# Install byobu with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper

Text-based window manager and terminal multiplexer. Version 7.14 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-06.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:byobu
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install byobu
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install byobu
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/byobu/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add byobu
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: byobu from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install byobu
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: byobu from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install byobu
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: byobu from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#byobu
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/by/byobu/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install byobu
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: byobu from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:byobu
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Package manager page:** <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/byobu>
- **Version:** 7.14
- **Source summary:** Text-based window manager and terminal multiplexer
- **Homepage:** <https://byobu.org>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/dustinkirkland/byobu>
- **Upstream docs:** <https://byobu.org/>
- **License:** GPL-3.0-only
- **Source archive:** <https://github.com/dustinkirkland/byobu/archive/refs/tags/7.14.tar.gz>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-06T17:52:14Z
- **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00

## Executables

- byobu (cli)
- byobu-config (cli)
- byobu-ctrl-a (cli)
- byobu-disable (cli)
- byobu-disable-prompt (cli)
- byobu-enable (cli)
- byobu-enable-prompt (cli)
- byobu-export (cli)
- byobu-janitor (cli)
- byobu-keybindings (cli)
- byobu-launch (cli)
- byobu-launcher (cli)
- byobu-launcher-install (cli)
- byobu-launcher-uninstall (cli)
- byobu-layout (cli)
- byobu-prompt (cli)
- byobu-quiet (cli)
- byobu-reconnect-sockets (cli)
- byobu-screen (cli)
- byobu-select-backend (cli)
- byobu-select-profile (cli)
- byobu-select-session (cli)
- byobu-shell (cli)
- byobu-silent (cli)
- byobu-status (cli)
- byobu-status-detail (cli)
- byobu-tmux (cli)
- byobu-ugraph (cli)
- byobu-ulevel (cli)
- col1 (cli)
- ctail (cli)
- manifest (cli)
- purge-old-kernels (cli)
- vigpg (cli)
- wifi-status (cli)
- byobu (alias)
- byobu-config (alias)
- byobu-ctrl-a (alias)
- byobu-disable (alias)
- byobu-disable-prompt (alias)
- byobu-enable (alias)
- byobu-enable-prompt (alias)
- byobu-export (alias)
- byobu-janitor (alias)
- byobu-keybindings (alias)
- byobu-launch (alias)
- byobu-launcher (alias)
- byobu-launcher-install (alias)
- byobu-launcher-uninstall (alias)
- byobu-layout (alias)
- byobu-prompt (alias)
- byobu-quiet (alias)
- byobu-reconnect-sockets (alias)
- byobu-screen (alias)
- byobu-select-backend (alias)
- byobu-select-profile (alias)
- byobu-select-session (alias)
- byobu-shell (alias)
- byobu-silent (alias)
- byobu-status (alias)
- byobu-status-detail (alias)
- byobu-tmux (alias)
- byobu-ugraph (alias)
- byobu-ulevel (alias)
- col1 (alias)
- ctail (alias)
- manifest (alias)
- purge-old-kernels (alias)
- vigpg (alias)
- wifi-status (alias)

## Dependencies

- coreutils
- gettext
- newt
- tmux

## Build dependencies

- autoconf
- automake

## Install behavior

- Post-install hook: not defined
- Bottle: available on all

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-07-08
- Package-manager version: 7.14
- Package-manager updated: 2026-07-06
- Local data: ok
- Upstream repository: https://github.com/dustinkirkland/byobu
- Upstream latest detected: 7.14 (current)
## Project history and usage

Byobu is a GPLv3 terminal workspace layer for GNU Screen and tmux. It began as an Ubuntu Server-oriented set of enhancements around GNU Screen and grew into a portable session-management tool with status notifications, keybindings, profiles, and configuration helpers.

### Project history

The upstream README describes Byobu as originally designed to make the plain but practical GNU Screen experience more elegant for the Ubuntu server distribution. Later releases added support for tmux while keeping Screen support, which made Byobu less a single multiplexer and more a curated terminal environment.

Dustin Kirkland is listed by the project as the primary author, with Nick Barcet, Raphael Pinson, and Derek Carter credited as emeritus authors. The project has long lived in the Ubuntu and Launchpad ecosystem while also accepting contributions through its GitHub repository.

### Adoption history

Byobu became familiar to Ubuntu Server users because it packaged multiplexer defaults, status lines, and helper commands into a batteries-included command. Its presence across Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Alpine, MacPorts, Nix, and openSUSE packaging shows that the tool escaped its Ubuntu origin and became a general Unix terminal convenience.

