Install KiCad on Arch Linux

I’ve been using KiCad on and off for a few years now. I like KiCad reasonably well but it doesn’t always play well with Mac OS X so I usually run it in a Linux Virtual Machine. Here are the install steps for Arch Linux assuming that the X Windows System, graphical interface environment, is already installed.

KiCad running on Arch Linux inside Virtual Box on Mac OS X

Install Instructions

# Update Pacman and download dependencies
sudo pacman -Syy
sudo pacman -S cmake bzr wxgtk glew

# Configure bzr username... 
# Even though I would prefer not to...
bzr whoami paretech

# Change into Arch User Repository download directory 
# or wherever the download should go.
cd ~/aur

# Download Bzr Tools (includes the necessary Bzr Patch plugin)
curl https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/bz/bzrtools/bzrtools.tar.gz --remote-name

tar -xzvf bzrtools.tar.gz

cd bzrtools

# Inspect PKGBUILD first!
makepkg

sudo pacman -U bzrtools*.xz

# Download Kicad AUR and name file same as remote name
curl https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/ki/kicad-bzr/kicad-bzr.tar.gz --remote-name

tar -xzvf kicad-bzr.tar.gz

cd kicad-bzr

# Inspect PKGBUILD first!
makepkg

sudo pacman -U kicad-bzr*.xz

That’s all there is to it on Arch. Good luck on your next PCB and Happy Hacking!