Supported Linux systems
This page lists the Linux distributions, processor architectures and desktops the XFA app supports, and the device checks that work differently per distribution. To install XFA, see How to install XFA.
On Linux, XFA has three parts: the agent that runs the device checks in the background, an icon in the system tray, and the XFA window.
Processor architectures
x86_64(also called amd64)ARM64(also called aarch64)
The installer stops on any other architecture.
Distributions
| Distribution | Versions |
|---|---|
| Ubuntu and its official flavours (Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu MATE and others) | 22.04 LTS and later |
| Debian | 12 and later |
| Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, Zorin OS and other distributions based on Ubuntu or Debian | Any release, shown as Debian |
| Fedora Workstation, Fedora KDE Plasma Desktop and the other Fedora editions and spins | The current release |
| Fedora Silverblue and Kinoite | 44 and later |
| Arch Linux | The rolling release (Arch Linux ARM on ARM64) |
| CachyOS, Manjaro, EndeavourOS and other distributions based on Arch Linux | The rolling release, shown as Arch Linux |
| NixOS | 26.05 |
Other distributions
XFA does not support Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the distributions based on it (such as Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux) or openSUSE yet. Other distributions that meet the requirements below may work, but some device checks can report the system as not recognised. See Checks that depend on your distribution.
Requirements
- glibc 2.34 or later for the XFA window. Older releases such as Ubuntu 20.04, Debian 11 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 do not have it.
- GTK 3, which desktop distributions include.
- A normal user account. Run the installer as the person who uses the device, without
sudo. curlandtarfor the installer.
Desktop environments
The XFA tray icon uses the StatusNotifierItem standard, also called AppIndicator.
| Desktop environment | Tray icon | Screen lock check |
|---|---|---|
| GNOME | Needs the AppIndicator extension, which Ubuntu turns on by default | Supported |
| KDE Plasma | Works out of the box | Supported, with one limit (see below) |
| Other desktops | Needs a tray that supports StatusNotifierItem, or a bridge such as snixembed | Supported when the X11 screen saver or the systemd idle action has a timeout |
Screen lock on KDE Plasma
XFA reads the screen lock timeout from KDE's screen locker settings. If you never changed the default, XFA does not recognise that your screen locks.
Screen lock on other desktops
XFA reads the timeout of the X11 screen saver or the idle action of systemd-logind. If neither has a timeout, the screen lock check is reported as not supported.
X11 and Wayland
The XFA window runs on X11. On a Wayland session it uses XWayland when available, and Wayland otherwise.
Checks that depend on your distribution
- Operating system: XFA checks the release of Ubuntu and its official flavours, Debian, Fedora and NixOS. It shows distributions based on Arch Linux as Arch Linux, and other distributions based on Ubuntu or Debian as Debian, without checking their release.
- OS updates: XFA reads
apt,dnf,rpm-ostree,pacmanor the NixOS system updates. On a distribution based on Arch Linux, it readspacmanonly when the distribution keeps Arch Linux's/etc/arch-releasefile. With any other package manager, such aszypper, the check is not supported. Ifarch-auditis installed, XFA checks for known security issues instead of the time since your last update. On NixOS, the Fix button of this check is not supported: update NixOS as you normally do. - Automatic OS updates: on Debian, Ubuntu and distributions based on them, XFA checks that
unattended-upgradesis installed and turned on. On NixOS, it checkssystem.autoUpgrade. On other distributions, this check is not supported. - XFA updates: see How to update XFA.