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Cursor setup
How to setup Cursor IDE on Ubuntu 24.04
Since Cursor IDE is not available on Ubuntu 24.04 via snap, we need to install it manually. The download link only offers a .AppImage
file, so we need to make it executable and run it.
External script
There is a bash script available on Github that helps with the installation.
#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
# Definition of colors for terminal output
readonly RED_COLOR="\e[31m"
readonly GREEN_COLOR="\e[32m"
readonly YELLOW_COLOR="\e[33m"
readonly BLUE_COLOR="\e[34m"
readonly MAGENTA_COLOR="\e[35m"
readonly RESET_COLOR="\e[0m"
# General settings
readonly DOWNLOAD_APP_DIR="$HOME/Downloads/.AppImage"
readonly ICON_DIR="$HOME/.local/share/icons"
readonly ICON_URL="https://www.cursor.com/brand/icon.svg"
readonly DESKTOP_FILE_PATH="$HOME/.local/share/applications/cursor.desktop"
readonly APPARMOR_PROFILE="/etc/apparmor.d/cursor-appimage"
readonly DOWNLOAD_URL="https://downloader.cursor.sh/linux/appImage/x64"
readonly TEMP_DIR="/tmp/AppImage"
readonly VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT=10
cursor_appimage_path=""
cursor_icon_path=""
# Support function to print steps
print_step() {
echo -e "${YELLOW_COLOR}$1${RESET_COLOR}"
}
# Support function to print success
print_success() {
echo -e "${GREEN_COLOR}$1${RESET_COLOR}"
}
# Support function for error handling
error_exit() {
echo -e "${RED_COLOR}$1${RESET_COLOR}" >&2
kill $$
}
# Check necessary dependencies
check_dependencies() {
print_step "Checking necessary dependencies..."
for cmd in curl chmod find mkdir wget; do
if ! command -v "$cmd" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
error_exit "This script requires $cmd, but it is not installed.\nPlease install it with 'sudo apt install $cmd' and try again."
fi
done
print_success "All necessary dependencies are installed."
}
# Function to get the name of the latest version available for download
fetch_online_version() {
local HEADERS=$(timeout $VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT wget -S "$DOWNLOAD_URL" -q -O /dev/null 2>&1)
local FILENAME=$(echo "$HEADERS" | grep -o -E 'filename="[^"]+"' | sed 's/filename="//;s/"//')
if [[ -n "$FILENAME" ]]; then
echo "$FILENAME"
else
error_exit "Failed to fetch the latest version. If your connection is slow, try increasing \"VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT\"."
fi
}
# Function to get the path of latest version of the AppImage in the local directory
get_path_local_version() {
mkdir -p "$DOWNLOAD_APP_DIR" # Ensure the directory exists
local appimage_files
mapfile -t appimage_files < <(find "$DOWNLOAD_APP_DIR" -name 'cursor-*.AppImage' -printf '%T@ %p\n' | sort -nr | cut -d' ' -f2-)
if [ "${#appimage_files[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
return 0
fi
echo "${appimage_files[0]}"
}
# Search for the most recent AppImage file path
fetch_app_path() {
print_step "Searching for the most recent AppImage path of cursor.sh"
local appimage_files
mapfile -t appimage_files < <(find "$DOWNLOAD_APP_DIR" -name "cursor-*.AppImage" -printf '%T@ %p\n' | sort -rn | cut -d' ' -f2-)
if [ "${#appimage_files[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
echo -e "${RED_COLOR}No cursor.sh AppImage files found in $DOWNLOAD_APP_DIR/${RESET_COLOR}"
error_exit "You need to download the latest version first (OPTION 1) and run this script again."
fi
cursor_appimage_path=${appimage_files[0]}
print_success "Path found: $cursor_appimage_path"
}
# Download the application icon
download_logo() {
print_step "Downloading the logo"
cursor_icon_path="$ICON_DIR/cursor-icon.svg"
mkdir -p "$ICON_DIR"
if ! curl -s -o "$cursor_icon_path" "$ICON_URL"; then
error_exit "Failed to download the logo from $ICON_URL"
fi
print_success "Logo downloaded: $ICON_DIR/cursor-icon.svg"
}
# Create the .desktop file for the application
create_desktop_file() {
print_step "Creating the .desktop file"
cat <<-EOF >"$DESKTOP_FILE_PATH"
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Cursor
Exec=$cursor_appimage_path
Icon=$cursor_icon_path
Categories=Utility;Development
Terminal=false
StartupWMClass=Cursor
X-AppImage-Version=latest
Comment=Cursor is an AI-first coding environment.
