I like to use my preferred tools in any system I manage. For Unraid, it's no different. I like to edit my files with Vim or Helix. If you are like me, here's a quick guide on how to install Vim easily.

Install new packages in Unraid

Unraid is based on Slackware Linux, so you can reuse the same packages. To install them, you'll first need to locate your desired package in the PACKAGES.txt file from the current Slackware version. In my case, I looked for:

  • Vim
  • Libsodium (a Vim dependency)

You'll find the folder location in the file:

...

PACKAGE NAME:  vim-9.1.1591-x86_64-1.txz
PACKAGE LOCATION:  ./slackware64/ap
PACKAGE SIZE (compressed):  8836 K
PACKAGE SIZE (uncompressed):  44060 K
PACKAGE DESCRIPTION:
vim: vim (Vi IMproved)
vim:
vim: Vim is an almost compatible version of the UNIX editor vi. Many new
vim: features have been added: multi level undo, command line history, 
vim: filename completion, block operations, and more.
vim:
vim: Bram Moolenaar began working on Vim for the Amiga computer in 1988.
vim:

...

PACKAGE NAME:  libsodium-1.0.20-x86_64-1.txz
PACKAGE LOCATION:  ./slackware64/l
PACKAGE SIZE (compressed):  180 K
PACKAGE SIZE (uncompressed):  660 K
PACKAGE DESCRIPTION:
libsodium: libsodium (Sodium crypto library)
libsodium:
libsodium: Sodium is a library for encryption, decryption, signatures, password
libsodium: hashing and more. It is a portable, cross-compilable, installable,
libsodium: packageable fork of NaCl, with a compatible API, and an extended API
libsodium: to improve usability even further.
libsodium:
libsodium: Its goal is to provide all of the core operations needed to build
libsodium: higher-level cryptographic tools.
libsodium:
libsodium: Homepage: https://libsodium.org

...

You need to note the package name and the location to build the package URLs:

  • https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware64-current/slackware64/ap/vim-9.1.1591-x86_64-1.txz
  • https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware64-current/slackware64/l/libsodium-1.0.20-x86_64-1.txz

Now, open a terminal in Unraid and run the following commands:

cd /tmp

# Download the files
wget https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware64-current/slackware64/ap/vim-9.1.1591-x86_64-1.txz
wget https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware64-current/slackware64/l/libsodium-1.0.20-x86_64-1.txz

# Install them
installpkg libsodium-1.0.20-x86_64-1.txz
installpkg vim-9.1.1591-x86_64-1.txz

After that, you can now run vim in your terminal.