This page contains the software development kit (SDK) and hardware requirements needed to develop Unreal Engine (UE) projects for Linux devices.
Recommended Hardware
Recommended Operating System | Ubuntu 22.04 |
Processor | Quad-core Intel or AMD, 2.5 GHz or faster |
Memory | 32 GB RAM |
Graphics Card | GeForce 2080 |
Graphics RAM | 8 GB or more |
RHI Version | Vulkan: AMD (RADV 24.0.9+) and NVIDIA (560+) |
Recommended Software for Developing on Linux
Minimum requirements for running the engine or editor are listed below.
| Running the Engine | |
|---|---|
Operating System | Rocky Linux 8 / Redhat Linux 8 or newer |
Linux Kernel Version | kernel 4.18 or newer |
Additional Dependencies | glibc 2.28 or newer |
If either Unreal Editor or installations of UE games take a very long time on startup, check that your glibc is version 2.35 or newer, as earlier versions have a slow implementation of dlopen.
The requirements for programmers developing with the engine are listed below.
| Developing with the Engine | |
|---|---|
Operating System | Ubuntu 22.04, Rocky Linux 8 |
Compiler | clang 18.1.0 |
Optional | |
IDE | Visual Studio Code, Rider |
Cross-Compile Toolchain
Cross-compiling makes it possible for game developers to target Linux from Windows. At this time, cross-compiling is only supported for Windows, and Mac users currently have to resort to Native Compiling. Additionally, we support, test, and provide libraries and toolchains for the Linux-x86_64 platform.
Why Cross-Compilation
Cross-compilation makes it possible for game developers, working in a Windows-centric workflow, to target Linux. At this time, cross-compilation is only supported for Windows. Mac users currently have to resort to native compilation. We support, test, and provide the libraries and toolchains for the Linux-x86_64 platform.
Getting the Toolchain
To download the Cross-Compilation Toolchain, refer to the download links in table in the Version History section below.
After Installing Cross-Compile SDK
You can verify your installation by doing echo %LINUX_MULTIARCH_ROOT%.
Native Toolchain
Unreal Engine's setup shell script (Setup.sh) automatically downloads a native toolchain, which guarantees your compiler and linker to work with our codebase. With the native toolchain, you compile against a fixed sysroot (glibc at the very least), so that, for example, if you compile a game on Ubuntu 22.04, you will be able to start the binary on Rocky Linux 8.
Performance Notes
The spec below represents a typical system used at Epic (a Lenovo P620 Content Creation Workstation, standard version). This provides a reasonable guideline for developing games with Unreal Engine 5:
Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04
Power Supply: 1000W power supply unit
RAM: 128GB DDR4-3200
Processor: AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3975WX Processor - 128MB Cache, 3.5 GHz base / 4.2 GHz turbo, 32 Cores / 64 Threads, 280w TDP
OS Drive 1 TB M.2 NVMe3 x4 PCI-e SSD
DATA Drive 4 TB Raid Array - 2 x 2TB NVMe3 x4 PCI-e SSD in Raid 0
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080 - 10GB
NIC 1GBPS on-board + Intel X550-T1 10G PCI-e Ethernet adapter
TPM Compliant
Requirements for UE5 Rendering Features
| UE5 Feature | System Requirements |
|---|---|
Lumen Global Illumination and Reflections with Software Ray Tracing | Any GPU which supports Shader Model 5 (SM5). To learn more see, Lumen Technical Details. |
Lumen Global Illumination and Reflections with Hardware Ray Tracing |
Lumen Hardware Ray Tracing now requires SM6 to be set in Project Settings. To learn more see, Lumen Technical Details. |
Path Tracing |
To learn more, see Path Tracer. |
Nanite Virtualized Geometry and Virtual Shadow Maps |
To learn more see, Nanite Virtualized Geometry and Virtual Shadow Maps. |
Version History
| UE Version | Recommended Operating System | Recommended IDE | Compiler | Cross-Compile Toolchain | Native Toolchain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.5 | Ubuntu 22.04, Rocky Linux 8 | Visual Studio Code, Rider | clang 18.1.0 | ||
5.3-5.4 | Ubuntu 22.04, CentOS 7 | Visual Studio Code, Rider | clang 16.0.6 | ||
5.2 | Ubuntu 22.04, CentOS 7 | Visual Studio Code, Rider | clang 15.0.1 | -v21 clang-15.0.1-based | -v21 clang-15.0.1-based |
5.1 | Ubuntu 22.04, CentOS 7 | Visual Studio Code, Rider | clang 13.0.1 | -v20 clang-13.0.1-based | -v20 clang-13.0.1-based |
5.0.2+ | Ubuntu 22.04, CentOS 7 | Visual Studio Code, Rider | clang 13.0.1 | -v20 clang-13.0.1-based | -v20 clang-13.0.1-based |
5.0 | Ubuntu 20.04, CentOS 7 | Visual Studio Code, Rider | clang 11.0.1 | -v19 clang-11.0.1-based | -v19 clang-11.0.1-based |
