How to Install SQLite on Ubuntu (26.04, 24.04, 22.04)

SQLite is a lightweight, file-based database engine trusted by developers, system administrators, and embedded device makers for its simplicity and reliability. Unlike traditional client-server databases, SQLite requires no separate service—each database is a single file, making it ideal for local development, scripting, and applications where minimal setup is essential.

This guide shows you how to install SQLite 3 on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS, and 22.04 LTS. You can use the stable sqlite3 package from Ubuntu’s repositories for most needs, or compile the latest version from source if you require the newest features. Both methods are covered below, so you can choose the best fit for your workflow.

Install SQLite 3 on Ubuntu

Choose Your SQLite 3 Installation Method on Ubuntu

Start with APT unless you need features newer than your Ubuntu release provides. Source compilation gives you the latest branch, but you manage updates manually.

Method	Channel	Version	Updates	Best For
APT (Recommended)	Ubuntu default repositories	Distribution default	Automatic through standard APT upgrades	Most users needing stable packages
Source Compilation	Official SQLite source archive	Latest upstream release	Manual recompilation	Developers needing newest features quickly

Default SQLite 3 Versions by Ubuntu Release

Ubuntu packages different SQLite branches by LTS release. Use this table when version-specific behavior matters for your application stack.

Ubuntu Release	Default SQLite	Ubuntu Support Window	Best For
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS	SQLite 3.46.x	Standard support through April 2031	New deployments on the current LTS
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS	SQLite 3.45.x	Standard support through April 2029	Stable production systems
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS	SQLite 3.37.x	Standard support through April 2027	Legacy compatibility requirements

These steps cover Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS, and 22.04 LTS. Repository installs follow each release’s packaged SQLite branch, while source compilation builds the latest upstream version. The command flow below stays consistent across supported LTS releases.

Update Ubuntu Before Installing SQLite 3

Refresh package metadata and apply pending upgrades before installation to avoid dependency conflicts.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

This guide uses sudo for system-level package and install commands. If your account does not have sudo access yet, follow our guide on how to add a new user to sudoers on Ubuntu.

You should see package indexes refresh successfully:

Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute InRelease
Hit:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute-security InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done

Method 1: Install SQLite 3 with APT on Ubuntu

To install SQLite 3 on Ubuntu with APT, run the command below. This method gives you predictable updates with minimal maintenance overhead.

sudo apt install sqlite3

The sqlite3 package installs the command-line shell and pulls in libsqlite3-0 for runtime library support.

Verify SQLite 3 APT Installation on Ubuntu

sqlite3 --version

Example output on Ubuntu 26.04:

3.46.1 2024-08-13 09:16:08 c9c2ab54ba1f5f46360f1b4f35d849cd3f080e6fc2b6c60e91b16c63f69aalt1 (64-bit)

The version branch should align with your release: Ubuntu 26.04 returns 3.46.x, Ubuntu 24.04 returns 3.45.x, and Ubuntu 22.04 returns 3.37.x.

Method 2: Compile SQLite 3 from Source on Ubuntu

Compile from source when you need the latest SQLite release instead of the branch shipped by your Ubuntu LTS.

Install Build Dependencies for SQLite Source Compilation on Ubuntu

sudo apt install build-essential curl

This installs GCC, make, and related build tools, plus curl for release detection and source downloads.

If these command filters are new to you, review our curl command guide and grep command guide before continuing.

Download the Latest SQLite 3 Source Archive on Ubuntu

Create a dedicated build directory, detect the latest version from the official SQLite GitHub mirror, then download the matching autoconf tarball from sqlite.org.

mkdir -p ~/sqlite-build && cd ~/sqlite-build
SQLITE_VERSION=$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/sqlite/sqlite/tags?per_page=20 | grep -oE '"name": "version-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+"' | head -n 1 | sed -E 's/.*version-([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+).*/\1/')
VERSION_NUM=$(echo "$SQLITE_VERSION" | awk -F. '{printf "%d%02d%02d00", $1, $2, $3}')
YEAR=$(date +%Y)
echo "Latest SQLite release: $SQLITE_VERSION"
echo "Archive id: $VERSION_NUM"
curl -fLO --progress-bar "https://www.sqlite.org/${YEAR}/sqlite-autoconf-${VERSION_NUM}.tar.gz" || curl -fLO --progress-bar "https://www.sqlite.org/$((YEAR-1))/sqlite-autoconf-${VERSION_NUM}.tar.gz"

Example output:

Latest SQLite release: 3.51.2
Archive id: 3510200
######################################################################## 100.0%

If GitHub API requests are rate-limited in your environment, open the SQLite download page, copy the latest autoconf archive id, and rerun this section with manual values.

