Should update cursor work for linux?

Discussions
1

I am on Pop OS 22.04. Should the update the prompt work? I can click it, and cursor quits, but it does not update or reopen.

2

From Ubuntu, I’ve never managed to get that to work directly from Cursor, it just serves as a warning to let me know that there’s a new version.

To install/update and configure it I use a modified version from the jorcelinojunior/cursor-setup-wizard github repository.

Anyway, with the latest version they released hours ago, 0.45.7, it seems that something has changed in how they packaged the .AppImage and I can’t get it to work without the --no-sandbox parameter, since otherwise I get SUID / chrome-sandbox errors, maybe it’s something temporary in how they packaged the latest release.

This has some potential security drawbacks since the chromium process will not be sandboxed.

3

Hey, the sandbox issue is actually a global issue across many Electron apps, and we are still awaiting a viable and stable fix that doesn’t leave you without any security deficits.

You can read more here: [Bug]: The SUID sandbox helper binary was found, but is not configured correctly. Rather than run without sandboxing I'm aborting now. · Issue #42510 · electron/electron · GitHub

4

Hi, on linux I use this. Just change to installation folder, or get cursor to make your own.

#!/bin/bash

Script to download, extract, and install an AppImage, overwrite the previous installation,

and rename the executable to “runcursor”.

Exit on error

set -e

Default URL

DEFAULT_URL=“https://downloader.cursor.sh/linux/appImage/x64”

Validate input or use the default URL

if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
APPIMAGE_URL=“$DEFAULT_URL”
echo “No URL provided. Defaulting to $APPIMAGE_URL”
else
APPIMAGE_URL=“$1”
fi

APPIMAGE_NAME=$(basename “$APPIMAGE_URL”)
DOWNLOAD_DIR=“$HOME/Downloads”
APPIMAGE_PATH=“$DOWNLOAD_DIR/$APPIMAGE_NAME”
INSTALL_DIR=“$HOME/cursor” # Fixed installation directory

Step 1: Download the AppImage

echo “Downloading AppImage from $APPIMAGE_URL…”
mkdir -p “$DOWNLOAD_DIR”
curl -L -o “$APPIMAGE_PATH” “$APPIMAGE_URL”

if [ ! -f “$APPIMAGE_PATH” ]; then
echo “Error: Failed to download $APPIMAGE_NAME!”
exit 1
fi

Step 2: Make sure the file is executable

echo “Making the AppImage executable…”
chmod +x “$APPIMAGE_PATH”

Step 3: Extract the AppImage

echo “Extracting $APPIMAGE_PATH…”
TEMP_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
cd “$TEMP_DIR”

“$APPIMAGE_PATH” --appimage-extract

echo “AppImage extracted to $TEMP_DIR.”

Step 4: Overwrite previous installation

echo “Overwriting previous installation at $INSTALL_DIR…”
rm -rf “$INSTALL_DIR”
mkdir -p “$INSTALL_DIR”
mv squashfs-root/* “$INSTALL_DIR”

Step 5: Rename AppRun to runcursor

if [ -f “$INSTALL_DIR/AppRun” ]; then
echo “Renaming AppRun to runcursor…”
mv “$INSTALL_DIR/AppRun” “$INSTALL_DIR/runcursor”
chmod +x “$INSTALL_DIR/runcursor”
else
echo “Error: AppRun not found in the extracted files!”
exit 1
fi

Step 6: Fix chrome-sandbox permissions

if [ -f “$INSTALL_DIR/chrome-sandbox” ]; then
echo “Fixing chrome-sandbox permissions…”
sudo chown root “$INSTALL_DIR/chrome-sandbox”
sudo chmod 4755 “$INSTALL_DIR/chrome-sandbox”
fi

Step 7: Create the desktop entry

DESKTOP_FILE=“$HOME/Desktop/cursor.desktop”

echo “Creating desktop shortcut…”
cat > “$DESKTOP_FILE” <<EOL
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=Cursor
Exec=$INSTALL_DIR/runcursor
Icon=$INSTALL_DIR/cursor.png
Terminal=false
Categories=Utility;
EOL

Step 8: Make the desktop file executable

chmod +x “$DESKTOP_FILE”

Step 9: Mark the desktop file as trusted

gio set “$DESKTOP_FILE” metadata::trusted true || echo “Could not mark as trusted (not critical).”

echo “Installation complete! You can launch the app using the desktop shortcut or by running:”
echo “$INSTALL_DIR/runcursor”

5

To handle installation/upgrade on Ubuntu / Ubuntu-based I put together this:

I have to tweak a few details for compatibility with 0.46 file names (it only visually affects the console when installing/upgrading), but it works, recently updated to 0.46.9.