How to Install Polybar in Ubuntu

Polybar is a fast and customizable status bar for X11 and Wayland. It’s designed to be easy to configure and offers a variety of features, making it an excellent choice for your desktop environment. In this guide, we’ll walk through the installation process for Polybar on Ubuntu.

Prerequisites

Before installing Polybar, ensure your system is up to date. Open your terminal and run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 1: Install Required Dependencies
Polybar requires several dependencies to function correctly. Install them using the following command:

sudo apt install build-essential cmake pkg-config git \
libxcb1-dev libxcb-util0-dev libxcb-keysyms1-dev \
libxcb-randr0-dev libxcb-xkb-dev libxcb-cursor-dev \
libxkbcommon-dev libxkbcommon-x11-dev libgl-dev \
libpulse-dev libjsoncpp-dev libmpdclient-dev \
libcurl4-openssl-dev

Step 2: Clone the Polybar Repository
Next, clone the Polybar repository from GitHub. Navigate to your desired directory and run:

git clone –recursive https://github.com/polybar/polybar.git

Step 3: Build Polybar
After cloning the repository, navigate into the Polybar directory:

cd polybar

Then, create a build directory and navigate into it:

mkdir build
cd build

Now, run the following commands to configure and build Polybar:

cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)

Step 4: Install Polybar
Once the build process is complete, you can install Polybar using:

sudo make install

Step 5: Launch Polybar
To launch Polybar, you can either run it from the terminal or add it to your desktop session’s startup applications. To start Polybar, use the following command:

polybar mybar

Step 6: Configuration
Polybar is highly configurable. The configuration file is typically located at ~/.config/polybar/config. You can edit this file to customize the appearance and behavior of your bar. For example, you can change the colors, add modules, and configure the layout to suit your preferences.

Additional Resources

For detailed documentation on configuration options and available modules, check the official Polybar documentation here: Polybar Documentation

Conclusion

You have now successfully installed Polybar on your Ubuntu system. With its extensive customization options, you can create a status bar that suits your workflow and aesthetic preferences. Explore the configurations and enjoy the flexibility that Polybar offers!

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need further assistance!