One command, any system

Install NeuraCore

NeuraCore installs through the software manager your computer already uses, so it updates along with everything else. Pick your system below and copy the line into a terminal.

Current release: 1.0.0

Before you install: what NeuraCore is

This software is not provided or supported by Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life. NeuraCore is an independent third-party viewer. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official product of Linden Lab. Second Life and Linden Lab are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc.

Things worth knowing before you install

NeuraCore does not draw the 3D world. It is a headless control client: chat, inventory, appearance, movement and the map, without the rendered view Linden Lab's viewer gives you.
It can act on its own. An Automation Engine, an embedded Python interpreter and an optional AI controller can perform enabled actions for your avatar, which makes an avatar running it a scripted agent under Linden Lab's rules. You are responsible for declaring it where those rules require it.
It is licensed software, not free software. A licence is bought in world and is tied to an avatar; the licensing service is told which avatars are connected so it can enforce that.
It connects to Second Life and to OpenSimulator grids, and it identifies itself to each of them as NeuraCore.

Support

Support for NeuraCore comes from the NeuraCore support portal and the free NeuraCore Support HUD in world. Linden Lab does not provide it and cannot diagnose it. For a Second Life account, payment or platform problem, contact Linden Lab through its own support instead.

Privacy

What NeuraCore collects, keeps and sends is written out in full in the privacy notice, which is also the disclaimer you are asked to accept the first time you run it.

Read the privacy notice

LinuxDebian · Ubuntu · Mint · Fedora · Arch · Garuda · Manjaro

First, open a terminal

Press Ctrl+Alt+T. On most desktops that opens one straight away.
If nothing happens, open your applications menu and search for “Terminal”, on KDE it is called Konsole, on GNOME it is Terminal or Console.
A window with a text prompt appears. That is where the line below goes: paste it and press Enter.

You also need curl

The command below uses a small program called curl to fetch the installer. Most desktop systems already have it; a freshly installed Debian often does not. Check by typing curl --version, if it answers “command not found”, install it first:

Debian, Ubuntu, Mint

sudo apt install curl

Fedora, RHEL

sudo dnf install curl

Arch, Garuda, Manjaro

sudo pacman -S curl

If you would rather not install curl, wget does the same job and is present more often:

wget -qO- https://download.neuracore.ch/install.sh | sudo sh

This adds the NeuraCore software repository and its signing key, then installs NeuraCore. It works out which of apt, dnf or pacman your system uses and does the right thing.

curl -fsSL https://download.neuracore.ch/install.sh | sudo sh

Afterwards NeuraCore is an ordinary package. It upgrades when the rest of your system does.
The package brings its own copy of Python, so it does not matter which version your distribution ships.
It installs into /opt/neuracore and puts a launcher on your PATH, so it cannot disturb anything your distribution installed.

I would rather run the steps myself

The one-line command does exactly these steps. Run them yourself if you prefer not to pipe a script into a shell, a reasonable preference, and this is what the script does.

Debian, Ubuntu and Mint, add the key, add the repository, install:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.neuracore.ch/neuracore.asc -o /etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc
echo 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc] https://download.neuracore.ch/apt stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/neuracore.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install neuracore

Fedora, RHEL, Alma and Rocky:

sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/neuracore.repo >/dev/null <<'EOF'
[neuracore]
name=NeuraCore
baseurl=https://download.neuracore.ch/rpm
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
repo_gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://download.neuracore.ch/neuracore.asc
EOF
sudo dnf install neuracore

Arch, Garuda, Manjaro and EndeavourOS, the fingerprint is shown on the key page linked below:

curl -fsSL https://download.neuracore.ch/neuracore.asc -o /tmp/neuracore.asc
sudo pacman-key --add /tmp/neuracore.asc
sudo pacman-key --lsign-key <fingerprint>
printf '\n[neuracore]\nSigLevel = Required DatabaseOptional\nServer = https://download.neuracore.ch/arch\n' | sudo tee -a /etc/pacman.conf
sudo pacman -Sy neuracore

What you need

A 64-bit x86 system (the one almost every desktop and laptop uses). A Raspberry Pi, or any other 64-bit ARM machine, has its own card on this page.
A distribution released in 2024 or later: Debian 13, Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 41, or any current Arch, Garuda or Manjaro. Older releases have a system library too old for this build.
A graphical desktop. NeuraCore has no 3D view, but it is a windowed application.
About 200 MB of disk space.
Root access, once, to add the repository.