Extract and Configure SQLite Source on Ubuntu

tar -xzf "sqlite-autoconf-${VERSION_NUM}.tar.gz"
cd "sqlite-autoconf-${VERSION_NUM}"
./configure --prefix=/usr/local

Using --prefix=/usr/local keeps source-built files separate from APT-managed files in /usr, which reduces upgrade and removal conflicts.

Expected configure output includes:

Configuring SQLite version 3.51.2
Host System...x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
Created Makefile from Makefile.in
Created sqlite3.pc from sqlite3.pc.in
Created sqlite_cfg.h

Compile and Install SQLite 3 Source Build on Ubuntu

make -j"$(nproc)"
sudo make install

Expected install output includes file deployment to /usr/local:

/usr/bin/install libsqlite3.so "/usr/local/lib"
/usr/bin/install sqlite3 "/usr/local/bin"
/usr/bin/install -m 0644 sqlite3.h sqlite3ext.h "/usr/local/include"

Verify Source-Compiled SQLite Installation on Ubuntu

/usr/local/bin/sqlite3 --version
which sqlite3

Expected output:

3.51.2 2026-01-09 17:27:48 b270f8339eb13b504d0b2ba154ebca966b7dde08e40c3ed7d559749818cb2075 (64-bit)
/usr/local/bin/sqlite3

Basic SQLite 3 Usage on Ubuntu

Use these quick checks to confirm your SQLite shell works before integrating SQLite with applications.

Create and Open a Database with SQLite on Ubuntu

sqlite3 ~/test.db

Expected shell output:

SQLite version 3.x.x
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite>

Create a Table and Insert Data in SQLite on Ubuntu

CREATE TABLE users (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT);
INSERT INTO users (name) VALUES ('Test User');
SELECT * FROM users;

Expected query output:

1|Test User

Exit the SQLite shell with .quit. The database file remains at ~/test.db.

Update SQLite 3 Source Install on Ubuntu

Source installs do not update through APT. Use this script to detect the latest release, compare against your current install, and rebuild only when needed.

#!/bin/bash
set -e

BUILD_DIR="$HOME/sqlite-build"

if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "Run this script as a regular user. Use sudo only when make install prompts."
  exit 1
fi

for cmd in curl grep sed awk tar make gcc; do
  if ! command -v "$cmd" >/dev/null; then
    echo "Missing required command: $cmd"
    echo "Install dependencies with: sudo apt install build-essential curl"
    exit 1
  fi
done

mkdir -p "$BUILD_DIR"
cd "$BUILD_DIR"

LATEST_VERSION=$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/sqlite/sqlite/tags?per_page=20 | grep -oE '"name": "version-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+"' | head -n 1 | sed -E 's/.*version-([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+).*/\1/')

if [ -z "$LATEST_VERSION" ]; then
  echo "Could not detect the latest SQLite version from GitHub."
  exit 1
fi

if command -v sqlite3 >/dev/null; then
  CURRENT_VERSION=$(sqlite3 --version | awk '{print $1}')
else
  CURRENT_VERSION="none"
fi

echo "Current version: $CURRENT_VERSION"
echo "Latest version:  $LATEST_VERSION"

if [ "$CURRENT_VERSION" = "$LATEST_VERSION" ]; then
  echo "Already up to date."
  exit 0
fi

VERSION_NUM=$(echo "$LATEST_VERSION" | awk -F. '{printf "%d%02d%02d00", $1, $2, $3}')
YEAR=$(date +%Y)

echo "Preparing SQLite $LATEST_VERSION ($VERSION_NUM)..."
rm -rf "$BUILD_DIR"/sqlite-autoconf-*

curl -fLO --progress-bar "https://www.sqlite.org/${YEAR}/sqlite-autoconf-${VERSION_NUM}.tar.gz" || \
curl -fLO --progress-bar "https://www.sqlite.org/$((YEAR-1))/sqlite-autoconf-${VERSION_NUM}.tar.gz"

tar -xzf "sqlite-autoconf-${VERSION_NUM}.tar.gz"
cd "sqlite-autoconf-${VERSION_NUM}"

./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make -j"$(nproc)"
sudo make install

echo "Update complete:"
/usr/local/bin/sqlite3 --version

Run the SQLite Source Update Script on Ubuntu

nano ~/update-sqlite.sh

Paste the script, save in nano with Ctrl+O, press Enter, then exit with Ctrl+X.

chmod +x ~/update-sqlite.sh
~/update-sqlite.sh

Example output when already current:

Current version: 3.51.2
Latest version:  3.51.2
Already up to date.

