Dextop

Dextop handles all the technical intricacies of a PRoot container so you can get right to work. It runs as a transient container system that talks to Android through the Termux shell to open viewers and applications as needed.

• Three distributions. Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora base images, stable and popular with large knowledge bases. Debian 13 (trixie) is the default.
• Unified storage. Internal and external media detected, labelled and linked, with one home directory shared by Termux and every container.
• Hardware acceleration. 3D rendering offloaded to the device GPU through VirGL and the Gallium driver framework, on the PRoot container side.
• Native display. The Termux:X11 display server at the device's native resolution and DPI, with VNC as an alternative display path.
• Just like a PC. The base image is expanded to a full system with a real user profile, a working home directory and sudo rights.
• Android integration. Links, mail, messages, camera and music are handed to native Android applications through the Activity Manager.
• Desktop or console. A complete XFCE desktop, the i3 window manager, or a console only setup for command line and programming work.
• Safe by default. The home directory is archived before setup, and the whole setup can be restored or purged again.
• Help everywhere. Every utility answers -h with its usage and options, all listed in the Commands section below.
• No root. Everything runs in the Android user space through Termux and PRoot: the device is never rooted.

What it doesn't do

• Patched tools. htop, kill, pgrep, pkill, ps and top are linked from their Termux builds for the limited access Android allows.
• No services. Dextop does not load services or backends, so applications that need them, such as Snap and snapd, do not run.
• No hardware probes. Features that need restricted system directories or hardware access only work on a rooted device.

Install Termux and Termux:X11, label your storage, and run one command. Back up your existing Termux setup first, following the Termux backup recommendations.

• Device. A modern Android device with a 64 bit ARM processor (ARM64 V8a), Android 7.0 or later. Android 11 to 13 can stop background processes: see the Phantom Process Killer.
• Peripherals. A mouse, a keyboard, a power source for long sessions and, on phones, a monitor. Dextop is optimized for Samsung DeX.
• Connection. Medium to high speed internet for setup, updates and additional packages.
• Space. About 4 GB of free storage for Termux and the distribution container.

Prepare

1. Get Termux from GitHub. The Google Play Store packages are deprecated since November 2020: do not install them. Install the Termux and Termux:X11 APKs from their GitHub releases, and optionally Termux:API.
2. Allow unknown apps. Settings > Security and Privacy > Install unknown apps > Termux: the setup installs the companion applications for you.
3. Label your storage. In the storage you want as home, create a .storage file with a label, as shown below.

echo 'Home' > .storage

Install

Open Termux and run the deployment script. Answer the user and distribution questions, press Allow for storage and Install for the add-ons, and the rest runs on its own in about 10 minutes.

curl -s -L run.dxtp.app > dextop && bash dextop

Choose another setup with an option: bash dextop -e i3 for the i3 window manager, bash dextop -c for console access only, t or n for the Termux or container side alone.

Use

Opening Termux logs in and brings the graphical session up automatically. A recommended clean slate is a fresh Termux instance or profile, but Dextop also deploys over an existing setup.

Download Termux from GitHub ›

dextop runs the whole setup in order, with Frobulator reporting every step. User information and distribution preferences are asked along the way, so stay attentive.

1. Failsafe. Refreshes the Termux repositories and packages so nothing is skipped on install.
2. Backup. Archives the home directory to ${PREFIX}/bkp before anything changes.
3. Preferences. Links the Termux colors, font and properties.
4. Utilities. Downloads the Dextop utilities into ~/.local/bin.
5. Directories, additions and backgrounds. Creates the setup directories, installs the Android handlers and the desktop backgrounds.
6. Login options. Turns on automatic session start and shutdown, and prepares the update and audio switches.
7. Termux. Installs the companion applications, links the storage and installs the Termux packages.
8. Container. Downloads the image, initializes it, expands it to a full system, installs its packages and creates your user.
9. Desktop. Links the shell files, file manager bookmarks, the i3 interface, icon themes and themes.
10. Session. Moves the deployment script into ~/.local/bin and starts the first session.

Every step writes a checkpoint in ~/.dextop, so running bash dextop again resumes where it stopped. The setup checkpoint is only written when every step succeeded. All prompts and outputs are logged to ${PREFIX}/var/log.

Files Dextop links

Dextop is Bash centric. All of these files can be customized and make a good base, but changes are at your own risk: bug reports stemming from modified scripts are closed.

The container runs through PRoot with the Android system, storage and devices bound in, so it behaves like a normal Linux based system.

• Several containers. Containers live under ${PREFIX}/cnt/distribution/version. container-session -d picks one, or lists them all to choose from.
• Locale. Setup runs in C.UTF-8 and initializes the container locale. Sessions fall back to C.UTF-8 when the chosen locale is missing.
• Selection. Without an image option the setup lists every supported image to pick by number. container-image -s shows the list.
• Hostname. The container is called dextop by default, not after Android. Set another with container-user -n.
• Architecture. The processor is checked against the image architectures before anything is downloaded.
• Matching sources. Container apt sources follow each release: archive, ports and non-free-firmware.

container-session starts and stops the graphical session, on Termux or inside the container. It is just like running a virtual machine on a computer and looking at it through a viewer.

