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INSTALL_BINARIES.md

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Installing aMule from binaries

Pre-built binaries are the simplest way to run aMule on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Native packages for every supported platform ship on the Releases page.

For building from source, see INSTALL.md.

Contents

Linux

AppImage (recommended)

A single self-contained binary that runs on any modern distro (glibc ≥ 2.31). Both x64 and arm64 builds are published.

  1. Download aMule-<version>-Linux-<arch>.AppImage from the Releases page.

  2. Make it executable and run:

    chmod +x aMule-*-Linux-*.AppImage
./aMule-*-Linux-*.AppImage

On first launch aMule offers to install a .desktop entry into your application menu (opt-in, reversible — declined runs and the "Don't ask again" choice are remembered).

Pitfall — FUSE missing: if the AppImage exits immediately with AppImages require FUSE to run, install it:

  • Debian / Ubuntu: sudo apt install libfuse2t64 (or libfuse2)
  • Fedora: sudo dnf install fuse
  • Arch: sudo pacman -S fuse2

Flatpak

Sandboxed install via flatpak. Both x64 and arm64 builds are published.

  1. Download aMule-<version>-Linux-<arch>.flatpak from the Releases page.

  2. Install and run:

    flatpak install --user aMule-*.flatpak
flatpak run org.amule.aMule

The Flatpak runs against the GNOME Platform 47 runtime, but the manifest grants --filesystem=home so aMule has full access to your home directory and stores state in ~/.aMule/ — the same path as a native install. Existing config, shared files, and partfiles from a previous non-Flatpak install are picked up automatically.

Distro packages (older release)

Major distros ship aMule via their official repos, but the version is typically the older 2.3.3 (2021) release rather than the upstream 3.0.0+ binaries above. Use distro packages only if you specifically want the distro-maintained build.

  • Debian / Ubuntu: sudo apt install amule amule-daemon
  • Fedora: sudo dnf install amule

macOS

A Universal2 .dmg covers both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs in one download.

  1. Download aMule-<version>-macOS-universal2.dmg from the Releases page.
  2. Open the .dmg, drag aMule.app to /Applications.

Pitfall — "aMule cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified": the binary is unsigned (the project doesn't have an Apple Developer Program subscription). The procedure to allow it once depends on the macOS version.

macOS 15 (Sequoia) and newer

Apple removed the Control-click → Open bypass in macOS 15. The supported path is now:

  1. Double-click aMule.app — the warning dialog appears, click Done to dismiss.
  2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
  3. Scroll to the security message about aMule being blocked, click Open Anyway.
  4. Re-launch aMule and confirm in the dialog. macOS remembers the exception; subsequent launches go straight in.

macOS 14 (Sonoma) and earlier

  • Control-click aMule.app → Open → Open in the dialog. macOS remembers the exception; subsequent launches go straight in.

Terminal alternative (any macOS version)

Strip the quarantine attribute, no UI clicks required:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/aMule.app

Windows

Two flavours are published for both x64 and ARM64: an NSIS installer (Start-menu shortcuts and an uninstaller — the closest match to a "normal" Windows install) and a portable .zip (no install, run from anywhere). Both contain identical binaries and dependencies. Pick whichever fits your workflow.

NSIS installer (recommended)

  1. Download aMule-<version>-Windows-Setup-<arch>.exe from the Releases page.
  2. Run it. The wizard offers per-user (no admin) or all-users (admin elevation) install, an option to create desktop / Start-menu shortcuts, and registers an uninstaller in Settings → Apps.
  3. Launch aMule from the Start menu or desktop shortcut.

The installer detects a previous aMule install at the same target path and offers to upgrade it in place (config under %APPDATA%\aMule\ is preserved across upgrades; uninstall offers an opt-in checkbox to remove user data).

Portable .zip

A zipped tree that just needs unzipping. Same binaries as the installer; useful for USB-stick / no-admin scenarios or for users who prefer not to touch the registry.

  1. Download aMule-<version>-Windows-<arch>.zip from the Releases page.
  2. Unzip anywhere (e.g., C:\Program Files\aMule\ or %USERPROFILE%\amule\).
  3. Run aMule.exe (GUI) or amuled.exe (headless daemon).

Pitfall — Windows Defender SmartScreen "Windows protected your PC": the binaries are unsigned (both the installer and the binaries inside the .zip). Click More info → Run anyway to allow them. SmartScreen learns over time as more users run the same release.

Both packages already bundle every dependency (wxWidgets, Boost ASIO, Crypto++, libcurl with CA bundle); no separate runtime install is needed.

