How to Install and Set Up Electerm

Electerm ships for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, HarmonyOS and iOS, with extra builds for older systems (Windows 7, macOS 10.x, glibc < 2.34 distros like Ubuntu 18 / UOS / Kylin) and extra CPU architectures (ARM64, ARMv7, LoongArch64, RISC-V 64, ppc64le). Download everything from the homepage or the releases archive.

Check the Know issues and Troubleshoot wiki pages if an installer misbehaves.

Windows

Requirements: Windows 7+ (x64 / ARM64). There is a dedicated legacy build for Windows 7.

Options, pick one:

1. Installer (recommended) — download the win-x64-installer.exe (or win-arm64 on Snapdragon/ARM machines), run it, launch from Start Menu.

2. Portable — download the .exe without installer in the name, or the .zip / .tar.gz. Extract and run, no admin rights needed. Great for USB sticks.

3. winget:

winget install electerm.electerm

4. Scoop:

scoop bucket add dorado https://github.com/chawyehsu/dorado
scoop install dorado/electerm

5. Microsoft Store — search "electerm" in the Store app.

Port 30975 note: on Windows the app serves a local helper on port 30975. If a firewall or another app blocks it, see In Windows Can Not Access Port 30975 Issue.

macOS

Requirements: macOS 10.15+ (Intel x64 and Apple Silicon arm64 builds; there is also a mac10 build for macOS 10.x).

1. DMG (recommended) — download the right dmg:

• Apple Silicon (M1/M2/...): mac-arm64.dmg
• Intel: mac-x64.dmg

Open, drag to Applications. On first run, right-click → Open if Gatekeeper complains about an unsigned app.

2. Homebrew:

brew install --cask electerm

Linux

Electerm covers more Linux variants than most Electron apps. Identify your case first: distro family (Debian vs RHEL vs other), glibc version (ldd --version), CPU (uname -m).

1. Debian / Ubuntu (deb) — download the matching linux-x64.deb (or arm64, armv7l, loong64, riscv64, ppc64le). If your system is old (Ubuntu 18, UOS/Kylin old-world, glibc < 2.34), grab the -legacy build.

sudo dpkg -i electerm*.deb
# or via the APT repo (Debian/Ubuntu):
# https://repos.electerm.org/deb

2. RHEL / Fedora / openSUSE (rpm) — same arch/legacy logic:

sudo rpm -i electerm*.rpm
# or via the RPM repo:
# https://repos.electerm.org/rpm

3. Snap (any distro with snapd):

sudo snap install electerm --classic

4. AppImage (any distro) — download .AppImage, make executable, run:

chmod +x electerm*.AppImage
./electerm*.AppImage

5. Tarball (any distro) — linux-*.tar.gz, just extract and run the electerm binary inside. Good for servers without root.

6. npm (any OS with Node.js):

npm i -g electerm

Arch cheat-sheet:

uname -m	download
x86_64	x64 (or x64-legacy on old glibc)
aarch64	arm64
armv7l	armv7l
loongarch64	loong64 new-world / old-world
riscv64	riscv64
ppc64le	ppc64le

Android, HarmonyOS, iOS

• Android: download the APK for your ABI (arm64-v8a for most modern phones, armeabi-v7a for older ones, x86_64 for emulators) from the homepage, or install from the release page. There is also electerm-android source.
• HarmonyOS: via AppGallery or the electerm-harmony repo.
• iOS: via the Apple App Store or the electerm-ios repo.

Mobile apps focus on SSH/SFTP on the go; workspaces and cloud sync make phone ↔ desktop handoff painless.

First-run setup (all platforms)

1. Create your first bookmark: click New → SSH, enter host, port (22), username. Pick auth (password or key — details in the SSH guide), Test Connection, Save. Or skip saving and use quick-connect: just type user@host and Enter.
2. Import existing data: Settings → Import — electerm accepts its own JSON export, and the AI bookmark generator can convert other terminals' exports.
3. Enable sync (recommended): Settings → Sync → choose GitHub/Gitee gist, WebDAV, custom server, or electerm cloud. You will need a personal access token / secret gist — see Create secret gist and Create Personal Access Token.
4. Tune the terminal: set font, theme, transparency, background image, Ctrl+2 global hotkey, auto-copy-on-select, keyword highlighting.
5. Autorun on login (desktop): follow Autorun electerm when login to OS if you want electerm always a hotkey away.

Keeping electerm updated

• Desktop apps check the release feed (/data/electerm-github-release.json) and prompt on new versions.
• winget / brew / snap / apt / rpm users: update through the package manager (winget upgrade, brew upgrade, snap refresh, apt upgrade).
• Want an old version? Every build ever published is kept in the releases archive with per-version download pages.
• Upgrading from 1.x to 2.x with data loss? Read Upgrading from 1.x to 2.x: Data Loss Issue and Recovery before panicking — recovery steps are documented.

Verify your install

Open the demo: Electerm Usage Demo shows the first 10 minutes end-to-end. Then create one SSH bookmark, open terminal + SFTP split view, run a quick command, and save a workspace. If those four work, your setup is done — the rest is customization.

Next: SSH in Electerm: auth, jump hosts, NetBird and tunnels for the connection deep-dive.