Install Arduino IDE

[last updated: 2024-06-08]
Arduino home page
Libraries
(link to:) download software

Note: 2.3.2 AppImage has a problem: The first time you run it, you must be connected to the internet so it can download some additional things...

(link to:) add appImage to menu
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The IDE is the "Integrated Development Environment."
It is a program that you download and install onto your PC.
You use it as an editor to create programs (called sketches) that you will upload into your Arduino board so your Arduino does what you want it to.

These install instructions are for Linux systems.
There are alternative steps/paths you can take to install Arduino.
This is JWID.

To install or upgrade to most recent version of the IDE:

• NOTE: These instructions don't work for 2.0.0.
  For that version, it's suggested to download the AppImage

• Download software:
  • Go to: (link to:) arduino.cc
  • In top menu bar, select Software > Downloads.
  • Select desired version for your computer:
    Dell 4600 currently has 1.8.13
    Dell tower has 2.0.0

    Contribute or 'just download'.
    Select Save File, click OK.
    In my Linux system, the file was downloaded to my Downloads folder.
    Monitor download progress and wait until completed.

• Extract software:
  • These procedures change slightly with different versions of the software. These instructions were written for 1.8.19.
  • The file that's downloaded will be compressed in some format, depending on your chosen operating system.
  • Browse to your downloads folder (or wherever the downloaded file is located).
    Double-click the .tar.xz file.
    This is equivalent to:
    Left-single-click, right-click,
    select to Open with Archive Manager.
  • When reading is done,
    click Extract (upper left corner).
    The browse window opens to select where you want to put the files.
    Select Home directory (or wherever else you desire), and click extract (lower right corner).
    When done extracting, click close.

  • Move ...tar.xz file into the arduino-1.8.xx folder that was created in your Home directory.
    This is just an archive location, as the file will not be used again.

• Install software:
  • File Manager opens to /home/jay/arduino-1.8.xx.
    Double-click (to execute) "install.sh".
    Select "run in terminal".
    The terminal opens, lots of stuff (lots of 'errors') scrolls by too fast to read...
    Lots of errors were returned, of the form
    "touch: cannot touch '/home/jay/.local/share/icons/hicolor/.xdg-icon-resource-dummy': No such file or directory': no such file or directory"

    regardless of the errors, the process finished and the terminal closed, and an Arduino desktop icon is created.

  • Test installation by double-clicking desktop icon.
    Newest version should open.
    Also, a new folder "Arduino" will have been created in Home directory. This folder can be ignored.

• Configure to your preference:
  • In IDE, File -> Preferences,
    in Sketchbook location field, click browse.
    This will set your "Sketchbook" location, which is the folder where all your user-created programs will be saved.
    If you do not select a preferred location, the default location will be something like: /home/ [userID] /Arduino
    On my system, I have placed my user-generated files (of all kinds) into home/jay/myFiles/mstrWorkingFiles.
    This makes it convenient to save backups that do not include system and other files that I don't need to backup.
    This is my personal preference, but other options can work as well.
  • Navigate through the Sketchbook location browse window by double-clicking folder entries, and go to:
    .../Documents/myFiles/mstrWorkingFiles/Tech/microcontrollers/Arduino/programsLibrariesUser folder
    In browse window, select (single left-click) programs/ folder, then click OK, OK.
  • This puts all user programs and libraries into a sketchbook folder that is inside mstrWorkingFiles, so it will be saved with my regular backups

• Set Port Permissions:
  • On Linux systems, the Serial ports that you use to connect to your Arduino
    can only be accessed by programs/users who have "permission."
    As installed, the default configuration does not give you that permission,
    so you must set permissions yourself.
    I confess to only having a vague understanding of this, but here's what works for me...:
  • Add user to dialout group:
    • Find your userName:
      Open terminal and execute:
      $ whoami
      will return your username.
    • Add yourself to the dialout group:
      $ sudo usermod -a -G dialout [yourUserName]
      Restart computer.
      Alternate command to add yourself to the group:
      $ sudo adduser [yourUserName] dialout
      I have not verified this one.

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• BareMinimum:
  When you first open your newly-installed IDE, or at any other time that you click File > New,
  it will open your, "BareMinimum" program,
  which is located in your .../arduino-1.8.xx/examples/01.Basics/BareMinimum folder
• The default BareMinimum program included in your installation is indeed barely minimum.
• I have created my own BareMinimum program, containing layout and functions that I find to be most efficient for me.
  I replace the default with my own (currently BareMinimum14)

• The BareMinimum.ino program is located in: arduino-1.8.13/examples/01.Basics/BareMinimum folder.
  To replace it with a custom version:
  • First rename the default version of BareMinimum.ino (I rename it to BareMinimum-orig.ino)
  • Copy your customized .ino program to the .../examples/01.Basics/BareMinimum folder
  • Rename your customized program to BareMinimum.ino
  • Edit it to remove the edit history of your custom BareMinimum program

  Other than the very first time you open it, when you open the IDE it will open to the last sketch (Arduino program) you were editing.

• Directory Structure Setup:
  go to: Restore Environment

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