This topic is somewhat niche because, traditionally, to install the AlterWare launcher, you would have needed to download it manually from the GitHub release page. However, you can now use our self-hosted APT repository to install the AlterWare Launcher.
This method is useful for server owners or Linux users who want to easily install the launcher for all of their AW clients without needing to move or copy the binary between game folders.
Let’s get started:
DISCLAIMER
The use of apt-key is deprecated. Please refer to the NEWER METHOD section for updated instructions on how to add our public key to your system to avoid the warning that appears every time you run apt update.
First, let’s add our public key (deprecated method, see below for more up-to-date instructions):
curl -fsSL https://apt.alterware.dev/alterware-public-key.asc | apt-key add -
Next, add our repository to your APT source list:
nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/alterware.list
Add the following line to this file, then save it:
deb https://apt.alterware.dev stable main
Finally, update your package list and install the launcher:
apt update
apt install alterware-launcher
NEWER METHOD
This method assumes you haven’t used the deprecated apt-key method. If you have, you should remove our public key from apt-key and start again from a clean state. You can search online for detailed instructions on how to do this. The short version is:
apt-key list
apt-key del <KEY_ID>
You’ll know which key to delete because it carries my username and email address, which are quite unique and easy to spot.
Now, let’s start with the new method. First, add our public key to your keyrings:
apt-get update
apt-get install ca-certificates curl
install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://apt.alterware.dev/alterware-public-key.asc -o /etc/apt/keyrings/alterware-public-key.asc
chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/alterware-public-key.asc
Then, add our repository to your APT source list:
nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/alterware.list
Add the following line to this file, then save it:
For an amd64 host:
deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/alterware-public-key.asc] https://apt.alterware.dev stable main
For an arm64 host:
deb [arch=arm64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/alterware-public-key.asc] https://apt.alterware.dev stable main
Finally, update your package list and install the launcher:
apt update
apt install alterware-launcher
The AlterWare Launcher should now be installed and functional. Let us know if this tutorial was helpful. It definitely taught me a lot, including how to self-host my own APT repository.