Install MiKTeX for Linux

MiKTeX is available for selected Linux distributions.

How to install MiKTeX

Repository registration

To install MiKTeX for Linux, you need to register the distribution-dependent repository which contains the MiKTeX installation package.

Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 19 (64-bit)

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys D6BC243565B2087BC3F897C9277A7293F59E4889
echo "deb http://miktex.org/download/ubuntu bionic universe" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/miktex.list
sudo apt-get update

Ubuntu 16.04, Linux Mint 18.3 (64-bit)

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys D6BC243565B2087BC3F897C9277A7293F59E4889
echo "deb http://miktex.org/download/ubuntu xenial universe" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/miktex.list
sudo apt-get update

Debian 9 (64-bit)

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys D6BC243565B2087BC3F897C9277A7293F59E4889
echo "deb http://miktex.org/download/debian stretch universe" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/miktex.list
sudo apt-get update

Installation

After you have registered the repository, you can install MiKTeX:

sudo apt-get install miktex

Finishing the setup

Before you can use MiKTeX, you have to finish the setup. You can use MiKTeX Console or, if you prefer the command line, miktexsetup.

Start MiKTeX Console to finish the setup

Search&click the MiKTeX Console icon to start MiKTeX Console:

Image Text

Now is the time to make a decision:

Do you want to set up a private (for you only) TeX installation, or do you want to set up a shared (system-wide) TeX installation?

You probably want to choose the first option.

The second option makes sense if you are the administrator of a multi-user system. If this is the case and if you expect that some of your users would like to work with MiKTeX, then you should install MiKTeX system-wide.

Click one of the two buttons if you have made your decision.

Run `miktexsetup` to finish the setup

Run

miktexsetup finish

to finish with a private (for you only) TeX installation. Executables like lualatex will be installed in ~/bin.

Run

sudo miktexsetup --shared=yes finish

to finish with a shafred (system-wide) TeX installation. Executables like lualatex will be installed in /usr/local/bin.

You also may want to enable automatic package installation:

initexmf --set-config-value [MPM]AutoInstall=1

Or, if you have a shared installation:

sudo initexmf --admin --set-config-value [MPM]AutoInstall=1

Upgrade option

If you have just installed MiKTeX, then you have the option to upgrade your installation to a standard TeX system. Just click the Upgrade button. Please be aware that this starts a ~200MB download.

Alternatively, you can turn on the auto-install feature and let MiKTeX install missing packages on-the-fly. This will help you to keep your TeX installation as minimal as possible (“Just enough TeX”).