Verifying the download

GitHub serves all release artifacts over HTTPS, and the Releases page lists the SHA-256 of each asset (click "Show" next to the filename). To verify locally:

sha256sum aMule-*-*.AppImage                   # Linux
shasum -a 256 aMule-*-*.dmg                     # macOS
certutil -hashfile aMule-*.zip SHA256           # Windows portable
certutil -hashfile aMule-*-Windows-Setup-*.exe SHA256   # Windows installer

Compare against the value on the release page.

Running the headless tools

aMule ships several binaries that share the same ~/.aMule/ state: the GUI (amule), the headless daemon (amuled), the remote GUI (amulegui), the web UI (amuleweb), and the CLI (amulecmd). For day-to-day desktop use the GUI is enough; the rest are for running aMule on a NAS / VPS / always-on box and connecting from elsewhere.

The user-guide section Running aMule headless covers the first-run setup (EC password, daemon flags). Its example commands assume amuled / amulecmd / amulegui / amuleweb resolve on $PATH, which is true for a make install build but not for any of the binary packages below — each one stages the binaries differently.

Windows NSIS installer

The installer drops every binary into <InstallDir>\bin\. Default install dir is C:\Program Files\aMule\ for all-users or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\aMule\ for per-user. Open PowerShell or Command Prompt and invoke by full path:

"C:\Program Files\aMule\bin\amuled.exe" --full-daemon
"C:\Program Files\aMule\bin\amulecmd.exe" -h 127.0.0.1 -p 4712 -P <password>
"C:\Program Files\aMule\bin\amulegui.exe"
"C:\Program Files\aMule\bin\amuleweb.exe" --admin-pass=<password>

Add <InstallDir>\bin to PATH (System Properties → Environment Variables) if you'd rather invoke them by bare name.

Windows portable .zip

All binaries sit alongside each other in the unzipped folder. Open PowerShell or Command Prompt in that folder and run them directly:

.\amuled.exe --full-daemon
.\amulecmd.exe -h 127.0.0.1 -p 4712 -P <password>
.\amulegui.exe
.\amuleweb.exe --admin-pass=<password>

macOS .dmg

aMule.app/Contents/MacOS/ holds the GUI plus amuled, amulecmd, amuleweb, and ed2k; invoke them by full path:

/Applications/aMule.app/Contents/MacOS/amuled --full-daemon
/Applications/aMule.app/Contents/MacOS/amulecmd -h 127.0.0.1 -p 4712 -P <password>
/Applications/aMule.app/Contents/MacOS/amuleweb --admin-pass=<password>

amulegui ships as a separate aMuleGUI.app bundle in the .dmg — drag both bundles to /Applications and double-click aMuleGUI.app, or run /Applications/aMuleGUI.app/Contents/MacOS/aMuleGUI from a terminal.

To get the short command names back, drop symlinks into a directory already on $PATH:

sudo ln -s /Applications/aMule.app/Contents/MacOS/amuled       /usr/local/bin/amuled
sudo ln -s /Applications/aMule.app/Contents/MacOS/amulecmd     /usr/local/bin/amulecmd
sudo ln -s /Applications/aMule.app/Contents/MacOS/amuleweb     /usr/local/bin/amuleweb
sudo ln -s /Applications/aMuleGUI.app/Contents/MacOS/aMuleGUI  /usr/local/bin/amulegui

Linux AppImage

The AppImage dispatches on its own filename — symlink it to the tool name you want and invoke the symlink:

ln -s aMule-3.0.0-Linux-x64.AppImage amuled
./amuled --full-daemon

ln -s aMule-3.0.0-Linux-x64.AppImage amulecmd
./amulecmd -h 127.0.0.1 -p 4712 -P <password>

ln -s aMule-3.0.0-Linux-x64.AppImage amulegui
./amulegui

Arch suffixes on the symlink are tolerated in both the release-asset spelling (amuled-x64, amulecmd-arm64) and the legacy uname spelling (amuled-x86_64, amulecmd-aarch64), as is a trailing .AppImage.

Linux Flatpak

The default command for org.amule.aMule is the GUI; pick a different binary with --command=:

flatpak run --command=amuled    org.amule.aMule --full-daemon
flatpak run --command=amulecmd  org.amule.aMule -h 127.0.0.1 -p 4712 -P <password>
flatpak run --command=amulegui  org.amule.aMule
flatpak run --command=amuleweb  org.amule.aMule --admin-pass=<password>

The Flatpak grants --filesystem=home, so ~/.aMule/ is shared with native installs and other package formats on the same machine.