Published for this system: 1.0.0

Raspberry PiRaspberry Pi OS 64-bit · Ubuntu · Pi 4 · Pi 5 · Pi 400 · Pi 500 · Pi Zero 2 W

First, open a terminal

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on the Raspberry Pi desktop. That opens one straight away.
If nothing happens, open the Raspberry menu at the top left, then Accessories, then Terminal.
A window with a text prompt appears. That is where the line below goes: paste it and press Enter.

First check that this is the 64-bit system

NeuraCore is published for the 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS only. Type uname -m: aarch64 means you are ready, and armv7l or armv6l means you are on the 32-bit system, which is still the default download for older boards. Reinstall with Raspberry Pi Imager, choosing the 64-bit edition, on a Pi 4, 5, 400, 500 or Zero 2 W. You also need curl, which Raspberry Pi OS installs by default.

Check the architecture

uname -m

Install curl if it is missing

sudo apt install curl

If you would rather not install curl, wget does the same job:

wget -qO- https://download.neuracore.ch/install-raspberry.sh | sudo sh

This adds the NeuraCore software repository for 64-bit ARM and its signing key, then installs NeuraCore. It is a separate repository from the one desktop computers use, so it always offers the build that runs on this board.

curl -fsSL https://download.neuracore.ch/install-raspberry.sh | sudo sh

Afterwards NeuraCore is an ordinary package. sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade keeps it current along with the rest of the system.
The package brings its own copy of Python, so the version Raspberry Pi OS ships does not matter.
It installs into /opt/neuracore and puts a launcher on your PATH, so it cannot disturb anything Raspberry Pi OS installed.
A Pi with no screen can run it too: neuracore --headless starts it with no window at all, which is what makes it useful on a board tucked behind a router.

I would rather run the steps myself

The one-line command does exactly these steps. Run them yourself if you prefer not to pipe a script into a shell, a reasonable preference, and this is what the script does.

Add the key, add the ARM repository, install:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo curl -fsSL https://download.neuracore.ch/neuracore.asc -o /etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc
echo 'deb [arch=arm64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc] https://download.neuracore.ch/apt-arm64 stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/neuracore.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install neuracore

What you need

A Raspberry Pi 4, 5, 400, 500 or Zero 2 W running the 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS. Check with uname -m, which has to answer aarch64.
Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm or later, or Ubuntu 22.04 or later for the Raspberry Pi.
The Raspberry Pi desktop, or nothing at all if you run it with --headless. NeuraCore draws no 3D world, so it asks nothing of the graphics hardware.
About 200 MB of space on the card or disk, and 4 GB of memory is comfortable.
Root access, once, to add the repository.

Published for this system: 1.0.0

WindowsWindows 10 · Windows 11

First, open a terminal

Right-click the Start button and choose Terminal. On Windows 10 it is called Windows PowerShell.
Or press the Windows key, type “terminal”, and press Enter.
A window with a text prompt appears. Paste the line below and press Enter.

This PowerShell command downloads and runs our installer script. It installs NeuraCore into Program Files and creates Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts:

irm https://download.neuracore.ch/install.ps1 | iex

Run it in PowerShell or Windows Terminal. If administrator permission is needed, Windows prompts for elevation.
It installs NeuraCore into Program Files and creates Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts.
Upgrade later by running the same command again.

Direct download (.zip)

If you prefer a manual installation without running a script, download the portable zip archive directly:

Download NeuraCore for Windows (v1.0.0)

NeuraCore-1.0.0-windows-x64.zip · 29 MB

Extract the zip archive to any folder, for example Program Files.
Run NeuraCore.exe to start the application.
Create a desktop or start menu shortcut manually if desired.

What you need

Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11, 64-bit.
Windows PowerShell or Windows Terminal (included with Windows).
About 200 MB of disk space.
Administrator permission, when prompted, to install into Program Files.

Published for this system: 1.0.0

macOSApple silicon · Intel

First, open a terminal

Press Cmd+Space, type “terminal”, and press Enter.
Or open Finder, then Applications, then Utilities, then Terminal.
A window with a text prompt appears. Paste the line below and press Enter.

This command downloads and runs our installer script. It installs NeuraCore into your Applications folder and creates a command-line shortcut:

curl -fsSL https://download.neuracore.ch/install.sh | sudo sh

Run it in Terminal. If administrator permission is needed, macOS prompts for your password.
Upgrade later by running the same command again.
NeuraCore is signed ad hoc but is not notarised by Apple yet, so macOS quarantines it and refuses to open it. The installer clears that mark from /Applications/NeuraCore.app for you, right after installing, and says so. If macOS still refuses, run it yourself: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/NeuraCore.app

What you need

macOS 13 (Ventura) or later.
About 200 MB of disk space.
Administrator permission, when prompted, to install into Applications.

