Installing the Pareto Desktop on Linux

Installing Pareto Desktop on Linux is straightforward by using the provided installation script. This script is designed to work across various Linux distributions, making it easy to set up the app on your system.

curl -sL pkg.paretosecurity.com/install.sh | sudo bash

Alternatively, you can install the app using your system’s package manager. The following sections provide instructions for different Linux distributions.

Debian/Ubuntu

Add the GPG key

curl -fsSL https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/paretosecurity.gpg | sudo install -DTm644 /dev/stdin /usr/share/keyrings/paretosecurity.gpg

Add the repository

echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/paretosecurity.gpg] https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/debian stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pareto.list

Update package list and install

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y paretosecurity

Fedora

Import the GPG key

sudo rpm --import https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/paretosecurity.asc

Add the repository

sudo dnf config-manager --add-repo "https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/rpm/paretosecurity.repo"

For DNF5 users, the repository command is slightly different:

sudo dnf config-manager addrepo --overwrite --from-repofile="https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/rpm/paretosecurity.repo"

Install the package

sudo dnf install -y paretosecurity

Arch

Add and sign the GPG key

curl -fsSL https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/paretosecurity.gpg | sudo pacman-key --add -
sudo pacman-key --lsign-key [email protected]

Add the repository to /etc/pacman.conf

echo '[paretosecurity]' | sudo tee -a /etc/pacman.conf
echo "Server = https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/aur/stable/$(uname -m | sed 's/x86_64/amd64/')" | sudo tee -a /etc/pacman.conf

Update and install

sudo pacman -Syu --needed --noconfirm paretosecurity

NixOS

Add services.paretosecurity.enable = true; to your configuration.nix file and rebuild.

Detailed instructions on the package page.

Troubleshooting

Tray icon not showing in Gnome

Gnome does not show tray icons by default, here are the required steps to get the Pareto icon in your system tray:

1. Install Extension Manager and open it.
2. Click the Browse button in the User-Installed Extensions section.
3. Find and install AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support.

This installs https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/615/appindicator-support/ that adds support for tray icons to your Gnome desktop. You should now see the Pareto icon in your system tray after you restart your desktop environment.

Root helper not found

Sometimes systemd does not properly restart after installation, which can lead to the Pareto Desktop not being able to find the root helper. If you encounter this issue, you can manually restart the systemd service:

sudo systemctl restart paretosecurity

Or reboot your system to ensure all services are properly initialized.

File has unexpected size

On Ubuntu/Debian, you might see an error like:

Hit:1 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm InRelease
Hit:2 http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates InRelease
Hit:3 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security InRelease
Get:4 https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/debian stable InRelease [1843 B]
Get:5 https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/debian stable/main amd64 Packages [385 B]
Err:5 https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/debian stable/main amd64 Packages
  File has unexpected size (386 != 385). Mirror sync in progress? [IP: 104.21.61.45 443]
  Hashes of expected file:
   - Filesize:385 [weak]
   - SHA256:3d1b88f1cf5447467a3dd8e646524f8a8634fc[9](https://github.com/ParetoSecurity/agent/actions/runs/15271926620/job/42949422756?pr=262#step:5:10)8e16ef7f438d9d1b7b64544e6
   - SHA1:f0ec23fb64b793263c991e4a6c882f3c777ee44a [weak]
   - MD5Sum:d78270af15eb2ea760a28eb6f3ed2619 [weak]
  Release file created at: Tue, 27 May 2025 09:16:41 +0000
Fetched 1843 B in 0s (5934 B/s)
Reading package lists...
E: Failed to fetch https://pkg.paretosecurity.com/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz  File has unexpected size (386 != 385). Mirror sync in progress? [IP: [10](https://github.com/ParetoSecurity/agent/actions/runs/15271926620/job/42949422756?pr=262#step:5:11)4.21.61.45 443]
   Hashes of expected file:
    - Filesize:385 [weak]
    - SHA256:3d1b88f1cf5447467a3dd8e646524f8a8634fc98e16ef7f438d9d1b7b64544e6
    - SHA1:f0ec23fb64b793263c991e4a6c882f3c777ee44a [weak]
    - MD5Sum:d78270af[15](https://github.com/ParetoSecurity/agent/actions/runs/15271926620/job/42949422756?pr=262#step:5:16)eb2ea760a28eb6f3ed2619 [weak]
   Release file created at: Tue, 27 May 2025 09:[16](https://github.com/ParetoSecurity/agent/actions/runs/15271926620/job/42949422756?pr=262#step:5:17):41 +0000
E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

This error indicates that the package index file has an unexpected size, which can happen if the repository is being updated.

The easiest way to resolve this is to wait a few minutes and then try running the installation command again.

Alternatively, you can try clearing the package cache and updating again:

sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get update

Manual installation issues

Distributions and packaging is hard, and a constantly moving target. If you encounter issues with the manual installation described above, it’s often easier to use the one-liner installation command, which handles all the details for you.

curl -sL pkg.paretosecurity.com/install.sh | sudo bash

Alternatively, you can read the scripts directly on GitHub and run the commands manually: install.sh and postinstall.sh