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Install ​

WinBridge is one program, winbridge. Install it from a package or unpack the tarball, then run winbridge doctor to see which compilers it can use on your machine.

What you need ​

  • A 64-bit x86 Linux system (uname -m prints x86_64). The 0.4.0 release has no arm64 build.
  • curl, tar, xz and sha256sum, which WinBridge uses when it downloads a compiler or the Wine runtime for you. Building installers also needs unzip.
  • ssh and rsync, only if you plan to build Flutter apps on a Windows VM.

The .deb package recommends curl, xz-utils, openssh-client and rsync, so apt installs them alongside WinBridge.

New to Linux package formats? See Installing apps.

Debian and Ubuntu: the .deb package ​

Download the package from the releases page and install it:

bash
curl -LO https://github.com/Dhiva-Labs/WinBridge/releases/download/v0.4.0/winbridge_0.4.0-1_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./winbridge_0.4.0-1_amd64.deb
winbridge doctor

The program is installed as /usr/bin/winbridge.

Ubuntu 24.04: the Dhiva Labs PPA ​

The PPA carries WinBridge for Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble). Updates then arrive with your normal system updates.

bash
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dhiva-labs/apps
sudo apt update
sudo apt install winbridge
winbridge doctor

Any Linux distribution: the tarball ​

This route needs no administrator rights. It puts winbridge in ~/.local/bin.

bash
curl -LO https://github.com/Dhiva-Labs/WinBridge/releases/download/v0.4.0/winbridge-0.4.0-linux-x64.tar.gz
tar -xzf winbridge-0.4.0-linux-x64.tar.gz
install -Dm755 winbridge-0.4.0-linux-x64/winbridge ~/.local/bin/winbridge
winbridge doctor

If your shell answers winbridge: command not found, add ~/.local/bin to your PATH and open a new terminal.

Check the download ​

Each release has a SHA256SUMS file. Download it into the same folder as the package or tarball and compare:

bash
curl -LO https://github.com/Dhiva-Labs/WinBridge/releases/download/v0.4.0/SHA256SUMS
sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS

OK next to the file name means the download is intact.

Confirm the install ​

bash
winbridge --version

This prints winbridge 0.4.0.

Then run winbridge doctor. It lists every toolchain WinBridge knows and whether the tools each one needs are present:

  • ok means the tool was found, with its path.
  • absent means an optional tool is not there.
  • MISSING means a required tool for that toolchain is not there.

On a new machine several toolchains show MISSING, and winbridge doctor exits with code 1. That is expected: you only need the tools for the languages you build. The beginner guide installs one compiler with a single command.

What WinBridge installs later, and where ​

WinBridge downloads large components only when you ask, or when a command cannot work without them. Nothing needs sudo. Everything goes into your home folder:

ComponentWhenWhere
Go, Zigwinbridge doctor --install go or zig~/.cache/winbridge/toolchains/
Wine runtime (about 94 MB)First winbridge run or winbridge package~/.cache/winbridge/runtimes/
NSIS (2 MB)First winbridge package~/.cache/winbridge/runtimes/
Microsoft CRT and Windows SDK (1–2 GB)winbridge doctor --install msvc~/.cache/winbridge/xwin/

Every download that WinBridge pins is checked against a SHA-256 checksum built into the program before it is used.

Uninstall ​

  • .deb or PPA: sudo apt remove winbridge
  • Tarball: delete ~/.local/bin/winbridge

To remove downloaded compilers and runtimes as well, delete ~/.cache/winbridge. App prefixes live in ~/.local/share/winbridge.

WARNING

Deleting ~/.local/share/winbridge removes every Windows app environment WinBridge created, including settings and files those apps saved inside them.

Next steps ​