Published for this system: 1.0.0

Keeping NeuraCore up to date

NeuraCore never replaces itself. It is upgraded by your package manager or by re-running the installer script, so keeping it current is straightforward.

Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Raspberry Pi OS

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Fedora, RHEL

sudo dnf upgrade

Arch, Garuda, Manjaro

sudo pacman -Syu

Windows

irm https://download.neuracore.ch/install.ps1 | iex

macOS

curl -fsSL https://download.neuracore.ch/install.sh | sudo sh

When a newer release exists, NeuraCore says so in its status bar. Clicking that message opens a window with the exact command for the computer you are on.

Removing NeuraCore

NeuraCore can be removed completely with one command. Nothing is left running and nothing else on the machine is touched.

Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Raspberry Pi OS

sudo apt remove neuracore

Fedora, RHEL

sudo dnf remove neuracore

Arch, Garuda, Manjaro

sudo pacman -R neuracore

Windows

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:ProgramFiles\NeuraCore"

macOS

sudo rm -rf /Applications/NeuraCore.app /usr/local/bin/neuracore

Your own files are deliberately left behind: the NeuraCore folder in your home directory holds your avatars, settings and encrypted passwords, and removing the program does not delete them. Delete that folder yourself if you want nothing left. On Linux you can also drop the software repository the installer added, in /etc/apt/sources.list.d, /etc/yum.repos.d or /etc/pacman.conf.

Checking that it is genuine

Every NeuraCore package is signed, and your software manager checks that signature before it installs anything. If a package were altered anywhere between here and your computer, the installation would stop.

The public half of the signing key is published here. Your system imports it as part of the install command; you never need to handle it yourself, and it is available so that you can.

View the signing key

The file itself: /neuracore.asc

The one-line install command downloads a script and runs it. That deserves to be read before it is run, so it is a plain, readable file with comments explaining every step.

Read the install script

#!/bin/sh
#
# NeuraCore installer.
#
#   curl -fsSL https://download.neuracore.ch/install.sh | sudo sh
#
# On Linux, this adds the NeuraCore package repository and its signing key,
# then installs NeuraCore from it as an ordinary package.
# On macOS, this downloads the signed application bundle, installs it to
# /Applications, clears the quarantine mark, and symlinks the terminal command.
#
# It is generated by NeuraCoreDeploy and carries this release's signing
# fingerprint. Read it before running it; that is what the pipe into `sh`
# deserves.

set -eu

SITE="https://download.neuracore.ch"
KEY_FINGERPRINT="85D8D6B36EE7AD08922E94405401ED04C8BE02A8"

say() { printf '%s\n' "$*"; }
fail() { printf '%s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }

# Root is needed to install software, and asking for it up front is better than
# failing halfway through with a permission error.
[ "$(id -u)" = "0" ] || fail "Please run this with sudo:  curl -fsSL $SITE/install.sh | sudo sh"

OS="$(uname -s)"
if [ "$OS" = "Darwin" ]; then
    say "macOS detected. Installing NeuraCore ..."

    command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1 || fail "curl is required to install NeuraCore."
    command -v tar >/dev/null 2>&1 || fail "tar is required to unpack NeuraCore."

    say "Checking latest release from $SITE/latest.json ..."
    LATEST_JSON=$(curl -fsSL "$SITE/latest.json" 2>/dev/null || true)
    TARBALL_PATH=$(printf '%s\n' "$LATEST_JSON" | grep -o 'files/[^"]*macos[^"]*\.tar\.gz' | head -n 1 || true)
    if [ -z "$TARBALL_PATH" ]; then
        VERSION=$(printf '%s\n' "$LATEST_JSON" | grep -o '"version"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"[^"]*"' | head -n 1 | cut -d'"' -f4 || true)
        if [ -n "$VERSION" ]; then
            TARBALL_PATH="files/$VERSION/NeuraCore-$VERSION-macos.tar.gz"
        fi
    fi

    if [ -z "$TARBALL_PATH" ]; then
        for V in 2.0.0 1.0.1 1.0.0; do
            if curl -fsI "$SITE/files/$V/NeuraCore-$V-macos.tar.gz" 2>/dev/null | grep -q "200 OK"; then
                TARBALL_PATH="files/$V/NeuraCore-$V-macos.tar.gz"
                break
            fi
        done
    fi

    [ -n "$TARBALL_PATH" ] || fail "Could not locate a macOS release archive on $SITE."

