CLI reference for every tool shipping with TenebraOS.
zbra
Zebra is TenebraOS's primary package manager. It fetches native .deb
packages from the TenebraOS GitHub repository while supporting passthrough to
APT, Pacman, Yay, Snap, Flatpak, and Gentoo source backends. Every native
install auto-creates a Btrfs snapshot for safe rollback.
zbra [options] <action> [package]| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-i, --install <pkg> | Install a package |
-r, --remove <pkg> | Remove a package |
-s, --search <pattern> | Search for packages |
-u, --update | Update package lists |
-U, --upgrade | Upgrade all packages |
-b, --build <source> | Build package from source |
-l, --list | List installed packages |
--info <pkg> | Show package information |
--snapshots | List Btrfs snapshots |
--rollback <snap> | Rollback to a snapshot |
-c, --clean | Clean build cache |
# Native (GitHub TenebraOS-packages)
zbra -i vim
# APT passthrough
zbra -pm apt -i vim
# Pacman via distrobox
zbra -pm pacman -i neovim
# AUR via yay
zbra -pm yay -i hyprland
# Flatpak
zbra -pm flatpak -i org.mozilla.firefox
# Snap
zbra -pm snap -i spotify# Build from tarball
zbra -b https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/wget/wget-1.24.tar.xz
# Build from git
zbra -b git@github.com:user/repo.git
# Supports autotools, cmake, meson, plain make# List snapshots
zbra --snapshots
# Rollback to a snapshot
zbra --rollback zbra_pre-install_20260910_120000CLI utility to install, swap, and remove TenebraOS kernel variants. Automatically updates GRUB bootloader configuration after changes.
Stock kernel with CachyOS performance patches. Best for general use.
Core + Apple T2 hardware support (NVMe, keyboard, touchbar, audio).
Full CachyOS tuning: BORE scheduler, BBRv3, -O3, CPU optimizations.
# List installed kernels
tenebra-kernel list
# Show current kernel info
tenebra-kernel info
# Install a kernel variant
tenebra-kernel install tenebra-t2
# Remove a kernel version
tenebra-kernel remove 6.18.0-1-tenebra-cachy
# Set default boot kernel
tenebra-kernel default 6.18.0-1-tenebra-t2
# Regenerate GRUB config
tenebra-kernel update-grubStandalone build script that fetches mainline Linux kernel source, applies Apple T2 and CachyOS patches, compiles, and outputs standard Debian packages.
# Default: BORE scheduler, latest kernel
sudo ./build-tenebra-kernel.sh
# Apple T2 variant
sudo ./build-tenebra-kernel.sh --variant tenebra-t2
# Specific kernel version + EEVDF scheduler
sudo ./build-tenebra-kernel.sh --version 6.18 --scheduler eevdf
# Custom parallel jobs
sudo ./build-tenebra-kernel.sh --jobs 8| Flag | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--variant | Kernel variant: tenebra-core, tenebra-t2, tenebra-cachy | tenebra-cachy |
--version | Linux kernel version to build | 7.2 |
--scheduler | Scheduler: bore, eevdf, bmq | bore |
--jobs | Parallel compilation threads | $(nproc) |
--keep | Preserve build directory after completion | false |
# Builds produce standard Debian packages:
linux-image-6.18.0-1-tenebra-cachy_amd64.deb
linux-headers-6.18.0-1-tenebra-cachy_amd64.deb
# Output directory: repo/pool/Automatic Btrfs snapshot management with Snapper and grub-btrfs. Pre/post APT transactions create bootable, read-only snapshots accessible from the GRUB bootloader menu.
# TenebraOS uses 4 Btrfs subvolumes:
@ / Root filesystem
@home /home User data
@snapshots /snapshots Snapshot storage
@var_log /var/log Persistent logs
# Mount options: compress=zstd:1,ssd,noatimeEvery apt install or zbra -i triggers a snapshot before and after the operation.
grub-btrfs adds every snapshot to the GRUB menu — boot into any previous state.
Snapper keeps 5 hourly, 7 daily, 4 weekly snapshots. Old ones are auto-pruned.
zbra --rollback <snap> restores the root subvolume from any snapshot.
# Create a manual snapshot
snapper -c root create --description "Before kernel update"
# List all snapshots
snapper -c root list
# Delete a snapshot
snapper -c root delete --number 42
# Or use Zebra
zbra --snapshots
zbra --rollback zbra_pre-install_20260910_120000
First-boot hardware detection runs lspci and lsusb to identify
NVIDIA GPUs, Broadcom Wi-Fi chips, and Apple T2 bridge hardware, then
automatically installs the required proprietary firmware and drivers.
Installs nvidia-driver and nvidia-kernel-dkms for proprietary GPU support.
Installs firmware-brcm80211 and firmware-iwlwifi for wireless cards.
Configures audio pipeline and kernel parameters for T2 Mac stability.
Runs once at first boot, then disables itself. No ongoing overhead.
# Hardware detection runs automatically at first boot via /etc/rc.local
# Log file: /var/log/tenebra-hw-detect.log
# Calamares also runs detection during installation:
# - GPU vendor detection (NVIDIA/AMD/Intel)
# - Apple T2 bridge chip detection
# - Driver installation confirmation prompt
The older unified package manager wrapper. Supports APT, Flatpak, and
Distrobox passthrough. New installations should use zbra instead.
# Auto-detect source
pkg install vim
# Force Flatpak
pkg install flathub:org.mozilla.firefox
# Force Arch/AUR via distrobox
pkg install arch:neovim
# Search all sources
pkg search image editor
# Export desktop entry from distrobox
pkg export firefox