Install on Linux

njMule for Linux comes for x64 and arm64 processors as deb and rpm packages and as a .tar.xz archive, each with the desktop app and the command line. A fourth download, the static archive, holds the headless engine alone for any x64 Linux.

Download

File (njMule 0.3.1)	What it is
njmule_0.3.1_amd64.deb	Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives, x64
njmule_0.3.1_arm64.deb	Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives, arm64
njmule-0.3.1-1.x86_64.rpm	Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE and derivatives, x64
njmule-0.3.1-1.aarch64.rpm	Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE and derivatives, arm64
njmule-0.3.1-linux-x64.tar.xz	Archive, x64
njmule-0.3.1-linux-arm64.tar.xz	Archive, arm64
njmule-0.3.1-linux-x64-static.tar.xz	Static headless archive, x64 (no system libraries needed)

The archives run from any folder on any distribution; the static one holds the headless engine alone, for any x64 Linux whatever its C library. Older versions are on the GitHub releases page. You can check the download before you install it. The desktop app needs WebKitGTK 4.1 and GTK 3; the packages bring them in (see Requirements).

With the GitHub CLI you can also fetch the files of the latest release from a terminal, for example the Debian package of a 64-bit PC with its checksums:

gh release download --repo njMule/njMule --pattern '*_amd64.deb' --pattern 'SHA256SUMS*'

Install the package

Debian, Ubuntu

sudo apt install ./njmule_*_amd64.deb    # on arm64: ./njmule_*_arm64.deb

Fedora, RHEL

sudo dnf install ./njmule-*.x86_64.rpm   # on arm64: ./njmule-*.aarch64.rpm

The package installs:

• njmule-gui, the desktop app, and njmule, the engine and command line, in /usr/bin; both live in /usr/lib/njmule, where the desktop app's window starts the engine beside it;
• a desktop entry, AppStream metadata and icons, so that njMule appears in your applications menu;
• a systemd user unit, njmule.service, to run the engine headless (see Run it as a service).

Start njMule from your applications menu, or run njmule-gui. The desktop entry starts it under the name njMule, which process lists then show, and your desktop matches its window to its menu entry and icon. At the first start, a wizard helps you set it up: see First start.

The desktop entry also declares njMule as a program for ed2k:// links. To make it the one that opens them, turn on Open ed2k links with njMule (from browsers and other programs) in Options → General (off by default; see eD2K links).

Your settings and downloads stay in your home folder: ~/.config/njmule, ~/.local/share/njmule, ~/.local/state/njmule and ~/.cache/njmule, or where the XDG_* variables point. Completed downloads go to ~/Downloads/njMule, or the download folder of XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR. See Data locations.

Run from the archive

The .tar.xz archive holds the same programs and runs from any folder:

mkdir -p ~/Apps
tar -C ~/Apps -xJf njmule-<version>-linux-x64.tar.xz
~/Apps/njmule-<version>-linux-x64/njmule-gui

Unpack it into a folder you can write to, such as ~/Apps: njMule can then update itself there. Install WebKitGTK 4.1 and GTK 3 yourself if the desktop app does not start. The command line is njmule in the same folder.

To keep all of njMule's data beside the programs, on a removable drive for example, put an empty file named portable.flag next to them: see Portable mode.

Add it to the applications menu

The archive's share/ folder holds the desktop entry, the AppStream metadata and the icon. To list njMule in your menu, link the programs into ~/.local/bin and install the entry and the icon for your user:

cd ~/Apps/njmule-<version>-linux-x64
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin ~/.local/share/applications ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps
ln -sf "$PWD/njmule-gui" ~/.local/bin/njMule
ln -sf "$PWD/njmule" ~/.local/bin/njmule
cp share/njmule-icon.svg ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/org.njmule.njMule.svg
sed "s|^Exec=njMule|Exec=$HOME/.local/bin/njMule|" share/org.njmule.njMule.desktop \
    > ~/.local/share/applications/org.njmule.njMule.desktop

The entry starts the link named njMule, as the packages do. Both programs find the files of the archive through their links, so its folder can stay where it is.

The static headless build

Where the executables above do not start, on a distribution with an older C library or one built on musl such as Alpine, use njmule-<version>-linux-x64-static.tar.xz. It holds a single program, njmule, linked statically: it needs no library of the system. It has no desktop app: you use it from the web interface and the command line.

tar -xJf njmule-<version>-linux-x64-static.tar.xz
cd njmule-<version>-linux-x64-static
./njmule --webui-password --webui-lan   # choose the web interface password, for other computers too
./njmule                                # run the engine; Ctrl+C or njmule --exit stops it

The web interface then answers at http://<address of the computer>:4711/. Leave out --webui-lan to reach it from that computer only.

The same executable runs inside the Synology package and the x64 Docker image. See Running headless.

Run it as a service

The deb and rpm packages install a systemd user unit that runs the engine headless as your user, never as root, and starts it again if it fails:

systemctl --user enable --now njmule   # start now and at each login
loginctl enable-linger                 # optional: keep it running while you are logged out
journalctl --user -u njmule            # its log

The unit and the desktop app use the same configuration, so only one of them runs at a time: the desktop app starts an engine of its own, which cannot run beside the unit's. Stop the service before you open the desktop app, and use the web interface to control the headless engine. Set the web interface password first, with njmule --webui-password. Everything else is in Linux service.

Firewall

njMule's packages do not change the firewall. If yours blocks incoming connections, open the eD2K port (4662/TCP) and the client UDP port (4672/UDP), or those you chose, for example with sudo ufw allow 4662/tcp and sudo ufw allow 4672/udp. See Ports and firewalls.

Upgrade

• Packages: install the newer package the same way, or let apt or dnf do it; your settings and downloads stay. njMule tells you when a new version is out, downloads the package and tells you how to install it.
• Archives: njMule can download the new archive and replace its files for you, keeping the old ones until the new version has started well; or unpack the new archive in place of the old one.

See Updates.

Uninstall

Debian, Ubuntu

njmule --remove-profile   # optional, first: delete your profile, after asking
sudo apt remove njmule

Fedora, RHEL

njmule --remove-profile   # optional, first: delete your profile, after asking
sudo dnf remove njmule

Removing a package first closes every njMule still running from it, which saves its state. A package touches no home folder: removing it leaves each user's profile in place, and says where. njmule --remove-profile deletes the profile of the user who runs it (settings, lists, identity, unfinished downloads, caches and logs), after asking; stop njMule first. Completed downloads always stay. For an archive, delete its folder, and the links and menu entry if you made them. See Uninstall and Remove your profile.