    DOWNLOAD_URL="$SITE/$TARBALL_PATH"
    TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d /tmp/neuracore.XXXXXX)
    trap 'rm -rf "$TMPDIR"' EXIT INT TERM

    say "Downloading $DOWNLOAD_URL ..."
    curl -fsSL "$DOWNLOAD_URL" -o "$TMPDIR/macos.tar.gz" || fail "Failed to download NeuraCore from $DOWNLOAD_URL"

    say "Extracting archive ..."
    tar -xzf "$TMPDIR/macos.tar.gz" -C "$TMPDIR" || fail "Failed to extract NeuraCore archive."

    APP_SRC=""
    if [ -d "$TMPDIR/neuracore/NeuraCore.app" ]; then
        APP_SRC="$TMPDIR/neuracore/NeuraCore.app"
    elif [ -d "$TMPDIR/NeuraCore.app" ]; then
        APP_SRC="$TMPDIR/NeuraCore.app"
    fi
    [ -n "$APP_SRC" ] || fail "Archive does not contain NeuraCore.app."

    say "Installing NeuraCore.app to /Applications ..."
    rm -rf /Applications/NeuraCore.app
    cp -R "$APP_SRC" /Applications/

    say "Clearing quarantine mark ..."
    xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/NeuraCore.app 2>/dev/null || true

    say "Linking terminal command to /usr/local/bin/neuracore ..."
    mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
    ln -sf /Applications/NeuraCore.app/Contents/MacOS/neuracore /usr/local/bin/neuracore

    say ""
    say "NeuraCore is installed. Start it from your Applications folder, Launchpad, Spotlight, or run: neuracore"
    say "To upgrade later, run this installer command again."
    exit 0
fi

# Linux package manager detection
if command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    say "Debian or Ubuntu detected. Adding the NeuraCore repository ..."

    # Which of the two apt repositories this machine belongs to. They are
    # separate roots because an apt suite's Release file names the
    # architectures it serves, so one root per architecture is the only
    # arrangement in which publishing for one cannot break the other. A
    # Raspberry Pi pasting the generic command lands here, and has to be sent
    # to its own root or apt finds the repository and no installable package
    # in it.
    APT_ROOT="apt"
    DPKG_ARCH=$(dpkg --print-architecture 2>/dev/null || echo unknown)
    case "$DPKG_ARCH" in
        arm64) APT_ROOT="apt-arm64" ;;
        amd64) APT_ROOT="apt" ;;
        armhf|armel)
            fail "NeuraCore needs a 64-bit system, and this one is running a 32-bit ($DPKG_ARCH) Debian. On a Raspberry Pi, install the 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS and run this again."
            ;;
        *)
            say "This machine reports the $DPKG_ARCH architecture, which NeuraCore is not published for. Trying the 64-bit x86 repository; see $SITE if apt finds no package."
            ;;
    esac

    mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
    # The armoured key is used directly. apt has read `signed-by` keyrings in
    # this form since 2.4 (Debian 12, Ubuntu 22.04), and it keeps the key out of
    # the deprecated system-wide trusted set, where it would have been trusted
    # for every repository on the machine rather than only this one.
    curl -fsSL "$SITE/neuracore.asc" -o /etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc
    chmod 0644 /etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc
    printf '%s\n' \
        "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc] $SITE/$APT_ROOT stable main" \
        > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/neuracore.list
    apt-get update
    apt-get install -y neuracore

elif command -v dnf >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    say "Fedora or RHEL detected. Adding the NeuraCore repository ..."
    # `repo_gpgcheck=1` verifies the repository metadata as well as the package.
    # Without it dnf checks only the package signature, and an attacker who could
    # replace the metadata could hide an upgrade rather than forge one.
    cat > /etc/yum.repos.d/neuracore.repo <<REPO
[neuracore]
name=NeuraCore
baseurl=$SITE/rpm
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1
repo_gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=$SITE/neuracore.asc
metadata_expire=300
REPO
    dnf install -y neuracore

elif command -v pacman >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    say "Arch detected. Adding the NeuraCore repository ..."
    curl -fsSL "$SITE/neuracore.asc" -o /tmp/neuracore.asc
    pacman-key --add /tmp/neuracore.asc
    # Locally signing the key is what moves it from "known" to "trusted".
    # Without this step pacman imports the key and then refuses every package
    # signed with it, reporting them as being from an unknown trust source.
    pacman-key --lsign-key "$KEY_FINGERPRINT"
    rm -f /tmp/neuracore.asc
    if ! grep -q '^\[neuracore\]' /etc/pacman.conf; then
        cat >> /etc/pacman.conf <<REPO

[neuracore]
SigLevel = Required DatabaseOptional
Server = $SITE/arch
REPO
    fi
    pacman -Sy --noconfirm neuracore

else
    fail "This system has none of apt, dnf or pacman. See $SITE for the other ways to install NeuraCore."
fi

say ""
say "NeuraCore is installed. Start it from your applications menu, or run: neuracore"
say "It will upgrade with the rest of your system from now on."

