How To Theme Hyper Terminal On Linux
The problem with most terminal apps on Linux is that a lot of them don’t take design seriously, and look very much stuck in the past. If you’re sick of gross, old looking terminal apps on Linux and want something that looks pleasing to the eyes, you may be interested in Hyper. It’s a JavaScript terminal app that allows users to make custom themes, install extensions and quickly modify everything on the fly. Here’s how you can theme Hyper terminal and make it easier on the eyes.
Install Hyper Terminal
Ubuntu/Debian Instructions
The Hyper terminal is available for installation on both Ubuntu and Debian (as well as Linux operating systems that use their base) via a downloadable Debian package file. The downside to this is the fact that users will not be able to get immediate updates from their update manager. To install Hyper, head over to the release page, and click download next to “Debian (.deb).”
Double-click on the Hyper package to open it with the GUI installation tool. From there, click the “install” button, and enter your password to start the installation process.
If you’re not a huge fan of using Ubuntu Software or the Debian package installer, consider instead installing Hyper with DPKG on the command line. To install, open up a terminal and use the cd command to move to ~/Downloads. From there, use ls to reveal all items in the directory.
Copy the name of the Hyper Debian package file, and use the dpkg tool to install the software on your system.
sudo dpkg -i hyper_*_amd64.deb
During the installation via terminal, you may run into a situation where correct dependencies can’t resolve. There is a straightforward way to fix this issue. To fix, run apt install -f. This command will correct and install all missing dependencies.
sudo apt install -f
Want to uninstall Hyper from your Debian/Ubuntu PC? Remove it with:
sudo apt remove hyper
or
sudo apt-get remove hyper
Fedora/OpenSUSE Instructions
Hyper has an RPM package available for installation, though they only officially support Fedora Linux. That said, feel free to try to install and use the RPM package on OpenSUSE, as it should also work. If, however, you have issues using the package on SUSE, consider using the AppImage instead.
To install Hyper on Fedora, grab the RPM from the release page, and then open up a terminal window. Using cd, go to the ~/Downloads directory, and use dnf to install the program. Alternatively, double-click on the RPM file to install it via the Fedora GUI package installation tool.
cd ~/Downloads sudo dnf -y install hyper-1.*.x86_64.rpm
Suse
cd ~/Downloads sudo zypper install hyper-1.*.x86_64.rpm
Other Linuxes
An easy way to use the Hyper terminal on other Linux distributions is to download a standalone AppImage. AppImages allow Linux users to run programs independent of their operating system. Think of them like windows EXE files.
To get the latest AppImage of Hyper, go to the release page, look for “Other Linux distros (.AppImage)” and click on the download button. Once it’s downloaded, open up a terminal window and use the mkdir command to create an AppImage folder.
mkdir ~/AppImage
Move the latest version of Hyper into the AppImage folder using mv.
mv hyper-1.*-x86_64.AppImage ~/AppImage
Then, update the permissions of the Hyper AppImage so it can execute correctly. If you do not update the permissions, Hyper will not work correctly.
sudo chmod +x ~/AppImage/hyper-1.*-x86_64.AppImage
From here, open up your file manager and navigate to the “AppImage” folder located inside /home/username/. Double-click on the AppImage file. As Hyper opens, a notification appears. Click “yes.”
Clicking the “yes” button allows the AppImage to create a desktop shortcut on your system automatically.
Note: as Hyper distributes via AppImage file, you’ll need to manually download the new version of the Hyper terminal app and repeat the process above.
Uninstall Hyper at any time with:
rm ~/AppImage/hyper-1.*-x86_64.AppImage
Theme Hyper Terminal
It’s very easy to theme Hyper terminal. The tool of choice is the NodeJS package tool. To install a theme, first, make sure that you have the latest version of NodeJS installed on your Linux PC. Open up Hyper, and use npm search to find a theme.
Note: it is possible to modify the fonts, colors, and overall look of Hyper, without installing a theme by editing ~/.hyper.js. Open it with a text editor and tinker with the configurations.
npm search hyper terminal themes
Look through the list of installable themes, and find one you like. Then, use the NodeJS package tool to install it on the system.
sudo npm install theme-name
Now that the theme is installed, you’ll need to enable it in the configuration settings.
nano ~/.hyper.js
Using the down arrow key on the keyboard, move the cursor down and look for “plugins: [“. Write out the name of the theme you installed in quotes. For example:
plugins: ['hyper-materialshell']
The theme should instantly apply.
Hyper Terminal Extensions
Hyper users can also install various types of extensions to the Hyper terminal with npm. To install an extension, use the NodeJS package tool to search for them.
npm search hyper terminal
Install the plugin with:
sudo npm install hyper-extension-name
Open up the Hyper configuration file in Nano, look for “plugins: [” and write in the name of your newly installed plugin.
plugins: ['hyper-example-plugin']
If you’ve already got a theme enabled, add a “,” then ‘ ‘. For example:
plugins: [ 'hyper-materialshell', 'hyper-example-plugin']
