Linux Platform Guide¶

Linux is Pulp's third supported platform. This guide covers dependencies, building, audio/MIDI setup, packaging, and deployment.

Requirements¶

Ubuntu 22.04+ / Fedora 38+ / Arch (x86_64 or aarch64)
GCC 12+ or Clang 15+ with C++20 support
CMake 3.24+
ALSA development libraries

Dependencies¶

Ubuntu / Debian¶

sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake git libasound2-dev

Fedora / RHEL¶

sudo dnf install gcc-c++ cmake git alsa-lib-devel

Arch¶

sudo pacman -S base-devel cmake git alsa-lib

External SDKs¶

# VST3 SDK (MIT) — cloned at configure time
git clone --depth 1 --recursive --branch v3.7.12_build_20 https://github.com/steinbergmedia/vst3sdk.git external/vst3sdk
cd external/vst3sdk && git submodule update --init --recursive --depth 1

# CLAP (MIT) — fetched automatically via CMake FetchContent
# No AudioUnit SDK needed on Linux

Building¶

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

Ninja (faster builds)¶

cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build

Audio I/O (ALSA)¶

Pulp uses ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) for audio on Linux. The implementation uses blocking snd_pcm_writei with a dedicated render thread.

How It Works¶

Interleaved float32: ALSA receives interleaved samples; Pulp deinterleaves for its callback
Double-buffered: period size = requested buffer size, buffer = 2 periods
Blocking write: the render thread blocks on snd_pcm_writei, which naturally paces output
Underrun recovery: automatic recovery via snd_pcm_recover on EPIPE

PulseAudio / PipeWire Compatibility¶

ALSA's "default" device routes through PulseAudio or PipeWire when available. No additional configuration is needed — Pulp's ALSA backend works transparently with both.

Device Enumeration¶

auto system = pulp::audio::create_audio_system();
auto devices = system->enumerate_devices();
// Includes "default" (PulseAudio/PipeWire) + hardware devices (hw:0, hw:1, ...)

Low-Latency Setup¶

For professional audio with low latency:

Install JACK: sudo apt-get install jackd2
Configure real-time privileges: add your user to the audio group
Use a low-latency kernel: sudo apt-get install linux-lowlatency

MIDI I/O (ALSA Raw MIDI)¶

Pulp uses ALSA's raw MIDI interface (snd_rawmidi_*) for MIDI on Linux.

Device Enumeration¶

auto system = pulp::midi::create_midi_system();
auto inputs = system->enumerate_inputs();   // Hardware MIDI inputs
auto outputs = system->enumerate_outputs();  // Hardware MIDI outputs

Virtual MIDI Ports¶

ALSA supports virtual MIDI ports for inter-application MIDI routing. Open with port ID "virtual" to create a virtual port.

GPU Rendering (Vulkan)¶

Dawn (Pulp's WebGPU implementation) supports Vulkan natively on Linux. When GPU rendering is enabled (PULP_ENABLE_GPU=ON), the Skia Graphite backend renders via Vulkan through Dawn.

Vulkan Setup¶

# Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install libvulkan-dev vulkan-tools mesa-vulkan-drivers

# Verify
vulkaninfo --summary

Note: GPU rendering in QEMU/KVM virtual machines may be limited. If Vulkan is unavailable, Dawn will report an error at surface creation time. This does not affect audio processing.

Plugin Formats¶

VST3¶

VST3 plugins are built as .so shared libraries. Install locations:

System-wide: /usr/lib/vst3/ or /usr/local/lib/vst3/
Per-user: ~/.vst3/

CLAP¶

CLAP plugins are built as .so files. Install locations:

System-wide: /usr/lib/clap/ or /usr/local/lib/clap/
Per-user: ~/.clap/

LV2¶

LV2 plugins are built as .lv2/ bundles when the LV2 headers are available at configure time. Install locations:

System-wide: /usr/lib/lv2/
Per-user: ~/.lv2/

No AU on Linux¶

Audio Units are macOS/iOS only. Linux builds produce VST3, CLAP, and LV2 formats when their SDK/header dependencies are enabled.

Packaging¶

Linux Packages¶

pulp ship package does not currently provide .deb, .tar.gz, or AppImage generation on Linux. Build artifacts are produced by CMake; package them with your distribution tooling or archive the format bundles directly.

AppImage¶

Pulp does not currently generate AppImage bundles.

CI/CD (GitHub Actions)¶

The build workflow includes a Linux matrix entry:

- os: ubuntu-latest
  name: Linux (x64)

Linux CI: - Installs libasound2-dev - Clones VST3 SDK - Configures with CMake (GCC) - Builds in Release mode - Runs cross-platform unit tests - Uploads VST3 and CLAP .so artifacts

Troubleshooting¶

"ALSA: could not open device"¶

Check that ALSA is working:

aplay -l   # List playback devices
speaker-test -t sine -f 440   # Test audio output

If using PipeWire, ensure the ALSA compatibility layer is installed:

sudo apt-get install pipewire-alsa

No MIDI devices¶

Ensure MIDI hardware is connected and ALSA sees it:

amidi -l   # List raw MIDI devices
aconnect -l   # List MIDI connections

Build fails: "ALSA not found"¶

Install the ALSA development package:

sudo apt-get install libasound2-dev   # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo dnf install alsa-lib-devel       # Fedora

Vulkan not available in VM¶

GPU rendering requires real Vulkan hardware support. In QEMU/KVM VMs without GPU passthrough, Vulkan may not be available. This is expected — audio plugins work without GPU rendering.