Installing Ghostty on ARM-based VMs (Parallels/VMware)

This guide covers installing Ghostty terminal emulator on ARM64 (aarch64) virtual machines like Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion running Arch Linux ARM.

Prerequisites

• Arch Linux ARM running in a VM (Parallels, VMware, etc.)
• AUR helper or manual build capability
• git, base-devel, and sudo access

Common Issues on ARM VMs

1. OpenGL Context Errors: VMs often lack proper OpenGL support
2. Zig Version Mismatch: Ghostty requires Zig 0.15.2+, official repos may have older versions
3. Missing Dependencies: Some dependencies need special handling

Installation Steps

1. Install Official Repo Dependencies

sudo pacman -S --needed blueprint-compiler git base-devel

2. Install Pandoc (provides pandoc-cli)

Since pandoc-cli doesn't exist as a standalone package, install pandoc-bin from AUR:

# Using omarchy-aur-install or your preferred AUR helper
omarchy-aur-install pandoc-bin
# OR
yay -S pandoc-bin
# OR
paru -S pandoc-bin

3. Install Zig 0.15.2

Ghostty requires Zig 0.15.2+. Since official repos may have older versions:

Option A: Manual Installation (Recommended for VMs)

cd /tmp
curl -L -O https://ziglang.org/download/0.15.2/zig-aarch64-linux-0.15.2.tar.xz
tar -xf zig-aarch64-linux-0.15.2.tar.xz
sudo mv zig-aarch64-linux-0.15.2 /usr/local/
sudo ln -sf /usr/local/zig-aarch64-linux-0.15.2/zig /usr/local/bin/zig

# Verify
zig version  # Should show 0.15.2

Option B: AUR Package (if compatible)

omarchy-aur-install zig-bin

4. Install Ghostty from AUR

omarchy-aur-install ghostty-git
# OR
yay -S ghostty-git

5. Fix OpenGL Context Error (Required for VMs)

VMs typically can't acquire OpenGL contexts. Create a wrapper script to force software rendering:

# Create wrapper script
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/omarchy/bin

cat > ~/.local/share/omarchy/bin/ghostty << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
# Ghostty wrapper - Forces software rendering for VM compatibility

# Force GTK to use Cairo software renderer instead of OpenGL
export GSK_RENDERER=cairo

# Also try software rendering for Mesa (if applicable)
export LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1

# Execute the real ghostty binary
exec /usr/bin/ghostty "$@"
EOF

chmod +x ~/.local/share/omarchy/bin/ghostty

6. Update Desktop File

Create a local desktop file override to use the wrapper:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/applications

cat > ~/.local/share/applications/com.mitchellh.ghostty.desktop << 'EOF'
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Ghostty
Type=Application
Comment=A terminal emulator
TryExec=$HOME/.local/share/omarchy/bin/ghostty
Exec=$HOME/.local/share/omarchy/bin/ghostty --gtk-single-instance=true
Icon=com.mitchellh.ghostty
Categories=System;TerminalEmulator;
Keywords=terminal;tty;pty;
StartupNotify=true
StartupWMClass=com.mitchellh.ghostty
Terminal=false
Actions=new-window;
X-GNOME-UsesNotifications=true
X-TerminalArgExec=-e
X-TerminalArgTitle=--title=
X-TerminalArgAppId=--class=
X-TerminalArgDir=--working-directory=
X-TerminalArgHold=--wait-after-command
DBusActivatable=true
X-KDE-Shortcuts=Ctrl+Alt+T

[Desktop Action new-window]
Name=New Window
Exec=$HOME/.local/share/omarchy/bin/ghostty --gtk-single-instance=true
EOF

# Update desktop database
update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications

7. Verify Installation

# Test from command line
ghostty --version

# Launch GUI
ghostty &

# Check you're in Ghostty (from within the new terminal)
echo $GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR  # Should output: /usr/share/ghostty

Troubleshooting

"Unable to acquire an OpenGL context" Error

Solution: Make sure you created the wrapper script in step 5.

Alternative renderers to try (edit the wrapper script):

export GSK_RENDERER=ngl      # New GL renderer
# OR
export GSK_RENDERER=vulkan   # Vulkan backend (if available)

Slow Performance with Cairo Renderer

1. Enable 3D acceleration in VM settings:

   • Parallels: Configure → Hardware → Graphics → Enable 3D acceleration
   • VMware: Settings → Display → Accelerate 3D graphics

2. Install Mesa drivers:

   sudo pacman -S mesa mesa-utils

Zig Build Errors

Error: Your Zig version v0.15.1 does not meet the required build version of v0.15.2

Solution: Make sure you installed Zig 0.15.2 exactly (step 3)

Error: expected LLVM 21.x but found 20.x

Solution: Use manual Zig installation (Option A in step 3) instead of building from source

AUR Package Dependency Errors

Error: Clone failed for 'libfontconfig' or similar library errors

Solution: This was a bug in some AUR helpers. The libraries are already provided by official packages like fontconfig, freetype2, glib2, etc. If using omarchy-aur-install, make sure it's updated with the fix from this guide.

Known Limitations

• Performance: Software rendering (Cairo) is slower than hardware OpenGL but necessary for VM compatibility
• GPU features: Some advanced GPU features may not work in VMs
• 3D effects: Background blur and similar effects may not work properly

Verifying You're in Ghostty vs Other Terminals

Create a quick detection script:

cat > ~/.local/share/omarchy/bin/which-terminal << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
if [ -n "$GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR" ]; then
    echo "🟢 Ghostty"
elif pstree -s $$ 2>/dev/null | grep -q alacritty; then
    echo "🔵 Alacritty"
elif pstree -s $$ 2>/dev/null | grep -q kitty; then
    echo "🟡 Kitty"
else
    echo "❓ Unknown ($TERM)"
fi
EOF
chmod +x ~/.local/share/omarchy/bin/which-terminal

# Usage
which-terminal

Environment-Specific Variables

When running in Ghostty, these variables are set:

• GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR=/usr/share/ghostty
• TERM=xterm-256color (or ghostty if using Ghostty's terminfo)

Additional Resources

• Ghostty Official Docs
• GTK OpenGL Context Help
• Zig Downloads
• Ghostty AUR Package

Version Info

This guide was tested with:

• OS: Arch Linux ARM (aarch64)
• Ghostty: 1.2.0-r609.g2696d50-1
• Zig: 0.15.2
• VM: Parallels Desktop (ARM64)
• Date: October 2025

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If you encounter issues not covered here, check the Ghostty issue tracker or the AUR package comments.