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Install on Ubuntu.

Step-by-step installation guide for Ubuntu.

Ilopad for Ubuntu is published as a Debian package (.deb) in the Ilopad repository. Add the repository once and apt installs it and every later release, the same way it handles the rest of your system.

Add the Ilopad repository

The recommended way. Three commands, and updates arrive on their own afterwards.

1

Trust the signing key

Fetch the key that apt uses to verify every Ilopad package. The first two lines refresh the package lists and install curl, which a minimal install may not have:

sudo apt update sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl sudo install -d -m 0755 /usr/share/keyrings sudo curl -fsSLo /usr/share/keyrings/ilopad-archive-keyring.pgp \ https://dl.ilopad.com/ilopad-archive-keyring.pgp
2

Add the repository

Point apt at the Ilopad repository:

sudo curl -fsSLo /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ilopad.sources \ https://dl.ilopad.com/ilopad.sources
3

Install Ilopad

Refresh the package lists and install. apt pulls in the runtime libraries it needs:

sudo apt update sudo apt install ilopad-server

Or install it from App Center: run only sudo apt update, then open App Center and type Ilopad in the search box. Under Debian packages, click Ilopad, then click Install and enter your password.

From now on apt keeps Ilopad current along with the rest of your system: each new release arrives with sudo apt upgrade. Every package and every index is signed, and apt refuses anything that does not verify.
4

Start Ilopad

Launch the server from the terminal, or open Activities, type Ilopad and press Enter:

ilopad-server

The first time, Ilopad shows Permission Required, because it needs access to the input device. Click Allow and enter your password. The Ilopad window then opens. Step 7 below shows these screens.

The window shows this computer’s name under Server Name, with a green power button beside it while the server is running. Click Add Device, give the device a name, then click Generate QR. Scan the code with the Ilopad app on your iPhone to connect.

Install a single release by hand

Use this if you would rather not add a repository. It installs one release and nothing more: Ilopad will not update itself, so you repeat these steps for each new version. Prefer to point and click? On Ubuntu, double-clicking the downloaded .deb opens it in App Center, which installs local packages and their dependencies. No extra tools required.

1

Download the package

This link always points at the newest release:

Download the .deb

2

Find the downloaded package

Open Files and go to your Downloads folder. You should see ilopad-server_amd64.deb.

The Ilopad .deb package shown in the Files app Downloads folder
3

Open it in App Center

Double-click the .deb. It opens in App Center, which shows ilopad-server with a Potentially unsafe notice. App Center shows this notice for each package that does not come from Ubuntu. Click Install.

App Center showing ilopad-server, a Potentially unsafe notice and the Install button
4

Confirm

App Center asks “Are you sure you want to install it?” Click Install.

App Center dialog: Are you sure you want to install it? with the Cancel and Install buttons
5

Authenticate

Enter your password, then click Authenticate.

Authentication Required dialog: Authentication is required to install untrusted software
6

Finish

App Center installs Ilopad and its dependencies. When the button changes to Installed, the install is complete. You can close App Center.

App Center showing ilopad-server with the Installed button
If the button goes back to Install, Ubuntu was installing updates in the background. Wait a few minutes, then click Install again.
7

Start Ilopad

Open Activities, type Ilopad and press Enter. The first time, Ilopad shows Permission Required: it makes a virtual mouse, keyboard and pen, and for this it needs access to the input device. Click Allow.

Ilopad window titled Permission Required, with the Allow button

Enter your password and click Authenticate. The Ilopad window opens. Click Add Device to pair your iPhone.

The Ilopad window on Ubuntu in dark mode, showing the server name, a green power button, the No Devices Paired empty state and a QR code to download the app
The server shows this computer’s name under Server Name, with a green power button beside it while the server is running. If you turned on the firewall (ufw), Ilopad asks for your password one more time, to open its network ports (UDP 4444 and 5353).

Uninstall

To remove Ilopad, with its settings and the permissions that it added, follow Uninstall on Ubuntu.