If your Linux distribution does not have git-annex packaged up for you, you can either build it fromsource, or you can use a handy prebuilt tarball of the most recent release.

This tarball should work on most Linux systems. It has basically no dependencies and is self-contained.

Warning Linux kernels older than 4.5 may not run this build correctly, and data loss has been reported using this build with the old kernel. We are working to resolve this problem, and if you use such a kernel, we recommend running git annex test to check git-annex works correctly, and/or using the build for ancient kernels.

To use, just unpack the tarball, cd git-annex.linux and run ./runshell -- this sets up an environment where you can use git annex, as well as everything else included in the bundle.

Alternatively, you can unpack the tarball, and add the directory to your PATH, or symlink the programs in the directory to a directory in your PATH. This lets you use git annex, without overriding your system's own versions of git, etc.

The arm version can be installed on NAS devices and other embedded ARM linux systems.

The build for ancient kernels is for use with Linux kernel versions such as 2.6.32. It will work on both 32 and 64 bit systems.

autobuilds

An hourly autobuild is also available, thanks to Mesar Hameed and the University of Bath CS department.

The arm autobuilder runs daily, and is hosted at WetKnee Books.

technical details

The way those tarballs are built is described in joeyh's blog.