Documentation
Linux

Linux Installation

To install Jan desktop on Linux, follow the steps below:

Compatibility

Ensure that your system meets the following requirements to use Jan effectively:

  • Debian-based (Supports .deb and AppImage )

    • Ubuntu-based
      • Ubuntu Desktop LTS (official)/ Ubuntu Server LTS (only for server)
      • Edubuntu (Mainly desktop)
      • Kubuntu (Desktop only)
      • Lubuntu (Both desktop and server, though mainly desktop)
      • Ubuntu Budgie (Mainly desktop)
      • Ubuntu Cinnamon (Desktop only)
      • Ubuntu Kylin (Both desktop and server)
      • Ubuntu MATE (Desktop only)
  • Pacman-based

    • Arch Linux based
      • Arch Linux (Mainly desktop)
      • SteamOS (Desktop only)
  • RPM-based (Supports .rpm and AppImage )

  • Fedora-based

    • RHEL-based (Server only)
  • openSUSE (Both desktop and server)

Prerequisites

Installing Jan

To install Jan, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Download the Jan Application

Jan provides two types of releases:

Stable Releases

The stable release is a stable version of Jan. You can download a stable release Jan app via the following:

Make sure to verify the URL to ensure that it's the official Jan website and GitHub repository.

For Linux, Jan provides two types of downloads:

  1. Ubuntu: .deb
  2. Fedora: .AppImage

Step 2: Install the Jan Application

Here are the steps to install Jan on Linux based on your Linux distribution:

Ubuntu

Install Jan using the following command:


# Install Jan using dpkg
sudo dpkg -i jan-linux-amd64-{version}.deb

Data Folder

By default, Jan is installed in the following directory:


# Default installation directory
Applications\\Users\\{username}\\Jan

  • You can move the Jan data folder to a specific folder by following the steps here.
  • Please see the Jan Data Folder for more details about the data folder structure.

GPU Acceleration

Once Jan is installed and you have a GPU, you can use your GPU to accelerate the model's performance.

NVIDIA GPU

To enable the use of your NVIDIA GPU in the Jan app, follow the steps below:

Ensure that you have installed the following to use NVIDIA GPU:

  • NVIDIA GPU with CUDA Toolkit 11.7 or higher.
  • NVIDIA driver 470.63.01 or higher.
  1. Open Jan application.
  2. Go to Settings -> Advanced Settings -> GPU Acceleration.
  3. Enable and choose the NVIDIA GPU you want.
  4. A success notification saying Successfully turned on GPU acceleration will appear when GPU acceleration is activated.

While Vulkan can enable Nvidia GPU acceleration in the Jan app, CUDA is recommended for faster performance.

AMD GPU

To enable the use of your AMD GPU in the Jan app, you need to activate the Vulkan support first by following the steps below:

  1. Open Jan application.
  2. Go to Settings -> Advanced Settings -> enable the Experimental Mode.
  3. Enable the Vulkan Support under the GPU Acceleration.
  4. Enable the GPU Acceleration and choose the GPU you want to use.
  5. A success notification saying Successfully turned on GPU acceleration will appear when GPU acceleration is activated.

Intel Arc GPU

To enable the use of your Intel Arc GPU in the Jan app, you need to activate the Vulkan support first by following the steps below:

  1. Open Jan application.
  2. Go to Settings -> Advanced Settings -> enable the Experimental Mode.
  3. Enable the Vulkan Support under the GPU Acceleration.
  4. Enable the GPU Acceleration and choose the GPU you want to use.
  5. A success notification saying Successfully turned on GPU acceleration will appear when GPU acceleration is activated.

Uninstalling Jan

To uninstall Jan, follow the steps below:

Ubuntu

  1. Open a terminal.
  2. Run the following command to uninstall Jan:

sudo apt-get remove jan

The deleted Data Folder cannot be restored.

FAQs

What are Nightly Releases, and how can I access them?

Nightly Releases allow you to test new features and previews of upcoming stable releases. You can download them from Jan's GitHub repository. However, remember that these builds might contain bugs and crash frequently.

Can I move the Jan data folder to a different location?

Yes, you can move the Jan data folder.

How do I enable GPU acceleration for better performance?

Depending on your GPU type (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel), follow the respective instructions provided in the GPU Acceleration (opens in a new tab) section above.

Can I recover the deleted Jan data folder after uninstallation?

No, it cannot be restored once you delete the Jan data folder during uninstallation.

Can I use the AppImage in any distribution?

Yes, .AppImage is designed to be distribution-agnostic, meaning it can run on various Linux distributions without requiring installation. You can use the Jan .AppImage on any Linux distribution that supports the AppImage format.

Can the .deb file be used on distributions other than Debian-based ones?

No, .deb files are specifically intended for Debian-based distributions and may not be compatible with other Linux distributions.

Warning: If you have any trouble during installation, please see our Troubleshooting (opens in a new tab) guide to resolve your problem.