Bash script for installing fonts on Linux

README.md

Install fonts easily on Linux!

Inspired by this blog post by Pulkit Singh, this bash script aims to make font installs on Linux as stupid simple as possible.

Usage

./install-fonts.sh [--debug|-d] [--user|-u] <font-zip-url>
./install-fonts.sh [--debug|-d] [--user|-u]

If you don't provide a URL in the initial command, you will be prompted to provide one.

Use the -h/--help flag for more info:

./install-fonts.sh [-h|--help]

install-fonts.sh

#!/bin/bash
#
# install-fonts.sh - Download and install fonts from a zip URL on Linux
#
# Credit to https://dev.to/pulkitsingh/install-nerd-fonts-or-any-fonts-easily-in-linux-2e3l
# for inspiring this script.
#
# Usage:
#   ./install-fonts.sh [--debug|-d] [--user|-u] <font-zip-url>
#   ./install-fonts.sh [--debug|-d] [--user|-u]
#     (If no URL is given, you will be prompted to enter one.)
#
# Options:
#   -d, --debug     Enable verbose debug output for troubleshooting.
#   -u, --user      Install fonts only for the current user (no sudo/system-wide install).
#   -h, --help      Show this help message and exit.
#
# Features:
#   - Downloads and extracts a zip file containing .ttf/.otf fonts.
#   - Installs each font into a subdirectory of /usr/share/fonts/truetype or /usr/share/fonts/opentype
#     based on the font family name (detected using fc-scan if available).
#   - Falls back to user font directory if root access is unavailable.
#   - Handles multiple font families in a single zip.
#   - Provides clean, user-friendly output by default.
#
# Soft Dependencies:
#   - fc-scan (from fontconfig)
#   This tool allows the script to detect font family names for best organization.
#   Without it, fonts will still be installed but may be grouped less cleanly.
#
# Example:
#   ./install-fonts.sh https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases/download/v3.4.0/0xProto.zip
#   ./install-fonts.sh --debug
#
set -e

if [[ -t 1 && -z "$NO_COLOR" ]]; then
  RED="$(tput setaf 1 2>/dev/null || echo '\033[31m')"
  GREEN="$(tput setaf 2 2>/dev/null || echo '\033[32m')"
  YELLOW="$(tput setaf 3 2>/dev/null || echo '\033[33m')"
  BLUE="$(tput setaf 4 2>/dev/null || echo '\033[34m')"
  BOLD="$(tput bold 2>/dev/null || echo '\033[1m')"
  RESET="$(tput sgr0 2>/dev/null || echo '\033[0m')"
else
  RED=""
  GREEN=""
  YELLOW=""
  BLUE=""
  BOLD=""
  RESET=""
fi

DEBUG=0
POSITIONAL=()
HELP_MSG="\ninstall-fonts.sh - Download and install fonts from a zip URL on Linux\n\nCredit to https://dev.to/pulkitsingh/install-nerd-fonts-or-any-fonts-easily-in-linux-2e3l for inspiring this script.\n\nUsage:\n  ./install-fonts.sh [--debug|-d] [--user|-u] <font-zip-url>\n  ./install-fonts.sh [--debug|-d] [--user|-u]\n    (If no URL is given, you will be prompted to enter one.)\n\nOptions:\n  -d, --debug     Enable verbose debug output for troubleshooting.\n  -u, --user      Install fonts only for the current user (no sudo/system-wide install).\n  -h, --help      Show this help message and exit.\n\nFeatures:\n  - Downloads and extracts a zip file containing .ttf/.otf fonts.\n  - Installs each font into a subdirectory of /usr/share/fonts/truetype or /usr/share/fonts/opentype\n    based on the font family name (detected using fc-scan if available).\n  - Falls back to user font directory if root access is unavailable.\n  - Handles multiple font families in a single zip.\n  - Provides clean, user-friendly output by default.\n\nSoft Dependencies:\n  - fc-scan (from fontconfig)\n  This tool allows the script to detect font family names for best organization.\n  Without it, fonts will still be installed but may be grouped less cleanly.\n\nExample:\n  ./install-fonts.sh https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases/download/v3.4.0/0xProto.zip\n  ./install-fonts.sh --debug\n  ./install-fonts.sh --user https://example.com/myfont.zip\n"

USER_ONLY=0
while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
  case $1 in
  -d | --debug)
    DEBUG=1
    shift
    ;;
  -u | --user)
    USER_ONLY=1
    shift
    ;;
  -h | --help)
    echo -e "$HELP_MSG"
    exit 0
    ;;
  *)
    POSITIONAL+=("$1")
    shift
    ;;
  esac
done
set -- "${POSITIONAL[@]}"

function debug_msg() {
  if [[ $DEBUG -eq 1 ]]; then
    echo "[DEBUG] $1"
  fi
}

if ! command -v fc-scan >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo -e "${NOTICE} For best font organization, please install: fc-scan${RESET}"
  echo -e "  This tool allows the script to detect font family names and organize fonts into the correct directories."
  echo -e "  The script will still work, but fonts may be grouped less cleanly."
  echo
  echo -e "  To install fc-scan:     sudo apt install fontconfig"
  echo
fi

if [ -z "$1" ]; then
  read -rp "Enter the URL to a font zip file: " FONT_URL
else
  FONT_URL="$1"
fi

if [ -z "$FONT_URL" ]; then
  echo -e "${ERROR}No URL provided. Exiting.${RESET}"
  exit 1
fi

