> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://firestonevm.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://firestonevm.gitbook.io/docs/install.md).

# Install

Getting the Firestone executable onto a Linux x86\_64 host, from the release or from source.

The published release is a standalone x86\_64 musl executable:

```sh
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/0xchasercat/firestone/main/install.sh | sh
```

To place the executable yourself instead, download the release asset and install it:

```sh
install -Dm0755 firestone-v*-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl "$HOME/.local/bin/firestone"
firestone version
```

The asset is named for its release, so substitute the version you downloaded when the glob matches more than one file. `version` reports the embedded `passt` and `qemu-img` payload hashes, which Firestone verifies again before it materializes them under its own data directory.

You need at least 5 GB free on the filesystem holding Firestone's data directory, and an OpenSSH client on the host. Install only the client package:

```sh
# Ubuntu 24.04
sudo apt-get install openssh-client

# Fedora 44
sudo dnf install openssh-clients

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S openssh
```

## Build from source

Rust 1.85 or newer builds the workspace. A plain `cargo build` is a development build. It keeps a PATH fallback for the helper binaries, so you can develop against your own `passt` or `qemu-img`.

```sh
cargo build --release
```

For the standalone release build, which embeds the pinned helpers and refuses a missing or mismatched input, use the release script:

```sh
scripts/build-release.sh --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
```

## Uninstall

`firestone uninstall` removes the executable you ran it with and keeps everything else:

```sh
firestone uninstall
```

It lists what it will remove, asks once, and then prints where your machines and images still live. Pass `--yes` to answer ahead of time. A run with no terminal, or one with `--json`, has nowhere to ask the question, so it stops and tells you to pass `--yes`.

To delete the data too, add `--purge`:

```sh
firestone uninstall --purge
```

That removes the config, data and runtime directories, which deletes every machine, image and snapshot on this host. It is confirmed twice, and refused while a machine is running: stop them first.

Uninstall removes only files this installation owns. If you installed Firestone with a package manager, the executable lives under `/usr` or `/opt` and uninstall refuses it, because that copy belongs to the package manager; remove it with the same tool that installed it.

Next: [check the host and boot your first machine](/docs/quickstart.md). The full page list is in the [documentation index](/docs/readme.md).


---

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