Gerbv is a native Linux application — it began life in the gEDA project on Unix-like systems, and Linux remains its home platform. The free, GPL-2.0-or-later viewer opens Gerber RS-274X files, Excellon drill files and CSV pick-and-place files, and exports to PNG, PDF, PS, SVG and DXF. With v2.13.0 (March 20, 2026), the project publishes ready-made packages for the three distributions it builds and tests on: Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 13 and Fedora 43, all for 64-bit (amd64) systems. This guide installs each package, verifies it with its published SHA-256 checksum first, and explains the one runtime detail worth knowing: Gerbv is built on GTK 2.
Choose the package for your distribution
All three packages are attached to the official release at github.com/gerbv/gerbv. Pick the one that matches your system — the packages are built per-distribution, so do not install the Ubuntu .deb on Debian or vice versa if your exact build is available:
- Ubuntu 22.04: gerbv_v2.13.0_.Ubuntu.22.04.deb — 4,267,552 bytes — via /go/gerbv-linux
- Debian 13: gerbv_v2.13.0_.Debian.13.deb — 4,263,454 bytes — via /go/gerbv-linux-deb
- Fedora 43: gerbv_v2.13.0_.Fedora.43.rpm — 2,290,118 bytes — via /go/gerbv-linux-rpm
The main Linux button on the download page goes to the Ubuntu 22.04 .deb; the full table there lists every package with its size and checksum. Upstream’s README explains that Ubuntu 22.04 is the Ubuntu package target for a build-infrastructure reason (a Docker image UID/GID conflict in the cross-compile toolchain), not because the application itself is limited to that release.
Verify the download with sha256sum
Whichever package you fetched, verify it before installing. Run sha256sum on the file and compare with the published value for your package:
sha256sum gerbv_v2.13.0_.Ubuntu.22.04.deb
# 6c0bb2c58fa6643dfe8e0a9805d30d98429af0d089fce2605263d8245e5550d4
sha256sum gerbv_v2.13.0_.Debian.13.deb
# a18608960be7c7a7f0a732427d6706aa47451ea7d92410eabd3d16a85e08324b
sha256sum gerbv_v2.13.0_.Fedora.43.rpm
# 0571080d01c2686c2ab4201255f07d1b937970e915296da524edb8852640bc7fThe hash printed for your file must match the corresponding line exactly. If it does not, delete the file and download it again from the official release — a mismatch means the file is incomplete or not the published artifact, and it should not be installed.
Install on Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 13 (.deb)
From the folder containing the .deb, install it with dpkg, then let apt resolve any runtime dependencies:
sudo dpkg -i gerbv_v2.13.0_.Ubuntu.22.04.deb
# On Debian, use gerbv_v2.13.0_.Debian.13.deb instead.
sudo apt-get install -f # only if dpkg reports missing dependenciesAlternatively, sudo apt install ./gerbv_v2.13.0_.Ubuntu.22.04.deb installs the local file and pulls dependencies in one step on recent apt versions. When the install finishes, launch gerbv from a terminal or find it in your desktop’s application menu.
Install on Fedora 43 (.rpm)
On Fedora, install the RPM with dnf, which handles the package’s dependencies automatically:
sudo dnf install ./gerbv_v2.13.0_.Fedora.43.rpmThen start Gerbv from the application menu or by running gerbv.
The GTK 2 runtime — and what it means for you
Gerbv’s interface is built on GTK 2 (the Homebrew formula, for comparison, lists gtk+ 2.24.33 among its runtime dependencies, alongside cairo, glib and pango). The maintainer’s GTK 3 port is a stated plan, not a shipped change, so expect a functional, slightly old-school interface rather than a modern GTK 4 look. Practically, the official packages are built against the libraries on their target distributions, so on Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 13 and Fedora 43 the GTK 2 runtime is resolved by the package tools above. If you build from source instead, the README’s dependency list is gcc, gtk+-2.0 and glib-2.0 development packages, CMake 3.28 or newer, and Ninja — but for simply viewing boards, the release packages are the right choice.
A note on distribution repositories
Your distribution’s own repositories may also carry a gerbv package, and installing it that way (for example with a plain sudo apt install gerbv) is convenient — but repository versions often lag upstream, sometimes by a lot. Gerbv went quiet between v2.10.0 in August 2023 and the 2026 revival, then shipped four releases in three weeks, so a repository copy can easily be several versions behind v2.13.0 and miss the built-in DXF export added in v2.12.0 and the current packaging. If you want the version this site documents, install the official release packages above; the version history shows how the releases line up. Other platforms are covered too: see installing on Windows, installing on macOS, and the 2.13.0 release overview. All package details are also collected on the download page.
First run
Open Gerbv and load your board’s files from the File menu: the RS-274X copper and mask layers, the Excellon drill file, and any CSV pick-and-place file. Layers stack in the order you add them; right-click the layer list to change colours, reload a file, or switch on transparency to see through the stack. Remember the honest limits: RS-274D is not supported, the view is 2D only, and Gerbv reports statistics about the files rather than running design-rule checks.
Frequently asked questions
Which Linux package should I download?
The one built for your distribution: the Ubuntu 22.04 .deb on Ubuntu 22.04, the Debian 13 .deb on Debian 13, or the Fedora 43 .rpm on Fedora 43. All are 64-bit builds of v2.13.0 from the official GitHub release.
Does Gerbv need GTK 3 on Linux?
No. Gerbv is a GTK 2 application; a GTK 3 port is planned upstream but has not shipped. The official packages pull in the runtime they need on their target distributions.
Is the gerbv package in my distro’s repository the latest?
Often not. Repository versions can lag upstream by several releases. For v2.13.0, install the official .deb or .rpm from the GitHub release and verify it with sha256sum.