Several installation methods are available depending on your operating system. Choose the method that best suits your environment.
For Debian-based operating systems (such as Ubuntu or Debian), the easiest way is to use our APT repository.
First, install necessary dependencies and add the repository’s GPG key:
1sudo apt-get update
2sudo apt-get install -y curl gnupg2
3curl -fsSL https://packages.plakar.io/keys/plakar.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/plakar.gpg
4echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/plakar.gpg] https://packages.plakar.io/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plakar.list
Then update the package list and install plakar:
1sudo apt-get update
2sudo apt-get install plakar
For operating systems which use RPM-based packages (such as Fedora), the easiest way is to use our DNF repository.
First, set up the repository:
1cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/plakar.repo
2[plakar]
3name=Plakar Repository
4baseurl=https://packages.plakar.io/rpm/$(uname -m)/
5enabled=1
6gpgcheck=0
7gpgkey=https://packages.plakar.io/keys/plakar.gpg
8EOF
Then install plakar with:
1sudo dnf install plakar
The simplest way to install Plakar on macOS is with Homebrew.
Ensure you have Homebrew installed, then add the Plakar tap and install Plakar with:
1brew install plakarkorp/tap/plakar
If you prefer not to use our tap, you can install from the default Homebrew repository instead with brew install plakar. Note that the version in the default repository may not always be the latest release.
macOS includes built-in protection against untrusted binaries. To allow plakar to run, you will need to explicitly approve it in the Privacy & Security settings.

The simplest way to install Plakar on Windows is by downloading the pre-built package from the Download page.
The downloaded package is simply an archive containing the executable. Copy this to anywhere on your system PATH, or run it directly from a shell where it is installed.

To install using the Go toolchain, use go install with the version you want to install:
1go install github.com/PlakarKorp/plakar@<version>
This will install the binary into your $GOPATH/bin directory, which you may need to add to your $PATH if it is not already there.
For other supported operating systems, or for an alternative to the methods mentioned above, it is possible to download pre-built binaries for different platforms and architectures from the Download page.
These are in standard formats for the relevant platforms, so consult OS-specific documentation for how to install them.
Verifying the Installation
Verify the installation by running:
1plakar version
This should return the expected version number, for example ‘plakar/v1.0.6’.
Downloading Specific Versions
All release versions of plakar are available directly from GitHub on the project’s release page.
For each release, check under the “Assets” section for a list of pre-built packages. They follow the naming convention plakar_<version>_<os>_<arch>.<format>.
Installation Troubleshooting
If you encounter any issues during installation, or notice that this documentation is out of date:
- Ensure you are following the instructions for the correct version of plakar.
- Open an issue on the GitHub issue tracker.
Next Steps: Getting Started
Now that you have plakar installed, we recommend proceeding to the Quickstart guide to set up your first backup.