Deploy the desktop app on Linux

On Linux, you deploy the Dew desktop app package together with one settings file, /etc/dew/policy.json. Do both on each computer, by hand or with a configuration management tool, and Dew opens already connected to your server. The Linux app is in preview.

You need:

The Dew desktop app for Linux, from the download page: the .deb file for Debian and Ubuntu (Dew_<version>_amd64.deb), or the .rpm file for Fedora and RHEL (Dew-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm). On Arm computers, the files end in _arm64.deb and .aarch64.rpm.
Administrator (sudo) access on the computers.
Your Dew server address, for example https://files.example.com.

1. Write the settings file

This is the whole file. Change the server address to your own:

{
  "ServerURL": "https://files.example.com",
  "VerifySSL": true,
  "AutoStartOnBoot": true
}

ServerURL is the server address, the Server URL on Dew’s sign-in screen.
VerifySSL is certificate checks, Verify SSL certificates in Dew. Keep it true.
AutoStartOnBoot opens Dew at sign-in, Auto-start on login in Dew. Use false to stop it opening then.

To leave a setting up to each person, delete its line, and make sure the last remaining line has no comma at the end.

2. Deploy Dew and the settings file

On one computer, go to the folder you downloaded the package to and install it.

On Debian and Ubuntu:

sudo apt install ./Dew_*_amd64.deb

On Fedora and RHEL:

sudo dnf install ./Dew-*.x86_64.rpm

Then create the file:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/dew
sudo nano /etc/dew/policy.json

Paste the file, save it, then run sudo chmod 644 /etc/dew/policy.json so Dew can read it.

With Ansible, add tasks like these. Puppet, Salt, Chef and Landscape can do the same.

- name: Install the Dew desktop app
  ansible.builtin.apt:
    deb: /path/to/Dew_1.4.295_amd64.deb

- name: Set up the Dew desktop app
  ansible.builtin.copy:
    dest: /etc/dew/policy.json
    owner: root
    group: root
    mode: "0644"
    content: |
      {
        "ServerURL": "https://files.example.com",
        "VerifySSL": true,
        "AutoStartOnBoot": true
      }

Change the path to the .deb file you downloaded. On Fedora and RHEL, install the .rpm with ansible.builtin.dnf instead. The settings file also works with the Dew AppImage.

3. Check it worked

Open Dew from the applications menu, then click the Dew icon in the system tray or top bar. The Server URL on the sign-in screen shows your server address, locked. After signing in, select Settings (the gear icon) in the Dew window: Auto-start on login and Verify SSL certificates are locked if you set them, and show Managed by your organization when you hover over them.

If something doesn’t work

What you see	What to do
The settings aren’t locked	Select Quit from Dew’s tray menu and open Dew again. Dew reads its settings when it starts.
None of your settings apply	Look for a missing or extra comma or quote in the file. Dew ignores the whole file if it has a mistake.
Still none of your settings apply	Run `sudo chmod 644 /etc/dew/policy.json` so Dew can read the file.
One setting is ignored and the others work	Check that `true` and `false` aren’t in quotes. `"false"` is ignored.

For more detail, see the settings reference.