TEMP_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
debug_msg "Created temp dir: $TEMP_DIR"
trap 'rm -rf "$TEMP_DIR"' EXIT

echo -e "${BLUE}Downloading font zip from $FONT_URL...${RESET}"
wget -q -O "$TEMP_DIR/font.zip" "$FONT_URL"
debug_msg "Downloaded to $TEMP_DIR/font.zip"

echo -e "${BLUE}Extracting font archive...${RESET}"
unzip -q "$TEMP_DIR/font.zip" -d "$TEMP_DIR"
debug_msg "Unzipped to $TEMP_DIR"

mapfile -t FONT_FILES < <(find "$TEMP_DIR" -type f \( -iname '*.ttf' -o -iname '*.otf' \))

if [[ ${#FONT_FILES[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
  echo -e "${RED}Error: No .ttf or .otf font files found in the archive.${RESET}"
  exit 2
fi

declare -A INSTALLED_SUMMARY
if [[ $DEBUG -eq 1 ]]; then
  echo "Installing fonts..."
fi
for FONT_PATH in "${FONT_FILES[@]}"; do
  EXT="${FONT_PATH##*.}"
  FAMILY=""
  if command -v fc-scan >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    FAMILY=$(fc-scan --format='%{family[0]}\n' "$FONT_PATH" | head -n 1)
    debug_msg "fc-scan family for $FONT_PATH: $FAMILY"
  fi
  if [[ -z "$FAMILY" ]]; then
    FAMILY=$(basename "$FONT_PATH" | sed -E 's/[-_]*$//; s/\..*$//')
    debug_msg "Fallback family for $FONT_PATH: $FAMILY"
  fi
  FAMILY_DIR=$(echo "$FAMILY" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | sed -E 's/[[:space:]]+/-/g')
  if [[ "$EXT" == "ttf" ]]; then
    SYS_DIR="/usr/share/fonts/truetype/$FAMILY_DIR"
    USER_DIR="$HOME/.local/share/fonts/truetype/$FAMILY_DIR"
  else
    SYS_DIR="/usr/share/fonts/opentype/$FAMILY_DIR"
    USER_DIR="$HOME/.local/share/fonts/opentype/$FAMILY_DIR"
  fi

  if [[ $USER_ONLY -eq 1 ]]; then
    mkdir -p "$USER_DIR"
    cp "$FONT_PATH" "$USER_DIR/"
    debug_msg "Installed $(basename "$FONT_PATH") to $USER_DIR (user fonts)"
    INSTALLED_SUMMARY["$FAMILY"]+="$(basename "$FONT_PATH") (user)"$'\n'
  else
    if sudo mkdir -p "$SYS_DIR" && sudo cp "$FONT_PATH" "$SYS_DIR/"; then
      debug_msg "Installed $(basename "$FONT_PATH") to $SYS_DIR"
      INSTALLED_SUMMARY["$FAMILY"]+="$(basename "$FONT_PATH") (system)"$'\n'
    else
      mkdir -p "$USER_DIR"
      cp "$FONT_PATH" "$USER_DIR/"
      debug_msg "Installed $(basename "$FONT_PATH") to $USER_DIR (user fonts)"
      INSTALLED_SUMMARY["$FAMILY"]+="$(basename "$FONT_PATH") (user)"$'\n'
    fi
  fi
done

if [[ $DEBUG -eq 0 ]]; then
  echo -e "${GREEN}Installed fonts:${RESET}"
  for FAMILY in "${!INSTALLED_SUMMARY[@]}"; do
    printf "  ${BOLD}%s${RESET}:\n%s" "$FAMILY" "${INSTALLED_SUMMARY[$FAMILY]}"
  done
fi

if [[ $USER_ONLY -eq 1 ]]; then
  if [[ $DEBUG -eq 1 ]]; then
    fc-cache -f -v "$HOME/.local/share/fonts"
  else
    fc-cache -f "$HOME/.local/share/fonts" >/dev/null 2>&1
    echo -e "${GREEN}Fonts installed successfully!${RESET}"
  fi
else
  if [[ $DEBUG -eq 1 ]]; then
    sudo fc-cache -f -v
  else
    sudo fc-cache -f >/dev/null 2>&1
    echo -e "${GREEN}Fonts installed successfully!${RESET}"
  fi
fi