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/cursor;
EOF
print_success "Desktop file created: $DESKTOP_FILE_PATH"
}
# Configure the AppArmor profile for the application
create_apparmor_profile() {
local appimage_path=${1-""}
if [[ -z $appimage_path ]]; then
appimage_path=$(get_path_local_version)
if [[ -z "$appimage_path" ]]; then
error_exit "No local version found. Please download the latest version first (OPTION 1) and run this script again."
fi
fi
print_step "Configuring the AppArmor profile..."
cat <<-EOF | sudo tee $APPARMOR_PROFILE > /dev/null
# This profile allows everything and only exists to give the
# application a name instead of having the label "unconfined"
abi <abi/4.0>,
include <tunables/global>
profile cursor $appimage_path flags=(unconfined) {
userns,
# Site-specific additions and overrides. See local/README for details.
include if exists <local/cursor>
}
EOF
sudo apparmor_parser -r $APPARMOR_PROFILE || error_exit "Failed to apply the AppArmor profile."
print_success "AppArmor profile successfully configured for $appimage_path"
}
# Main function that checks and downloads the latest version if it is not yet locally present
check_and_download_version() {
print_step "Checking for updates and downloading if a newer version is available"
check_dependencies
mkdir -p "$DOWNLOAD_APP_DIR" # Ensure the directory exists
local filename_local_version
local path_local_version=$(get_path_local_version)
if [[ -z "$path_local_version" ]]; then
echo -e "${YELLOW_COLOR}No local version found. A new version will be downloaded.${RESET_COLOR}"
else
filename_local_version=$(basename "$path_local_version")
echo -e "${BLUE_COLOR}Latest local version: ${filename_local_version}${RESET_COLOR}"
fi
# Gets the name of the latest online version
echo -e "${YELLOW_COLOR}Searching for the latest version. Please wait...${RESET_COLOR}"
local filename_online_version=$(fetch_online_version)
local path_online_version="$DOWNLOAD_APP_DIR/$filename_online_version"
# Compares versions and downloads if necessary
if [[ -z "$path_local_version" ]] || [[ "$filename_local_version" != "$filename_online_version" ]]; then
echo -e "${YELLOW_COLOR}A new version is available: ${RESET_COLOR}${GREEN_COLOR}$filename_online_version${RESET_COLOR}"
echo -e "${YELLOW_COLOR}Downloading the newest version...${RESET_COLOR}"
wget --quiet --show-progress --content-disposition -P "$DOWNLOAD_APP_DIR" --trust-server-names "$DOWNLOAD_URL"
echo -e "${GREEN_COLOR}Download completed: ${path_online_version}${RESET_COLOR}"
if [[ -f "${path_online_version}" ]]; then
chmod +x "${path_online_version}"
echo -e "${GREEN_COLOR}Made the AppImage executable: ${path_online_version}${RESET_COLOR}"
echo -e "${MAGENTA_COLOR}Now run the script again and choose option 2 to install the latest version.${RESET_COLOR}"
else
error_exit "Downloaded AppImage file not found at ${path_online_version}"
fi
else
echo -e "${GREEN_COLOR}No download needed — your local version ($filename_online_version) is the most current.${RESET_COLOR}"
fi
}
# Function to search and prepare the AppImage
fetch_and_prepare_appimage() {
check_dependencies
fetch_app_path
download_logo
create_desktop_file
create_apparmor_profile
echo -e "${GREEN_COLOR}Application installed and ready to use.${RESET_COLOR}"
}
# Function to create the AppArmor profile
setup_apparmor_profile() {
check_dependencies
fetch_app_path
create_apparmor_profile
}
# Interactive menu
PS3='Please choose an option: '
options=(
"Fetch the latest version and download (if not already present)"
"Re/Install the latest downloaded version"
"Just configure AppArmor (Required for Ubuntu 24.04)"
"Exit"
)
select opt in "${options[@]}"
do
case $opt in
"Fetch the latest version and download (if not already present)")
check_and_download_version
;;
"Re/Install the latest downloaded version")
fetch_and_prepare_appimage
;;
"Just configure AppArmor (Required for Ubuntu 24.04)")
setup_apparmor_profile
;;
"Exit")
break
;;
*) echo "Invalid option $REPLY";;
esac
done