Its adoption is tied to users who wanted persistent remote sessions without hand-maintaining large Screen or tmux configuration files. Byobu's value was not inventing multiplexing, but standardizing a useful opinionated profile that distributions could ship.

### How it is used

Users typically launch `byobu` to start or attach to a managed Screen or tmux session, then use Byobu's keybindings and status widgets for windows, system information, and session control. The bundled commands such as `byobu-config`, `byobu-select-backend`, `byobu-enable`, and `byobu-disable` make it scriptable and friendly to login-shell workflows.

The documented configuration search path uses `$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR`, `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/byobu`, and `~/.byobu`, so package users can keep personal status, keybinding, and backend preferences outside the system installation.

### Why package nerds care

Byobu matters in package-manager culture because it is a wrapper that made two already-packaged workhorses, Screen and tmux, feel like a coherent product. It is the kind of package server people install immediately after provisioning a host because it smooths daily SSH work.

It is also a good example of distro-born tooling becoming cross-platform: an Ubuntu Server nicety that Homebrew and other Unix package ecosystems carry because the workflow is useful everywhere.

### Timeline

- 2008: Byobu emerges from Ubuntu Server work around enhanced GNU Screen profiles.
- 2009: The project is known publicly as Byobu and shipped broadly in Ubuntu-era server workflows.
- 2011: tmux support becomes central enough that Byobu is described as supporting both GNU Screen and tmux.
- 2023: The upstream README still presents Byobu as a maintained cross-distribution multiplexer layer for Linux, BSD, and macOS.

### Related projects

- GNU Screen is the original terminal multiplexer Byobu enhanced.
- tmux is the modern multiplexer backend Byobu also supports.
- Ubuntu Server and Launchpad are part of Byobu's historical packaging and contribution context.

### Sources

- <https://byobu.org/>
- <https://github.com/dustinkirkland/byobu/blob/master/README.md>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

- **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium
- generalized runtime or code generation signal


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: $BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/byobu, ~/.byobu
## Source Database Details

- **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API
- **Tap:** homebrew/core
- **Full Name:** byobu
- **Version Scheme:** 0
- **Revision:** 0
- **Conflicts With:** ctail
- **Bottle Stable Root URL:** <https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core>
- **Deprecated:** no
- **Disabled:** no
- **Keg Only:** no
- **URL Keys:** stable

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - byobu - 5.133-1.1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: byobu from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | text window manager, shell multiplexer, integrated DevOps environment | http://byobu.org
- Nix - byobu: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/by/byobu/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - byobu - 6.11-0ubuntu1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: byobu from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | text window manager, shell multiplexer, integrated DevOps environment | https://byobu.org
- apk - byobu - 6.16-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: byobu from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | An enhancement of the GNU Screen | https://byobu.org
- apk - byobu-doc - 6.16-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: byobu-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | An enhancement of the GNU Screen (documentation) | https://byobu.org
- dnf - byobu - 7.9-4.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: byobu from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Light-weight, configurable window manager built upon GNU screen | https://github.com/dustinkirkland/byobu
- zypper - byobu - 6.15-1.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: byobu from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Enhanced profile and configuration utilities for GNU Screen and tmux | https://byobu.org/
- zypper - byobu-doc - 6.15-1.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: byobu-doc from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Documentation files for byobu | https://byobu.org/
- MacPorts - byobu: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/byobu/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Related links

- [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals.
- [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata.
- [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata.
- [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata.
- [coreutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/coreutils/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [gettext](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gettext/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [newt](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/newt/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [tmux](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/tmux/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [autoconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/autoconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [automake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/automake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [smug](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/smug/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal, tmux.
- [tmux-sessionizer](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/tmux-sessionizer/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, session-management, terminal, tmux.
- [tmuxinator](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/tmuxinator/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, session-management, terminal, tmux.
- [wemux](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/wemux/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal, tmux.
- [cbonsai](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cbonsai/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal.
- [eless](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/eless/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal.
- [nvimpager](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/nvimpager/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, productivity, terminal.
- [vim](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/vim/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, gettext, management, manager, productivity.

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/byobu.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/byobu.yml)


## Sources

- Nucleus package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- package-page enrichment
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- package version freshness
- av.db category and tag curation
- package relationship graph
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph