Install eza on a remote Linux server without sudo, apt, or Rust

This guide installs the modern ls replacement eza entirely in your home directory, using a prebuilt release tarball. Works on shared servers where you can’t use sudo and don’t have apt or Rust.

TL;DR: download a prebuilt tarball → put eza in ~/.local/bin → add to PATH → (optional) completions + man page. Use the musl build if the glibc-linked binary won’t run.

0) Check your CPU and pick the right tarball

uname -m    # x86_64 (aka amd64) or aarch64 (aka arm64)
  • For x86_64: use eza_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz (glibc) or eza_x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz (static, safest).
  • For aarch64: use eza_aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz or the musl variant if available.

If you see “No such file or directory” when running ~/.../eza even though it exists, your system’s dynamic loader/glibc doesn’t match. Use the musl build for maximum portability.

1) Create user-local bin + PATH

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin ~/.local/share/man/man1          ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions          ~/.local/share/zsh/site-functions          ~/.config/fish/completions

# Add to PATH (append to BOTH if you use different shells)
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
# (optional) show user manuals stored under ~/.local
echo 'export MANPATH="$HOME/.local/share/man:$MANPATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export MANPATH="$HOME/.local/share/man:$MANPATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

# reload your shell config (pick your shell)
source ~/.bashrc 2>/dev/null || source ~/.zshrc 2>/dev/null

2) Download and install eza (no sudo)

If outbound downloads are blocked, download on your laptop and scp the file to the server, then continue from step 2.2.

2.1 Pick a release URL

Example for x86_64 glibc (you provided this link):

https://github.com/eza-community/eza/releases/download/v0.23.4/eza_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz

Safer fallback (musl, static) for x86_64 (change to the matching version tag if needed):

https://github.com/eza-community/eza/releases/download/v0.23.4/eza_x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz

2.2 Fetch & extract

cd /tmp
# Use curl (or wget)
curl -L -o eza.tgz "https://github.com/eza-community/eza/releases/download/v0.23.4/eza_x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz"
tar -xzf eza.tgz
# The archive usually contains a single 'eza' binary and optional folders like completions/man
# Move the binary into your local bin:
cp -f eza ~/.local/bin/
chmod 0755 ~/.local/bin/eza

# Make sure your shell sees it
hash -r 2>/dev/null || true
~/.local/bin/eza --version

If the command fails to execute, repeat the curl step with the musl tarball and copy that binary instead.

3) (Optional) Shell completions & man page

If the extracted archive includes these files, install them locally.

3.1 Bash

# Copy completion
if [ -f completions/eza.bash ]; then
  cp -f completions/eza.bash ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/eza
  # Ensure bash loads local completions (add once to ~/.bashrc)
  grep -q 'bash-completion' ~/.bashrc || cat >> ~/.bashrc <<'EOF'
# Load user bash-completion if available
if [ -f /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion ]; then
  . /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
fi
for f in "$HOME/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/"*; do
  [ -f "$f" ] && . "$f"
done
EOF
  source ~/.bashrc
fi

3.2 Zsh

# Copy completion
if [ -f completions/_eza ]; then
  cp -f completions/_eza ~/.local/share/zsh/site-functions/_eza
  # Ensure zsh searches our local site-functions (add once to ~/.zshrc)
  grep -q 'zsh/site-functions' ~/.zshrc || cat >> ~/.zshrc <<'EOF'
fpath+=("$HOME/.local/share/zsh/site-functions")
autoload -Uz compinit
compinit
EOF
  source ~/.zshrc
fi

3.3 Fish

if [ -f completions/eza.fish ]; then
  cp -f completions/eza.fish ~/.config/fish/completions/eza.fish
fi

3.4 Man page

if [ -f man/eza.1 ]; then
  cp -f man/eza.1 ~/.local/share/man/man1/
  # some systems don’t have user mandb; you can always:
  man -l ~/.local/share/man/man1/eza.1
fi

4) Nice aliases (optional)

Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

alias ls='eza -al --group-directories-first --icons=auto'
alias ll='eza -l --group-directories-first --icons=auto'
alias lt='eza --tree --level=2 --icons=auto'

Icons show only if your terminal font supports them (e.g., a Nerd Font). If you see weird boxes, drop --icons or install a Nerd Font locally.

5) Uninstall (user-local)

rm -f ~/.local/bin/eza
rm -f ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/eza
rm -f ~/.local/share/zsh/site-functions/_eza
rm -f ~/.config/fish/completions/eza.fish
rm -f ~/.local/share/man/man1/eza.1
sed -i.bak '/eza -al/d;/eza -l/d;/eza --tree/d' ~/.bashrc ~/.zshrc 2>/dev/null || true

6) Troubleshooting

  • Binary won’t run; “No such file or directory”: switch from the -unknown-linux-gnu tarball to the -unknown-linux-musl tarball (static, no glibc mismatch).
  • ~/.local/bin not found on PATH: re-run source ~/.bashrc or source ~/.zshrc; echo $PATH to confirm.
  • Completions not appearing: ensure the completion files exist at the paths above and your shell init includes the loading snippets.
  • No curl/wget: download the tarball on your laptop and scp it to the server:
    scp eza_x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz user@server:~

One‑liner (x86_64, musl, safest)

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && cd /tmp && curl -L -o eza.tgz https://github.com/eza-community/eza/releases/download/v0.23.4/eza_x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz && tar -xzf eza.tgz && chmod +x eza && mv -f eza ~/.local/bin/ && echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc && . ~/.bashrc && ~/.local/bin/eza --version