The file itself: /install.sh

The Raspberry Pi is installed with a script of its own, because it adds a different repository and checks that the system is the 64-bit one. It is here in full for the same reason.

Read the Raspberry Pi install script

#!/bin/sh
#
# NeuraCore installer for the Raspberry Pi.
#
#   curl -fsSL https://download.neuracore.ch/install-raspberry.sh | sudo sh
#
# This adds the NeuraCore package repository for 64-bit ARM and its signing
# key, then installs NeuraCore from it as an ordinary package. Afterwards
# `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade` keeps it current along with the rest of
# the system, and nothing here ever replaces a file behind apt's back.
#
# It is generated by NeuraCoreDeploy and carries this release's signing
# fingerprint. Read it before running it; that is what the pipe into `sh`
# deserves.

set -eu

SITE="https://download.neuracore.ch"
KEY_FINGERPRINT="85D8D6B36EE7AD08922E94405401ED04C8BE02A8"

say() { printf '%s\n' "$*"; }
fail() { printf '%s\n' "$*" >&2; exit 1; }

# Root is needed to install software, and asking for it up front is better than
# failing halfway through with a permission error.
[ "$(id -u)" = "0" ] || fail "Please run this with sudo:  curl -fsSL $SITE/install-raspberry.sh | sudo sh"

command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1 || fail "This does not look like Raspberry Pi OS or any other Debian system: apt-get is not here. See $SITE for the other ways to install NeuraCore."
command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1 || fail "curl is required to fetch the signing key:  sudo apt install curl"

# What the firmware calls this board. Present on every Raspberry Pi and absent
# on an ordinary PC, so it is reported when it is there and skipped when it is
# not, rather than being required.
if [ -r /proc/device-tree/model ]; then
    MODEL=$(tr -d '\0' < /proc/device-tree/model)
    say "Installing NeuraCore on: $MODEL"
fi

# The architecture, which is what decides whether there is a package at all.
# A 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS is the common case worth answering properly: it is
# the default download on the Raspberry Pi site for older boards, it runs
# perfectly well, and NeuraCore is not published for it. apt on its own would
# say only that there is no installation candidate.
DPKG_ARCH=$(dpkg --print-architecture 2>/dev/null || echo unknown)
case "$DPKG_ARCH" in
    arm64)
        ;;
    armhf|armel)
        fail "This Raspberry Pi is running the 32-bit ($DPKG_ARCH) Raspberry Pi OS, and NeuraCore is published only for the 64-bit one. Check with: uname -m . A Pi 3, 4, 5, 400, 500 or Zero 2 W can run the 64-bit system; reinstall it with Raspberry Pi Imager, choosing the 64-bit edition, and run this again."
        ;;
    amd64)
        fail "This is a 64-bit x86 machine rather than a Raspberry Pi, so it wants the ordinary installer:  curl -fsSL $SITE/install.sh | sudo sh"
        ;;
    *)
        fail "This machine reports the $DPKG_ARCH architecture, and NeuraCore is published for arm64 and amd64 only. See $SITE."
        ;;
esac

say "Adding the NeuraCore repository for 64-bit ARM ..."
mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
# The armoured key is used directly. apt has read `signed-by` keyrings in this
# form since 2.4, which is every Raspberry Pi OS from Bookworm on, and it keeps
# the key out of the deprecated system-wide trusted set where it would have
# been trusted for every repository on the machine rather than only this one.
curl -fsSL "$SITE/neuracore.asc" -o /etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc
chmod 0644 /etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc

# Its own repository root, not the x86 one. An apt suite's Release file names
# the architectures it serves, so the two releases are served from two roots
# and a publication of either cannot disturb the other.
printf '%s\n' \
    "deb [arch=arm64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/neuracore.asc] $SITE/apt-arm64 stable main" \
    > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/neuracore.list

apt-get update
apt-get install -y neuracore

say ""
say "NeuraCore is installed. Start it from your applications menu, or run: neuracore"
say "It will upgrade with the rest of your system from now on."
say "The signing key this repository is verified against is $KEY_FINGERPRINT."

The file itself: /install-raspberry.sh