• User termux. The default container user is termux. Add more with container-user -u and change passwords with container-user -p.
• VNC resolution. The VNC session asks for a resolution once and keeps it in ~/.vnc/selection. Remove that file to choose again.
• Logout. Ctrl+D, logout or exit stops the session and goes back to the Termux shell, or to the Android home screen.
• Termux or container. The green prompt is the Termux system, the fuschia prompt the container. Each has its own desktop session.
• First login. The first container login sets up the keyboard layout, locales and timezone once.
• VNC viewers. Remotix, RealVNC VNC Viewer or bVNC, with full screen or immersive modes.

Display and data paths

XFCE compositing stays off: within Android's user space policy it costs performance and causes tearing.

termux-storage asks for the storage permission, then links internal and external media for system wide access. Create the .storage labels before setup for recognizable names.

• Detection. Mounts under /storage are read from /proc/mounts, which avoids the /storage access limits of Android 11 and later, and filtered for SD cards, external drives and Chrome OS UUID mounts.
• Labels. Each mount is linked under ${PREFIX}/media by the label in its .storage file: echo internal > /storage/self/primary/.storage gives internal -> /storage/self/primary.
• Home. A storage labelled Home holds the standard directories, linked into the home directory shared by Termux and every container.
• Chrome OS. Add a .storage file containing Home under My files so the links find your directories in every container.
• Bookmarks. Every mount is added to the file manager bookmarks with its label.
• No label. Unlabelled mounts are linked by their own names or UUIDs.

dextop-additions hands desktop requests to the Android Activity Manager, which opens the matching Android application for you. Dextop only loads applications as needed, keeping the device smooth.

• Slim system. Music, mail, browsing and games run best in native Android applications, with hardware acceleration and the device features.
• Default applications. The desktop opens links, mail and files in Android applications through the mimetype handles.
• Audio. PulseAudio playback works but is heavy on the battery and processor. It is off by default.

Dextop keeps its choices as small files in ~/.dextop. Write the keyword in a file to turn a switch on, empty it to turn it off. Automatic login and logout are on after setup.

• Checkpoints. One dextop-...-checkpoint file per setup step. Remove ~/.dextop to run the whole setup again.
• Container. dextop-container keeps the container directory, ${PREFIX}/cnt/debian/13 by default.
• Environment. dextop-environment keeps the desktop chosen at setup: xfce, i3 or console.
• Session. dextop-session keeps the session command: xfce4-session, i3 or console.
• Login count. dextop-ticker counts the logins shown on the welcome message.

termux-packages and container-packages install these groups, read straight from the scripts. The container installs them under their Debian and Ubuntu or Fedora names.

Termux add-ons

termux-addons installs the Termux companion applications. Remove any earlier version first so no conflicting package signatures are inherited.

• By desktop. Console installs the base groups only. i3 adds the i3 and i3 add-on groups, XFCE the XFCE, font and theme groups and Papirus-Dark icons.
• Removed. ibus, snap and xterm are purged from the container.

Dextop updates itself and its utilities from the latest release, and keeps your home directory safe with dated backups.

Update

Get the latest deployment script first, then update what you need. A wrong utility name lists every available one.

curl -s -L run.dxtp.app > "${HOME}"/.local/bin/dextop
bash dextop -u all
bash dextop -u utility all
bash dextop -u utility [Utility Name]
bash dextop -u shell

termux-update checks the Termux application itself against GitHub or F-Droid with -g or -f and offers the update.

Back up, restore and purge

Backups are kept outside the home directory, so no backup ever holds another, and purge keeps them.

Issues

• Broken script. A slow or failed download can corrupt the deployment script: fetch it again and run bash dextop -u utility all.
• Missing packages. Spotty Termux repositories can skip packages. Run bash dextop again: it resumes from its checkpoints.
• Start over. Remove ~/.dextop to reset the setup checkpoints without wiping Termux.
• Logs. Attach the files from ${PREFIX}/var/log to bug reports.

Submit a bug report or feature request ›

The help of all 14 Dextop utilities, read from the scripts themselves: 46 options with their values and defaults. The marked letter is the short option. Search them, or pick a group.

dextop -c | -e [Environment] | -t | -n | -l | -i | -a | -d | -b | -r [Backup] | -u [Update] [Name] | -p | -h [OPTION]

termux-packages -h

termux-update -f | -g | [OPTION]

termux-storage -c | -e [Environment] | -t | -n | -b | -u [Update Type] [Utility Name] | [OPTION]

termux-addons -s [Selection Type] [Addon Name] | [OPTION]

termux-system -h

container-image -i [Distribution Name] [Distribution Version] | -s [Selection] | [OPTION]

container-initialization -h

container-expansion -h

container-packages -h

container-user [OPTION]

container-settings -h

container-session -o [Display Server] | -x | -l | -u [User Name] | -d [Directory] | -f [Application] | [OPTION]

dextop-additions -a [Activity] | -c [Action] | -n [Handle] | [OPTION]

No command matches your search.

The latest release notices from the Dextop repository.

Read every notice ›