Debian and Ubuntu

The hub runs on 64-bit Intel/AMD (amd64) and ARM (arm64) computers with:

Debian 12 or 13;
Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04;
Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), covered step by step in Raspberry Pi.

A mini PC or an old laptop makes a good hub. Use it only for hosting, plug it into your router with Ethernet if you can, and connect your phones through a powered USB hub.

Keep it awake

The hub has to stay on. On a server install there is nothing to do. On a desktop, turn off automatic suspend (in Ubuntu: Settings › Power › Automatic Suspend › Off), or stop the computer sleeping at all:

sudo systemctl mask sleep.target suspend.target hibernate.target hybrid-sleep.target

On a laptop, also make it ignore the lid: set HandleLidSwitch=ignore in /etc/systemd/logind.conf, then restart.

Install the hub

Get a pairing code. On pocketshare.io, open Hosting › Hubs, choose Add hub, then Create pairing code. It works once and expires after 24 hours.
Run the installer on the hub computer, with your code, as a user that can use sudo:
Terminal window
```
curl -fsSL https://getpocketshare.com/install.sh | sh -s -- --code K7QM-2XRP-9TDA-HV4N
```
Without curl: wget -qO- https://getpocketshare.com/install.sh | sh -s -- --code …. Leave out --code … and the installer asks for the code at the end.
Plug in your phones after preparing them, and check what the hub sees with pocketshare-hub devices.

The installer shows what it is about to do and asks before changing anything; sudo asks for your password. Then it:

checks that this is a supported system;
downloads the hub package for your computer and checks it against the release manifest signed with PocketShare’s release key, stopping before installing anything if it doesn’t match;
installs Android’s adb, the USB rules phones need and uhubctl from your system’s own packages, then the hub, which runs as two services, pocketshare-adb and pocketshare-hub, under its own system user, pocketshare, and starts with the computer;
enrolls the hub with your code and prints its status and the next steps.

Within a minute the hub appears under Hosting › Hubs. Running the command again is safe: it updates the hub to the newest release and leaves everything else as it is. The hub also installs signed updates by itself.

If you use adb on this computer yourself, stop your own adb server first (adb kill-server): the hub’s adb server needs its port.

Read the script first

You can look at the installer before running it:

curl -fsSLO https://getpocketshare.com/install.sh
less install.sh
sh install.sh --code K7QM-2XRP-9TDA-HV4N

install.sh is part of every hub release, so you can also check that it is the script PocketShare signed. Save the release key, then check the signed checksums and the script:

cat > pocketshare-release-2026.pub.pem <<'EOF'
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MCowBQYDK2VwAyEAoLkDjloA3xXQmioSxTrBuKFygyrt867Jrm3PNSyyLSE=
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----
EOF
base=https://getpocketshare.com/downloads/hub/latest
curl -fsSLO "$base/SHA256SUMS" -O "$base/SHA256SUMS.sig"
openssl pkeyutl -verify -pubin -inkey pocketshare-release-2026.pub.pem -rawin \
  -in SHA256SUMS -sigfile SHA256SUMS.sig
sha256sum --ignore-missing -c SHA256SUMS

The installer contains the same key and makes the same check on the package it downloads.

Install by hand

The same steps without the installer, for example on another Debian-based system (which may work, but isn’t supported):

Download SHA256SUMS and SHA256SUMS.sig and check the signature as above.

Download the package for your computer, arm64 (Raspberry Pi and other ARM computers) or amd64 (Intel and AMD). SHA256SUMS lists its exact name, then check it:

grep _arm64.deb SHA256SUMS
curl -fsSLO https://getpocketshare.com/downloads/hub/latest/pocketshare-hub_<version>_arm64.deb
sha256sum --ignore-missing -c SHA256SUMS

Install it. apt also installs adb and android-sdk-platform-tools-common:
Terminal window
```
sudo apt install ./pocketshare-hub_<version>_arm64.deb
```

Enroll (it asks for the code) and restart the hub:

sudo pocketshare-hub enroll
sudo systemctl restart pocketshare-hub

If something doesn’t work

systemctl status pocketshare-hub pocketshare-adb shows whether both services run, and journalctl -u pocketshare-hub -f shows the hub’s log.

What you see	What to do
The installer says your system isn’t supported	Use Debian 12 or 13, Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04, or Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), or install by hand.
`adb` can’t be installed on Ubuntu	Turn on the universe repository: `sudo add-apt-repository universe`, then run the installer again.
`pocketshare-adb` isn’t running	Another adb server uses its port: `adb kill-server`, then `sudo systemctl restart pocketshare-adb`.
The code was refused	It was used already or expired. Create a new one and run `sudo pocketshare-hub enroll`.
A phone doesn’t appear	See Prepare your phones.

Remove the hub

curl -fsSL https://getpocketshare.com/install.sh | sh -s -- --uninstall

This removes the hub and its services and keeps the hub’s identity, so installing again reconnects the same hub. Add --purge to delete its identity and settings too, then remove the hub in your dashboard.