---
lang: en
layout: doc
permalink: /doc/how-to-install-software/
redirect_from:
- /doc/software-update-domu/
- /doc/software-update-vm/
- /en/doc/software-update-vm/
- /doc/SoftwareUpdateVM/
- /wiki/SoftwareUpdateVM/
ref: 189
title: How to install software
---

When you wish to install software in Qubes OS, you should generally install it
in a [template](/doc/glossary/#template). For installing templates themselves,
see [how to install a template](/doc/templates/#installing).

Advanced users may also be interested in learning how to install software in
[standalones](/doc/standalones-and-hvms/) and
[dom0](/doc/how-to-install-software-in-dom0).

## Instructions

To permanently install new software in a template:

1. Start the template.

2. Start either a terminal (e.g. `gnome-terminal`) or a dedicated software
   management application, such as `gpk-application`.

3. Install software as normally instructed inside that operating system, e.g.:
   - Fedora: `sudo dnf install <PACKAGE_NAME>`
   - Debian: `sudo apt install <PACKAGE_NAME>`

   **Note:** Qubes OS is effectively a "meta" operating system (OS) that can
   run almost any arbitrary OS inside of itself. For example, the way software
   is normally installed in a Linux distribution ("distro") is quite different
   from the way software is normally installed in Windows. This isn't up to
   Qubes. Qubes is just the framework in which you're running these other OSes.
   Therefore, if you want to install software in a Linux template, for example,
   you should do so in whatever way is normal for that Linux distro. Most Linux
   software is distributed via
   [packages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_format), which are stored
   in [software
   repositories](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_repository) ("repos").
   [Package managers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_manager) handle
   downloading, installing, updating, and removing packages. (Again, none of
   this is Qubes-specific.) If you're not familiar with how software is
   normally installed in Linux distros via package managers or the software you
   want doesn't seem to be available in your distro's repos (or you're in
   another situation not covered on this page), please read this [community
   guide to installing software in Qubes](https://forum.qubes-os.org/t/9991/).

4. **Shut down the template. (Do not skip this step.)**

5. **Restart all qubes based on the template. (Do not skip this step.)**

6. (Recommended) In the relevant qubes' **Qube Settings**, go to the
   **Applications** tab, select the new application(s) from the list, and press
   OK. These new shortcuts will appear in the Applications Menu. (If you
   encounter problems, see [here](/doc/app-menu-shortcut-troubleshooting/) for
   troubleshooting.)

![[The Applications tab in Qube Settings](/attachment/doc/r4.1-dom0-appmenu-select.png)](/attachment/doc/r4.1-dom0-appmenu-select.png)

## Troubleshooting

If things are still not working as expected:

- Review the [instructions](#instructions) very carefully, making sure you
  follow each step.
- Make sure you **shut down the template after installing your software**.
- Make sure you **restart your app qube *after* shutting down your template**.
- If your software requires special files or directories to be persistent, and
  you're an advanced user, see [Standalones and
  HVMs](/doc/standalones-and-hvms/) and [How to Make Any File Persistent
  (bind-dirs)](/doc/bind-dirs/).
- [Ask for help.](/support/)

## How to update software

Please see [How to Update](/doc/how-to-update/).

## Why don't templates have network access?

In order to protect you from performing risky activities in templates, they do
not have normal network access. Instead, templates use an [updates
proxy](#updates-proxy) that allows you to install and update software without
giving the template direct network access. **The updates proxy is already set up
to work automatically out-of-the-box and requires no special action from you.**
Most users should simply follow the normal instructions for
[installing](#instructions) and [updating](/doc/how-to-update/) software.

## Advanced

The following sections cover advanced topics pertaining to installing and
updating software in domUs.

### Testing repositories

If you wish to install updates that are still in [testing](/doc/testing), you
must enable the appropriate testing repositories.

**Note:** The following repos are in templates and standalones. For dom0 testing
repos, see [here](/doc/how-to-install-software-in-dom0/#testing-repositories).
For testing new templates, please see [here](/doc/testing/#templates).

#### Fedora

There are three Qubes VM testing repositories (where `*` denotes the Release):

- `qubes-vm-*-current-testing` -- testing packages that will eventually land in
  the stable (`current`) repository
- `qubes-vm-*-security-testing` -- a subset of `qubes-vm-*-current-testing`
  that contains packages that qualify as security fixes
- `qubes-vm-*-unstable` -- packages that are not intended to land in the stable
  (`qubes-vm-*-current`) repository; mostly experimental debugging packages

To temporarily enable any of these repos, use the `--enablerepo=<repo-name>`
option. Example commands:

~~~
sudo dnf upgrade --enablerepo=qubes-vm-*-current-testing
sudo dnf upgrade --enablerepo=qubes-vm-*-security-testing
sudo dnf upgrade --enablerepo=qubes-vm-*-unstable
~~~

To enable or disable any of these repos permanently, change the corresponding
`enabled` value to `1` in `/etc/yum.repos.d/qubes-*.repo`.

