Install Ardour on Linux: Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, RHEL, etc.

Anyone who loves music and dreams of being a good music producer, artist, or even singer could do with a great DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). And when talking about DAWs, how can we neglect a name that has reigned among the best?

Yes, I am talking about Ardour. It is an open-source and quite powerful music editing and mixing tool. It is also the go-to choice for old-school creators. The tool is available for most desktop platforms, including Linux. But, like it or not, sometimes it is hard to correctly install software on Linux since it is such a diverse platform.

This is why I have come up with this article. It tackles the issue head-on and covers various methods you can use to install this wonderful tool on your device.

Table of contents

What is Ardour?

Ardour, as I have already stated, is an open-source DAW. It is the result of a team collaboration of musicians, programmers, and recording engineers. As it is open-source software, the development has been transparent over the years, as users can see how it actually works. It is also a reason why this is such a good DAW.

As you use the digital tool, you will be surprised to see that there are really no limitations to it other than the hardware it is running on, which is quite surprising for any open-source software. Furthermore, it is feature-rich and covers almost every aspect of audio mixing, be it clipping, dragging, dividing, or even stretching recorded regions. You can also add on a layer of support and add as many multichannel tracks as you want. Furthermore, since it is a cross-platform software that can run on multiple desktop systems, it just adds to the value.

Here is a video that showcases how to handle Ardour for beginners:

Ardour Minimum System Requirements

As mentioned above, Ardour does need quite a bit of hardware to perform. Thus, you might want to check the following minimum requirements before installing it:

Category	Requirement
Computer	32 or 64-bit Intel or ARM-compatible device
OS	Any Linux version with a new Kernel (above 2.3) and libc version (above 2.25) To ensure stability, try to use any system that is released after 2016.
RAM	2 GB
Local Storage	350 MB

Why Use Ardour?

Some certain features and services set Ardour apart from the competition. These factors are responsible for making Ardour what it is and why one should use it, such as:

• The software is limited only by hardware.
• You don’t have to worry about Ardour when using external hardware.
• If the OS can support hardware, Ardour can do it too.
• Provides flexible recording, such as true tape-style transporting and track arming.
• Also provides pre-track setups for layered and non-layered recordings.
• Both automatic and manual input solutions are provided.
• An unlimited number of tracks, plugins, buses, and inserts.
• Supports mono, stereo, and multichannel audio.
• Multi to separate routing available.
• Non-linear editing with unlimited redo.
• In-Window editing
• Supports multiple regions
• It can extract audio from video for later use.
• Modular setup is available for one, two, and three machines.
• Matrix-style patching and routing, for ten+ years.
• Optional monitor section with dim, cut, and mute controls.

Who Can Use Ardour?

Till now, we have understood what Ardour is, why it matters, and why use it. But who can use Ardour? Who will benefit the most? The answer is anyone that has anything to do with music. Just look at the following table to understand this:

Professionals	Use Cases
Audio Engineers	They can use it to record, edit, mix, and master audio and MIDI tasks.
Musicians	They can use it to record and edit their songs, just like a studio
Soundtrack Editors/Music Producers	They use it to add background music and sound to any video.
Composers	They use the tool to arrange/rearrange audio and MIDI projects for the perfect score.
Podcasters/Radio Producers	Record large segments and edit them as per their needs. Features like Multi ripple mode help with two-mic, tape-heavy podcasts.

How to Install Ardour on Linux?

Linux is a fairly popular operating system with millions of users. However, it is somewhat different from Windows or Mac as you don’t have ready-made packaged apps that you can directly run and install on the system with a few clicks. As such, for different distros of Linux, there can be slightly different methods for a proper installation, which I have mentioned below:

Method 1: Download and Install the Ready-To-Run Program for Linux

Yes, if you visit the official Ardour website, you will find a packaged version that can run on most Linux platforms directly. It is the official ready-to-run version. But if you want more from Ardour, especially when you are running Linux, then you might want to build your own version as a developer. I’ve covered both here. First, let’s look at the official solution:

Solution 1: Using the Ready-To-Run version

Ardour clearly states that there might be bugs when you install the software from native Ubuntu packages and recommends using the provided version.

