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Installing on Linux

Installing on Linux

NOTE: Fantasy Grounds VTT (FGVTT) used to be called Fantasy Grounds Unity (FGU). Some screenshots were made prior to this renaming and may reflect the old FGU name. Please bear with us while we update the wiki to match current naming conventions and visual aesthetic changes.

System Requirements

Please check the System Requirements if you are uncertain whether you can run Fantasy Grounds VTT.
Link: System Requirements

Links:

Download the Installer
Report any Issues

Please see information at the end of the walkthrough about MS Core Fonts following installation.

Install the Software

  1. Download the .BIN file:

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  2. Once downloaded, you’ll need to find the file (usually in ~/home/Downloads by default) and run the following commands in Terminal pressing ENTER after each line:

cd /Downloads sudo chmod +x FGUWebInstall.bin ./FGUWebInstall.bin

NOTE: The installer may ask for root permission to change file permissions during install.

  1. The Fantasy Grounds Unity Self Extracting Installer will start in Terminal. Read through the EULA, then press y at the Have you read and do you accept the EULA [y/N]: prompt.

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  2. Once it is installed, the FGUpdaterEngine should pop up automatically.

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  3. Choose a path where your data files will be stored. This will require the most storage space for modules, maps, extensions, etc. so make sure this location will have ample space.

    Note: Your default directory may appear slightly different from the Data Directory in the screenshot below.
    ”.smiteworks” is a hidden directory denoted by the . at the beginning of the folder name.
    Click the “Check Directory” button to make sure the installer has the proper permissions to create the directory.

    image-20250820-215614.png

     

  4. Click Continue to check, then set the directory and move on to the Account page.

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  5. Type in your username and password, then click the Login button.
    If you don’t yet have an account, you can click the Click Here To Create One Now link above the username box to create an account. Your Fantasy Grounds forum account is what you use to log in.

    NOTE: Fantasy Grounds account usernames are case-sensitive. Be sure to enter your username into Fantasy Grounds VTT exactly as it appears in the forums.
    ie. DragonSlayer is not the same as dragonslayer.

    image-20250820-215954.png

  6. Once your login credentials are validated, you will see a “Login Successful” message.
    Click Continue to go to the License Key screen.

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  1. Once these steps are completed, click Update to run the latest update. The Updater will install the latest version of Fantasy Grounds VTT, including modules and any purchased products you have from Steam or from the Fantasy Grounds VTT website.

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  2. Click Update to initialize the update process.

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NOTE: Once Fantasy Grounds VTT has updated the FGUpdaterEngine program, it will restart and may look different. This is because FGVTT has updated it’s core theme since the original launcher was uploaded. This is normal.

  1. Once the updater has completed it’s process, click Launch Fantasy Grounds and accept the End-User License Agreement to proceed.

Most users will use the desktop and menu icons created during installation to launch Fantasy Grounds VTT, but if you want to start the applications manually via terminal, you can use the following command, editing the [ubuntu] name to whatever your home directory is called.
Note: this assumed you have used the default installation directory and not moved or changed the location manually.

Fantasy Grounds VTT Application:
/home/[ubuntu]/.smiteworks/fantasygrounds/FantasyGrounds.x86_64

Fantasy Grounds Updater:
/home/[ubuntu]/.smiteworks/fantasygrounds/FantasyGroundsUpdater

 

FGC Users: Choosing a Location for your Data Directory

Fantasy Grounds Classic (FGC) users will want to pick a different path for Fantasy Grounds VTT (FGVTT). While FGVTT will be able to read and use FGC files, this does not work the other direction. Changes made in FGVTT may break these files for FGC. For this reason, we highly recommend keeping two separate paths and storing these separately from each other.

Some Ubuntu and Ubuntu-based distributions may not include MS Core Fonts by default. You can easily install them by using the following commands in the terminal. The first installs the MS Core Fonts and the second rebuilds the font cache to make the system recognize them immediately.
Note: You will have to accept the Microsoft End User Agreement to install the font package.

sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer sudo fc-cache