Installing Hyprland on Ubuntu 24.04: Step-by-Step Guide with JaKooLit

Hyprland is a tiling Wayland compositor that gained popularity among Linux users for its flexible configuration and animations that standard desktop environments simply do not offer. But behind the impressive screenshots online lies a nuance: this is not GNOME or KDE, and a single package install will not cut it.

Before You Start

A few things worth knowing before installation:

Wayland only. Applications built exclusively for Xorg will not work or will require an XWayland wrapper.

Nvidia — with limitations. Proprietary Nvidia drivers have partial Wayland compositor compatibility. Nvidia users should expect additional configuration.

Virtual machines. Hyprland is not officially supported in VMs but does work. In VirtualBox, enable 3D acceleration and allocate at least 4 GB of RAM.

Ubuntu 24.10 — skip it. Hyprland appeared in the standard Ubuntu repository starting with Oracular Oriole, but that package is currently too unstable for daily use.

Backup first. Back up important data before proceeding.

Do not install SDDM. The JaKooLit installer is incompatible with SDDM — a display manager conflict will break the boot process.

Step 1: Enable the Source Code Repository

The Hyprland installer needs access to Ubuntu source packages. Open "Software & Updates" → Ubuntu Software tab → check the Source code box → close the window.

Step 2: Update the System

After enabling the source repository — reboot, then update the system to the current state:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Do not skip this step. The Hyprland installer pulls fresh dependencies, and conflicts with outdated packages are a common cause of mid-install failures.

Step 3: Clone the Installer

Building Hyprland from source on Ubuntu is a maze of dependency and version conflicts. The JaKooLit installer is a tested automated script for Ubuntu 24.04:

git clone -b 24.04 --depth 1 https://github.com/JaKooLit/Ubuntu-Hyprland.git ~/Ubuntu-Hyprland-24.04

The -b 24.04 flag selects the branch for Ubuntu 24.04 specifically. --depth 1 clones only the latest commit without history — faster and smaller.

Step 4: Make the Installer Executable

cd ~/Ubuntu-Hyprland-24.04

chmod +x install.sh

Step 5: Run the Installer

Important — run as a regular user, not root:

./install.sh

The installer immediately warns: the maximum compatible Hyprland version for Ubuntu 24.04 is v0.39.1. This is a Ubuntu repository limitation, not an installer issue — the wayland-protocols version there lags behind what newer Hyprland releases require.

Step 6: Answer the Installer Questions

The script asks about components: additional themes, Bluetooth support, dotfiles installation. Answer each question with y or n.

Then enter the sudo password and wait for the process to complete. It takes several minutes depending on connection speed.

Step 7: Reboot and Select the Session

After installation finishes — reboot:

reboot

At the login screen, click the gear icon and select Hyprland from the session list.

Result

After logging in, the Hyprland desktop opens.

If Something Went Wrong

Hyprland does not start on VM. Check that 3D acceleration is enabled in VirtualBox settings — without it the Wayland session will not launch.

Black screen after login. Most likely an Nvidia driver conflict. Cards with Nvidia require additional Wayland environment variables — see the Hyprland Wiki Nvidia section.

Installer failed midway. Make sure the system update (step 2) completed fully and the source repository is enabled. Re-run ./install.sh — the script can be restarted.

No sound or clipboard not working. Normal on first launch — JaKooLit dotfiles include pipewire and wl-clipboard but sometimes need a manual start: systemctl --user start pipewire.

Quick Reference