{"id":49570,"date":"2025-08-31T07:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T07:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/?p=49570"},"modified":"2025-08-31T07:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T07:07:10","slug":"install-set-ptyxis-as-default-terminal-in-ubuntu-24-04-22-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/install-set-ptyxis-as-default-terminal-in-ubuntu-24-04-22-04\/","title":{"rendered":"Install & Set Ptyxis as Default Terminal in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Like the new Ptyxis terminal emulator introduced in Ubuntu 25.10, here’s how to install and set it as default in current Ubuntu 24.04 and 22.04 LTS.<\/b><\/p>\n

Ptyxis<\/a> is a modern terminal emulator designed for GNOME with first-class container integration, such as auto-discovery and option to launch a container in new tab, preferences profiles with container integration for Podman, Toolbox, Distrobox, and JHBuild.<\/p>\n

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The terminal uses GTK4 + LibAdwaita for its modern user interface well integrated into GNOME. And, it supports configurable keyboard shortcuts, user-installable color palettes, GPU acceleration, integrated developer tool, and more.<\/p>\n

Ubuntu 25.10 since snapshot 4 has added this terminal app as a replacement of GNOME Terminal. For current 2 Ubuntu LTS releases, it’s easy to install through Flatpak via the steps below.<\/p>\n

1. Install Ptyxis<\/h3>\n

The latest Ptyxis (48.5 so far) won’t build in current Ubuntu 24.04 or 22.04 due to outdated GTK4 and libadwaita libraries. User may choose to install it as Flatpak package<\/a>, which runs in sandbox environment.<\/p>\n

NOTE: This step works only on X86_64 (modern Intel\/AMD) and ARM64 platforms.<\/b><\/p>\n

First, press Ctrl+Alt+T<\/code> on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to install the flatpak daemon:<\/p>\n

sudo apt install flatpak<\/pre>\n
You may run sudo apt update<\/code> to refresh your system package cache, if the last command failed.<\/i><\/p>\n
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Then, install the terminal emulator by running command:<\/p>\n
flatpak install https:\/\/dl.flathub.org\/repo\/appstream\/app.devsuite.Ptyxis.flatpakref<\/pre>\n
This will install the app system wide, so all users can access it. For choice, you may add --user<\/code> flag in command to install it for current user only.<\/p>\n
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Finally, either launch the terminal from menu (log out and back in if app icon not visible) or run flatpak run app.devsuite.Ptyxis<\/code> to start from terminal.<\/p>\n
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And for future updates, run the command below to check & install:<\/p>\n
flatpak update app.devsuite.Ptyxis<\/pre>\n
Step 2: Set Ptyxis as default terminal<\/h3>\n
If you would like to make your terminal apps use Ptyxis as default, and Ctrl+Alt+T<\/code> launch this terminal instead of Gnome-Terminal, then run following commands one by one.<\/p>\n
NOTE 1: Ptyxis has an option in its preferences dialog to set as default, though NOT work in my case.<\/b><\/p>\n
NOTE 2: This step no longer works for Ubuntu 25.04 and later<\/a> due to policy change.<\/b><\/p>\n
Ubuntu until 25.04 uses \/etc\/alternatives\/x-terminal-emulator<\/code> symbolic link to determine the default terminal app. To configure it, use update-alternatives<\/code> command to add alternatives and set which to use as default.<\/p>\n
1.<\/b> First, create a wrapper for Ptyxis executable by running command:<\/p>\n
sudo nano \/usr\/bin\/ptyxis.wrapper<\/pre>\n
This command will create a script ptyxis.wrapper<\/code> under \/usr\/bin<\/code> with nano command line text editor.<\/p>\n
When it opens, paste the line below, so it will launch Ptyxis with --new-window<\/code> flag.<\/p>\n
#!\/bin\/sh\r\nflatpak run app.devsuite.Ptyxis --new-window<\/pre>\n
Finally, press Ctrl+S<\/code> to save and Ctrl+X<\/code> to exit. And, run command below to add executable permission:<\/p>\n
sudo chmod a+x \/usr\/bin\/ptyxis.wrapper<\/pre>\n
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You may skip creating the wrapper, and use \/var\/lib\/flatpak\/exports\/bin\/app.devsuite.Ptyxis<\/code> in next commands. Which however only allows to open a single Ptyxis window when pressing Ctrl+Alt+T<\/code> keyboard shortcut for multiple times.<\/p>\n
2.<\/b> Next, run command to install Ptyxis as an alternative:<\/p>\n
sudo update-alternatives --install \/usr\/bin\/x-terminal-emulator x-terminal-emulator \/usr\/bin\/ptyxis.wrapper 10<\/pre>\n
Here you may replace \/usr\/bin\/ptyxis.wrapper<\/code> with one of the PATH to Ptyxis executable file below. As mentioned, it however allows only one Ptyxis window, unless passing --new-window<\/code> flag.<\/p>\n