To use Varnam on Linux, you need to install 3 things :

1. GoVarnam
2. Your Language Support
3. Varnam IBus Engine

There is a simple quick way to install the above 3. Or you can install them step-by-step.

Quick Install

RECOMMENDED for everyone

VIDEO TUTORIAL (Ubuntu) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FNxAsH2Ebw

Open a terminal application (Try shortcut CTRL + ALT + T or look in the application menu for “terminal”).

Now, paste the following and press Enter :

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/varnamproject/govarnam/master/quick-installer.sh)

Follow the instructions shown in terminal to complete installation.

After installation, see Getting Started.

Manual Install

NOT RECOMMENDED for beginners.

Here’s the way to install Varnam step-by-step.

1. GoVarnam

You will need to install GoVarnam library in your system for any app to use Varnam.

• Download a recent GoVarnam version.

• Extract the zip file

• Go to the extracted folder

• Now we need to run the install script

  • Double click install.sh, and choose “Run In Terminal”
  • Or for KDE, Right click, choose “Run In Konsole”
  • Or right click on folder, choose “Open In Terminal”, type this and press enter:

  ./install.sh
  

• Type your password and press enter

• Basic Installation is finished

• Install your language from here

You may also install the IBus engine to use Varnam system wide: https://github.com/varnamproject/govarnam-ibus

You can now proceed to install the IBus Engine

2. Language Support

• Download your language support file from releases: https://github.com/varnamproject/schemes/releases

• Extract zip

• Go to the extracted folder

• Open a terminal in your extracted folder

• Now we need to run the install script

  • Double click install.sh, and choose “Run In Terminal”
  • Or for KDE, Right click, choose “Run In Konsole”
  • Or right click on folder, choose “Open In Terminal”, type this and press enter:

  ./install.sh
  

• Type your password and press enter.

• You will also be asked to import words for better suggestions. You may choose to import them all. You can manually import a Varnam Learnings File (VLF) by:

  varnamcli -s ml -import "words.vlf"
  

To check if installation is successful, try this command :

varnamcli -s ml enthaa

It should give malayalam suggestions if installation is successful.

3. IBus Engine For Varnam

An easy way to type Indian languages on GNU/Linux systems.

• Install and setup IBus: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/IBus
• Download the latest release: https://github.com/varnamproject/govarnam-ibus/releases
• Extract the zip file
• Open the extracted folder
• Now we need to run the install script
  • Double click install.sh, and choose “Run In Terminal”
  • Or for KDE, Right click, choose “Run In Konsole”
  • Or right click on folder, choose “Open In Terminal”, type this and press enter:

  ./install.sh
  

• Type your password and press enter
• Restart ibus (no sudo)

  ibus restart
  

After installation, see Getting Started and enable Varnam IBus Engine.

Usage

Type System-Wide

Read docs on Varnam IBus Engine for useful tips.

Terminal

Transliterate a word:

varnamcli -s ml namaskaaram

Learning Words

Learning words: See documentation on learning

Uninstall

You can uninstall each of the components with this same command on each of them:

sudo ./install.sh uninstall