Exporting your Godot project to a Linux executable is the way to convert your game project into a version that can be shared with others.
From a small prototype or a finished title, packaging your game and testing throughout development ensures that your game will run well on Linux based systems.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the full export process in Godot. From configuring your export settings to generating a working elf file.
By the end, you’ll have a standalone version of your game that’s ready to distribute to others!
Prerequisites
This tutorial is written for developers using Godot 4 and focuses specifically on Linux as the target platform.
This guide requires you to have installed the export templates to your version of the Godot Engine.
If you do not have these installed, click here to read our guide on How to get Export Templates for Godot.
Setting up the Linux Export
To setup our Linux Export preset, we first have to open the export menu by clicking Project then Export in the top left menu of the editor.
Then we click Add in the top of the Export menu and click Linux.
Now you should see a new a new Linux preset. We can change the name by changing the text in the top “Name:” section of the window.
To now start configuring our Linux preset, we first need to select the location that the engine will build our project to.
Click the file button next to the Export Path section to select this folder location on your computer.
Next we need to decide if we want our game files to be along side the executable or if we want the files to be merged inside of the executable file.
If this is false, your game files and assets are in a separate .PCK file alongside your game executable.
We recommend to set this to true to make it easier to share your built game with only a single file.
Finally, we can choose what target platform architecture we want our executable to run on. If you don’t understand this leave this to the default x86_64.
x86_32 is 32bit Linux. arm64 and arm32 are the 64bit and 32bit versions for devices with ARM processors (Raspberry Pi, SBC computers, etc).
Exporting the Project
Now that we have our Linux export preset made and ready, now we can simply click the Export Project button!
We can then choose where we want the files to build to and can also change the name of the exported executable file
After a quick build process, you now see your project has been exported to an executable form for your target Linux architecture!
Conclusion
You’ve now successfully exported your Godot project to Linux! Your game is now packaged as a standalone executable and ready to be shared with players!
This file can also be uploaded to platforms like Itch.io, GameJolt or Steam.
Understanding the export process is a key aspect of developing and releasing a game to a wider audience.
You’ve just taken an important step toward delivering your work to the world. Keep building, refining, and prepare your game for the world!
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