Steam

x86-64 arm64 · Documentation

Steam for arm64 and amd64.

On arm64, the installer downloads Valve’s public-beta linuxarm64 client into the desktop user’s home. Native x86_64 Linux games use the FEX tool shipped with Steam. The installer extracts FEX’s official Arch rootfs to ~/.local/share/fex-emu/RootFS/ArchLinux and links it to /usr/share/guestos/fex-mesa, which is the path Steam’s FEX tool uses. It does not install a separate FEX package. Windows games use the FEX build shipped inside a Proton tree. Proton-CachyOS and Proton-GE are optional menu entries. Each installs the latest arm64 release into compatibilitytools.d. Because the FEX guest path is system-wide, only one user per system can run x86_64 games through this setup.

On amd64, the installer adds Valve’s signed apt repository and installs the official steam-launcher package, plus the steam-libs-amd64 and steam-libs-i386 metapackages. The repository key is accepted only when its fingerprints match the keys Valve publishes. Apt then checks the .deb against that signed index. The client downloads the rest of Steam on first launch. Enabling the i386 architecture is required for 32-bit libraries and is left in place after removal. Proton-CachyOS and Proton-GE use the same menu entries as on arm64, with the x86_64 release archive.

Install from armbian-config → Software → Gaming → Steam

The app has no separate image. Install an Armbian OS image first, then the app. For help with the app, read its documentation.

armbian-config --cmd STM001

What gets installedFirst launchRemove and purge

arm64

• Steam client from the linuxarm64 public-beta manifest, into ~/.local/share/Steam
• A desktop launcher that starts steamrtarm64/steam
• FEX’s official Arch rootfs, extracted to ~/.local/share/fex-emu/RootFS/ArchLinux and linked from /usr/share/guestos/fex-mesa so x86_64 Linux games can start
• Proton-CachyOS and Proton-GE only when you choose those menu entries. Each installs the latest arm64 release and replaces an older copy of the same tool

Host packages supply libibus and libva. The installer does not download the steamrt3 tarball. Update Steam refreshes the FEX rootfs when FEX publishes a new image, and updates a Proton tool only when that tool is already installed.

amd64

• Valve’s steam-launcher package from https://repo.steampowered.com/steam/
• steam-libs-amd64 and steam-libs-i386
• The i386 dpkg architecture, when it is not already enabled
• Proton-CachyOS and Proton-GE only when you choose those menu entries. Each installs the latest generic x86_64 release into compatibilitytools.d and replaces an older copy of the same tool

Update Steam upgrades the launcher packages and updates a Proton tool only when that tool is already installed. The Steam client still updates itself after you launch it.

On arm64, when the desktop user already has a graphical session, install runs steam -deckard -exitsteam once so the client can bootstrap, then quits. The menu entry itself does not use -deckard. Over SSH, with no display, that pass is skipped. Launch Steam from the menu and sign in. The first game launch lets Steam download Steam Linux Runtime 4.0 for arm64.

On amd64, launch Steam from the menu and sign in. The official package downloads the client on that first launch.

• Remove Proton-CachyOS or Remove Proton-GE deletes that compatibility tool for this machine. Games and the Steam client stay. Each entry is shown only when that tool is installed.
• Remove on arm64 deletes the client and any Proton-CachyOS or Proton-GE trees. Games, userdata, and the FEX rootfs stay. On amd64 it removes the steam-launcher package, the library metapackages, and any Proton-CachyOS or Proton-GE trees. Games and userdata stay, and Valve’s apt repository stays so a later install can use it.
• Purge deletes ~/.local/share/Steam, ~/.steam, and, when this module created them, the extracted FEX rootfs and a libvpx.so.6 compatibility link. On amd64 it also removes the launcher packages, Valve’s apt source, and the repository key. The i386 architecture is not turned back off.

All armbian-config commands

Action	Command
Install	armbian-config --api module_steam install
Update	armbian-config --api module_steam update
Remove Steam client	armbian-config --api module_steam remove
Purge Steam with games and userdata	armbian-config --api module_steam purge
Status	armbian-config --api module_steam status
Help	armbian-config --api module_steam help
Install or update Proton-CachyOS	armbian-config --api module_steam proton-cachyos
Install or update Proton-GE	armbian-config --api module_steam proton-ge
Proton-cachyos-remove	armbian-config --api module_steam proton-cachyos-remove
Proton-ge-remove	armbian-config --api module_steam proton-ge-remove
Proton-cachyos-status	armbian-config --api module_steam proton-cachyos-status
Proton-ge-status	armbian-config --api module_steam proton-ge-status

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Part of Armbian’s Game clients and compatibility tools software.