#### Debian

Debian also has three Qubes VM testing repositories (where `*` denotes the
Release):

- `*-testing` -- testing packages that will eventually land in the stable
  (`current`) repository
- `*-securitytesting` -- a subset of `*-testing` that contains packages that
  qualify as security fixes
- `*-unstable` -- packages that are not intended to land in the stable
  repository; mostly experimental debugging packages

To enable or disable any of these repos permanently, uncomment the
corresponding `deb` line in `/etc/apt/sources.list.d/qubes-r*.list`.

### Standalones

The process for installing and updating software in
[standalones](/doc/glossary/#standalone) is the same as described above for
templates, except no qubes are based on standalones, so there are no other
qubes to restart.

### RPMFusion for Fedora templates

If you would like to enable the [RPM Fusion](https://rpmfusion.org/)
repositories, open a Terminal of the template and type the following commands,
depending on which RPM Fusion repositories you wish to enable (see [RPM
Fusion](https://rpmfusion.org/) for details):

~~~
sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled rpmfusion-free
sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled rpmfusion-free-updates
sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled rpmfusion-nonfree
sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled rpmfusion-nonfree-updates
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh
~~~

This will permanently enable the RPM Fusion repos. If you install software from
here, it's important to keep these repos enabled so that you can receiving
future updates. If you only enable these repos temporarily to install a package
the Qubes update mechanism may persistently notify you that updates are
available, since it cannot download them.

### Reverting changes to a template

Perhaps you've just updated your template, and the update broke your template.
Or perhaps you've made a terrible mistake, like accidentally confirming the
installation of an unsigned package that could be malicious. If you want to
undo changes to a template, there are three basic methods:

1. **Root revert.**
   This is appropriate for misconfigurations, but not for security concerns. It
   will preserve your customizations.

2. **Reinstall the template.**
   This is appropriate for both misconfigurations and security concerns, but
   you will lose all customizations.

3. **Full revert.**
   This is appropriate for both misconfigurations and security concerns, and it
   can preserve your customizations. However, it is a bit more complex.

#### Root revert

**Important:** This command will roll back any changes made *during the last
time the template was run, but **not** before.* This means that if you have
already restarted the template, using this command is unlikely to help, and
you'll likely want to reinstall it from the repository instead. On the other
hand, if the template is already broken or compromised, it won't hurt to try
reverting first. Just make sure to **back up** all of your data and changes
first!

1. Shut down `<template>`. If you've already just shut it down, do **not**
   start it again (see above).

2. In a dom0 terminal:

   ```
   qvm-volume revert <template>:root
   ```

#### Reinstall the template

Please see [How to Reinstall a template](/doc/reinstall-template/).

#### Full revert

This is like the simple revert, except:

- You must also revert the private volume with `qvm-volume revert
  <template>:private`. This requires you to have an old revision of the private
  volume, which does not exist with the current default config. However, if you
  don't have anything important in the private volume (likely for a template),
  then you can work around this by just resetting the private volume with
  `qvm-volume import --no-resize <template>:private /dev/null`.

- The saved revision of the volumes must be uncompromised. With the default
  `revisions_to_keep=1` for the root volume, you must **not** have started the
  template since the compromising action.

### Temporarily allowing networking for software installation

Some third-party applications cannot be installed using the standard
repositories and need to be manually downloaded and installed. When the
installation requires internet connection to access third-party repositories,
it will naturally fail when run in a template because the default firewall
rules for templates only allow connections from package managers. So it is
necessary to modify firewall rules to allow less restrictive internet access
for the time of the installation, if one really wants to install those
applications into a template. As soon as software installation is completed,
firewall rules should be returned back to the default state. The user should
decide by themselves whether such third-party applications should be equally
trusted as the ones that come from the standard Fedora signed repositories and
whether their installation will not compromise the default template, and
potentially consider installing them into a separate template or a standalone
VM (in which case the problem of limited networking access doesn't apply by
default), as described above.

### Updates proxy

Updates proxy is a service which allows access only from package managers. This
is meant to mitigate user errors (like using browser in the template), rather
than some real isolation. It is done with http proxy (tinyproxy) instead of
simple firewall rules because it is hard to list all the repository mirrors
(and keep that list up to date). The proxy is used only to filter the traffic,
not to cache anything.

The proxy is running in selected VMs (by default all the NetVMs (1)) and
intercepts traffic directed to 10.137.255.254:8082. Thanks to such
configuration all the VMs can use the same proxy address, and if there is a
proxy on network path, it will handle the traffic (of course when firewall
rules allow that). If the VM is configured to have access to the updates proxy
(2), the startup scripts will automatically configure dnf to really use the
proxy (3). Also access to updates proxy is independent of any other firewall
settings (VM will have access to updates proxy, even if policy is set to block
all the traffic).

There are two services (`qvm-service`, [service
framework](/doc/qubes-service/)):

1. `qubes-updates-proxy` (and its deprecated name: `qubes-yum-proxy`) - a
   service providing a proxy for templates - by default enabled in NetVMs
   (especially: sys-net)
2. `updates-proxy-setup` (and its deprecated name: `yum-proxy-setup`) - use a
   proxy provided by another VM (instead of downloading updates directly),
   enabled by default in all templates

Both the old and new names work. The defaults listed above are applied if the
service is not explicitly listed in the services tab.