NOTE: Ardour does not support Ubuntu native packages in official forums or other channels.

1. First, visit the official Ardour website.
2. Navigate to the Download page (from the top bar).
3. Click on the Ready-To-Run Program button and choose Linux.
4. Then choose your CPU type; Intel/AMD or ARM.
5. Wait for the download to complete.
6. Now go to the downloaded file and right-click on it.
7. Here, choose properties and click on the Permission tab.
8. Then, check “Allow This File To Run As A Program.”
9. Close the dialogue box and double-click the file to run it as a program file.
10. Lastly, follow the on-screen prompts to install Ardour.

Solution 2: Using Terminal to Run the File

The next method is basically the same, it just uses Terminal to run the downloaded file. Thus, you can follow the previous steps till step 5 and then:

1. Open the Terminal window (Ctrl+Alt+T).
2. Then run the following command:

cd /folder/where/you/saved/the/file
/bin/sh ./<DOWNLOADED_FILENAME>.run

Method 2: Install Ardour on Linux From Source Code Using Tar Archive

The official website also offers source code packages in a Tar archive. Thus, you can use it to build the program. All you have to do is unpack it and then install it. Here’s how:

Step 1. Go to the official website and download the Ardour source code for all platforms.

Step 2. Now unpack it:

cd ~/ardour
tar xf /where/you/put/the/src/tarball
cd ardour-<VERSION>

Step 3. Configure the files

./waf configure
./waf

Step 4. Finally, use the GTK and Ardev command to install it.

cd gtk2_ardour
./ardev
./waf install

Method 3: Build Using a Git Repository

When talking about compiling from scratch, how can I forget Git? Here’s how you can leverage the Git repo to build Ardour:

Solution 1: For most Linux Systems

Step 1. Run Terminal and enter the following code to get the latest version of Ardour from Git.

cd ~/ardour
git clone git://git.ardour.org/ardour/ardour.git <VERSION>
cd ~/ardour/<VERSION>

Step 2. Configure the files

./waf configure
./waf

Step 3. Use Ardev to install it.

cd gtk2_ardour
./ardev
./waf install

Solution 2: For Fedora Users with the PlanetCCRMA repository

Yes, if you are a Fedora user, you can leverage PlanetCCRMA with Git for Ardour. But before compiling, you need to enable the RPM repository on your system.

Note: I am only showing how to set up a FREE RPM Repo

Step 1. First, check if you have RPM enabled on your Fedora system or not. Run the following command in the Terminal.

yum repolist | grep rpmfusion

No results? Worry not, it means you need to enable RPM manually.

For Fedora 14 to Fedora 21 :

Step 2(a). Enable the free RPM repo via this code:

sudo yum localinstall --nogpgcheck http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

For Fedora 22 and later:

Step 2(b). Use this code for the free RPM repo:

sudo dnf install http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

Step 3. Now, we can proceed with enabling the CCRMA repositories.

sudo rpm -Uvh http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/mirror/fedora/linux/planetccrma/18/i386/planetccrma-repo-1.1-3.fc18.ccrma.noarch.rpm

Step 4. Now install PlanetCCRMA and restart your device

For Fedora 22 and later:

sudo dnf check-update
sudo dnf install planetccrma-core
sudo reboot

Step 5(a). Now install the dependencies:

sudo dnf install git jack-audio-connection-kit-devel libsndfile-devel liblo-devel aubio-devel cppunit-devel cwiid-devel liblrdf-devel libsamplerate-devel lv2-devel serd-devel sord-devel sratom-devel lilv-devel flac-devel gtkmm24-devel libgnomecanvas-devel libgnomecanvasmm26-devel suil-devel libcurl libcurl-devel uuid uuid-devel libuuid libuuid-devel lib fftw3 fftw3-devel liboggz liboggz-devel qjackctl jack-audio-connection-kit boost boost-devel libxml2 libxml2-devel

