpenSUSE Leap 16.1

Stable Release

Latest Development Build

OpenSUSE Slowroll

Stable Release

Latest Development Build

NixOS

All Other Distributions

1. Install Essential Dependencies

Quickshell

AccountsService

2. Clone the DMS Repository

3. Compile & Install the DMS Backend

4. Install Optional Integrations

Post Install

Systemd Integration (Recommended)

Compositor-Specific Systemd Setup

niri

Hyprland

MangoWC

Sway