#### Technical details

The updates proxy uses RPC/qrexec. The proxy is configured in qrexec policy in
dom0: `/etc/qubes-rpc/policy/qubes.UpdatesProxy`. By default this is set to
sys-net and/or sys-whonix, depending on firstboot choices. This new design
allows for templates to be updated even when they are not connected to any
NetVM.

Example policy file in R4.0 (with Whonix installed, but not set as default
UpdateVM for all templates):

```shell_session
# any VM with tag `whonix-updatevm` should use `sys-whonix`; this tag is added to `whonix-gw` and `whonix-ws` during installation and is preserved during template clone
@tag:whonix-updatevm @default allow,target=sys-whonix
@tag:whonix-updatevm @anyvm deny

# other templates use sys-net
@type:template @default allow,target=sys-net
@anyvm @anyvm deny
```

### Installing Snap Packages

Snap packages do not use the normal update channels for Debian and Fedora (apt
and dnf) and are often installed as the user rather than as root. To support
these in an app qube you need to take the following steps:

1. In the **template** you must install `snapd` and `qubes-snapd-helper`. Open
   a terminal in the template and run:

   ```shell_session
   [user@fedora-30-snap-demo ~]$ sudo dnf install snapd qubes-snapd-helper
   Last metadata expiration check: 0:55:39 ago on Thu Nov 14 09:26:47 2019.
   Dependencies resolved.
   ========================================================================================================
    Package                       Arch    Version                             Repository              Size
   ========================================================================================================
   Installing:
    snapd                         x86_64  2.42.1-1.fc30                       updates                 17 M
    qubes-snapd-helper            noarch  1.0.1-1.fc30                        qubes-vm-r4.0-current   10 k
   Installing dependencies:
   [...]
   
   Transaction Summary
   ========================================================================================================
   Install  20 Packages
   
   Total download size: 37 M
   Installed size: 121 M
   Is this ok [y/N]: y
   
   Downloading Packages:
   [..]
   Failed to resolve booleanif statement at /var/lib/selinux/targeted/tmp/modules/200/snappy/cil:1174
   /usr/sbin/semodule:  Failed!
   [...]
   Last metadata expiration check: 0:57:08 ago on Thu Nov 14 09:26:47 2019.
   Notifying dom0 about installed applications
   
   Installed:
     snapd-2.42.1-1.fc30.x86_64                                              qubes-snapd-helper-1.0.1-1.fc30.noarch
   [...]
   Complete!
   ```
   
   You may see the following message:
   
   ```
   Failed to resolve booleanif statement at /var/lib/selinux/targeted/tmp/modules/200/snappy/cil:1174
   /usr/sbin/semodule:  Failed!
   ```
   
   This is expected and you can safely continue.
   
   Shutdown the template:
   
   ```shell_session
   [user@fedora-30-snap-demo ~]$ sudo shutdown -h now
   ```

2. Now open the **app qube** in which you would like to install the Snap
   application and run a terminal:

   ```shell_session
   [user@snap-demo-app qube ~]$ snap install <package>
   ```
   
   When the install is complete you can close the terminal window.

3. Refresh the Applications list for the app qube. In the Qubes Menu for the
   **app qube*** launch the Qube Settings. Then go to the Applications tab and
   click "Refresh Applications"

   The refresh will take a few minutes; after it's complete the Snap app will
   appear in the app qube's list of available applications. At this point the
   snap will be persistent within the app qube and will receive updates when
   the app qube is running.

### Autostarting Installed Applications

If you want a desktop app to start automatically every time a qube starts you
can create a link to it in the `~/.config/autostart` directory of the **app
qube**. This might be useful for Qubes that you set to automatically start on
boot or for Qubes that have a set of apps you typically use all day, such as a
chat app.

1. Open a terminal in the **app qube** where you would like the app to launch.

2. List the names of the available desktop shortcuts by running the command `ls
   /usr/share/applications` and find the exact name of the shortcut to the app
   you want to autostart:

   ```shell_session
   [user@example-app qube ~]$ ls /usr/share/applications/
   bluetooth-sendto.desktop
   eog.desktop
   firefox.desktop
   ...
   xterm.desktop
   yelp.desktop
   ```

3. Create the autostart directory:

   ```
   [user@example-app qube ~]$ mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
   ```

4. Make a link to the desktop app file you'd like to start in the autostart
   directory. For example, the command below will link the Thunderbird app into
   the autostart directory:

   ```
   [user@example-app qube ~]$ ln -s /usr/share/applications/mozilla-thunderbird.desktop ~/.config/autostart/mozilla-thunderbird.desktop
   ```

Note that the app will autostart only when the app qube starts. If you would
like the app qube to autostart, select the "Start qube automatically on boot"
checkbox in the app qube's Qube Settings.