Discord Auto Updater for Linux

A safe and portable auto-updater wrapper for Discord on Linux. This replaces the default Discord launcher with a wrapper that:

• Checks the currently installed version
• Downloads the latest release from the official Discord API
• Updates only when needed
• Restarts Discord automatically

---

✨ Features

• ✅ Safe process handling – only kills legitimate Discord GUI processes (not the updater or unrelated processes)

• ✅ Cross-distro support

  • Debian/Ubuntu → uses official .deb packages
  • Other distros → falls back to official .tar.gz packages (/opt/discord)

• ✅ Atomic updates – version is compared before install, minimizing downloads

• ✅ Stable wrapper path – lives in /usr/local/lib/discord-updater/, not /tmp

• ✅ Locking – prevents race conditions if you double-launch

• ✅ Configurable channel – supports stable, canary, or ptb via DISCORD_CHANNEL

• ✅ Least privilege – uses sudo only for package installation or system-wide changes

---

📦 Installation

Run the following commands:

curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Doc0x1/Discord-Auto-Updater-For-Linux/master/setup_discord_update.sh -o setup_discord_update.sh
chmod +x setup_discord_update.sh
sudo ./setup_discord_update.sh

---

⚙️ Usage

Just launch Discord as usual from your applications menu or by running:

discord

The wrapper will:

1. Acquire a lock (no multiple updaters running at once)

2. Check your installed version (build_info.json)

3. Download the latest .deb or .tar.gz from Discord’s servers

4. If a newer version exists:

   • Close running Discord instances safely
   • Install the update
   • Relaunch Discord

5. If up to date:

   • Skip update and launch immediately

---

🔄 Channels

By default, the updater installs the stable release. To use canary or ptb, set the environment variable in your shell or profile:

export DISCORD_CHANNEL=canary

Add to ~/.profile or ~/.bashrc to make it persistent.

---

🗂 Install Paths

• Debian/Ubuntu (using .deb): /usr/share/discord

  • Original binary moved to /usr/share/discord/Discord.orig
  • Wrapper replaces /usr/share/discord/Discord

• Other distros (using .tar.gz): /opt/discord

  • Wrapper installed as /usr/local/bin/discord
  • Desktop entry created in /usr/local/share/applications/discord.desktop

---

📝 Logs

Logs are stored in:

~/.local/state/discord-updater/logs/run.log

Useful for troubleshooting update issues.

---

🚀 Roadmap

• Add checksum verification for extra safety
• Add optional systemd timer for background silent updates
• Add user config file for advanced settings

---

⚠️ Disclaimer

This tool downloads official Discord builds directly from Discord’s API. It does not modify Discord binaries beyond installation. Use at your own risk.