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Linux (Ubuntu) Development + NPM Usage

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Goals

  • One command to bootstrap Linux dev
  • npm install/build works without pnpm
  • Avoid SEA on Linux by default (Node CLI path is more reliable)

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Quickstart (Ubuntu 24.04)

web/scripts/linux-bootstrap.sh
cd web
npm install
npm run build

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What the bootstrap does

  • Installs system deps: curl, ca-certificates, xz-utils, python3, make, g++, git
  • Installs libpam0g-dev for PAM auth native module
  • Installs Node.js 24.x (NodeSource) if missing or too old
  • Installs Zig (latest stable)

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SEA on Linux (disabled by default)

SEA builds are skipped on Linux unless explicitly enabled. Enable if you want to test SEA (not recommended on Linux): 
VIBETUNNEL_BUILD_SEA=1 npm run build
# or
npm run build -- --build-sea

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PAM Authentication (optional)

  • authenticate-pam is an optional dependency.
  • If libpam0g-dev is present during install, PAM auth will be built and used.
  • If it’s missing, VibeTunnel still runs; auth falls back to env/SSH methods.
To force PAM after installing deps: 
cd web
npm rebuild authenticate-pam

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npmjs (global install)

npm install -g vibetunnel@beta
vibetunnel --help
Linux npm package runs the Node CLI wrapper (no SEA). Systemd support is available: 
vibetunnel systemd install
systemctl --user start vibetunnel
systemctl --user status vibetunnel

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Troubleshooting

  • pnpm missing during build: use npm (npm install && npm run build) or install pnpm.
  • zig missing: rerun web/scripts/linux-bootstrap.sh.
  • pam_appl.h missing: sudo apt-get install -y libpam0g-dev.