For Fedora 21 and previous. (Still Step 4)

sudo yum update
sudo yum install planetccrma-core
sudo reboot

Step 5(b). Code for relevant dependencies:

sudo yum install git jack-audio-connection-kit-devel libsndfile-devel liblo-devel aubio-devel cppunit-devel cwiid-devel liblrdf-devel libsamplerate-devel lv2-devel serd-devel sord-devel sratom-devel lilv-devel flac-devel gtkmm24-devel libgnomecanvas-devel libgnomecanvasmm26-devel suil-devel libcurl libcurl-devel uuid uuid-devel libuuid libuuid-devel lib fftw3 fftw3-devel liboggz liboggz-devel qjackctl jack-audio-connection-kit boost boost-devel libxml2 libxml2-devel

If you have followed me till here, wow. But now things will be much simpler. All we need to do is get the Git code, compile it, and run it. Like we did in the previous method. Here’s how:

Step 6. Use the Git code

cd ~ardour
git clone git://git.ardour.org/ardour/ardour.git

Step 7. Compile the code using the following:

cd ~/ardour
./waf configure
./waf

Step 8. Finally, use Ardev and install

cd ~/ardour/gtk2_ardour
./ardev
./waf install

Solution 3: For Debian 12 Users

Step 1. You can also compile Ardour on the latest Debian 12 by using the superuser mode.

sudo su

Step 2. Install the necessary dependencies for Ardour using APT.

sudo apt install build-essential git libboost-all-dev gcc g++ pkg-config libasound2-dev libgtk2.0-dev libglibmm-2.4-dev libsndfile1-dev libarchive-dev liblo-dev libtag1-dev vamp-plugin-sdk librubberband-dev libfftw3-dev libaubio-dev libxml2-dev libsamplerate0-dev lv2-dev libserd-dev libsord-dev libsratom-dev liblilv-dev libgtkmm-2.4-dev libjack-jackd2-dev libogg-dev libcppunit-dev libudev-dev libwebsockets-dev libusb-dev libsuil-dev libdbus-1-dev xjadeo libusb-1.0-0-dev libreadline-dev  libarchive-dev liblo-dev libtag1-dev libvamp-sdk2v5 librubberband-dev libaubio-dev libpangomm-1.4-dev libserd-dev libsord-dev libsratom-dev liblilv-dev libgtkmm-2.4-dev libsuil-dev libcppunit-dev python3 liblrdf0-dev libraptor2-dev python-is-python3

Step 3. Now copy the Ardour repository to your local device using git.

cd ~ardour
git clone https://github.com/Ardour/ardour.git

Step 4. Configure the compilation and optimize it.

./waf configure --cxx11 --optimize

Step 5. Install it.

./waf install

Method 4: Install Using APT Repository

Yes, I know, but still many users prefer using the native APT repo to install stuff. So for them:

Step 1: First, update the system

sudo apt update

Step 2: Now, install the Ardour application by using the command:

sudo apt install ardour

Method 5: Install Using PPA Repo

This method is only meant for when and if you get an error when using the APT repo.

Step 1: Start by adding the PPA Repository.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntustudio-ppa/ardour-backports

Now, you can proceed with the rest of the installation:

Step 2: Update the repositories and system

sudo apt update

Step 3: Now use the APT manager to install Ardour

sudo apt install ardour

Method 6: Using Third Party Providers, Such as Flatpak

This is somewhat of a generic solution, and thus I won’t go in more depth, as there are many similar methods available pertaining to different brands.

Step 1. Start by installing Flatpak (on Ubuntu 18.10 or later)

sudo apt install flatpak

Step 1(a). On older versions, you can make do with the official Flatpak PPA

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:flatpak/stable
sudo apt update
sudo apt install flatpak

Step 2. Now, install the Software Flatpak plugin

sudo apt install gnome-software-plugin-flatpak

Note From Dev: The Software app has been distributed as a Snap since Ubuntu 20.04 and does not support GUI for Flatpak apps. Installing the Flatpak plugin will also install a deb version of the Software and result in two Software apps being installed at the same time.

Step 3. Add the Flathub repository

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Step 4. Finally, install Ardour:

flatpak install flathub org.ardour.Ardour

Method 7: Installing on other Distros using Native Repositories

Ardour is available in most native repositories across different Linux distros, and you can install it directly as shown here:

Debian

sudo apt-get install ardour

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S ardour

Fedora

sudo dnf install ardour

OpenSUSE

sudo zypper install ardour