Avoid automating this script with cron. Source compilation can fail because of dependency changes, upstream build changes, or network issues, so run it manually and review output each time.

Remove SQLite 3 from Ubuntu

Use the removal steps that match your installation method.

Remove APT-Installed SQLite 3 on Ubuntu

sudo apt remove sqlite3
sudo apt autoremove

Verify APT removal status:

apt-cache policy sqlite3 | sed -n '1,6p'

sqlite3:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 3.46.1-9
  Version table:
     3.46.1-9 500

Remove Source-Compiled SQLite 3 on Ubuntu

If you installed SQLite with --prefix=/usr/local, remove those files and refresh the linker cache.

sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/sqlite3
sudo rm -f /usr/local/lib/libsqlite3.so /usr/local/lib/libsqlite3.so.0 /usr/local/lib/libsqlite3.so.* /usr/local/lib/libsqlite3.a
sudo rm -f /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/sqlite3.pc
sudo rm -f /usr/local/include/sqlite3.h /usr/local/include/sqlite3ext.h
sudo rm -f /usr/local/share/man/man1/sqlite3.1
sudo ldconfig

The next command permanently deletes your local SQLite source directory. Confirm the path before running it.

rm -rf ~/sqlite-build

Verify whether any SQLite binary remains in your PATH:

sqlite3 --version || echo "sqlite3 is not installed"

3.46.1 2024-08-13 09:16:08 c9c2ab54ba1f5f46360f1b4f35d849cd3f080e6fc2b6c60e91b16c63f69aalt1 (64-bit)
# or
sqlite3 is not installed

Troubleshoot SQLite 3 on Ubuntu

These checks cover the most common installation and runtime issues seen on Ubuntu systems.

Fix “Unable to locate package sqlite3” on Ubuntu

This usually means your package index is stale or the repository metadata did not refresh correctly.

sudo apt update
apt-cache policy sqlite3

Expected output includes a candidate version:

sqlite3:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 3.46.1-9
  Version table:
     3.46.1-9 500

Fix “sqlite3: command not found” on Ubuntu

dpkg -l | grep -E '^ii\s+sqlite3\b|^ii\s+libsqlite3-0\b'

If SQLite is installed, you should see package rows like:

ii  libsqlite3-0:amd64  3.46.1-9  amd64  SQLite 3 shared library
ii  sqlite3             3.46.1-9  amd64  Command line interface for SQLite 3

If no rows appear, install SQLite with sudo apt install sqlite3. If rows appear but the command still fails, check whether your PATH includes /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin.

Resolve SQLite Library Version Conflicts on Ubuntu

sudo ldconfig
ldconfig -p | grep sqlite3

Typical output when both APT and source library paths exist:

libsqlite3.so.0 (libc6,x86-64) => /usr/local/lib/libsqlite3.so.0
libsqlite3.so.0 (libc6,x86-64) => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libsqlite3.so.0

If both paths are listed, applications may load different library files depending on loader order and binary link paths.

Fix SQLite Database Permission Errors on Ubuntu

ls -la database.db

Example permission output:

-rw-r--r-- 1 username username 8192 Feb 16 05:40 database.db

Grant your user write access when needed, and set service ownership for web workloads. If you want a refresher on permission bits, review our chmod command guide.

chmod 664 database.db
sudo chown www-data:www-data database.db

Verify the new permissions and ownership:

ls -la database.db

-rw-rw-r-- 1 www-data www-data 8192 Feb 16 05:40 database.db

SQLite 3 Resources for Ubuntu Users

Use these references for deeper SQLite documentation and related Ubuntu workflows.

• SQLite Download Page: Official source archives and release artifacts.
• SQLite Quick Start: Core shell workflow from the upstream project.
• When to Use SQLite: Official guidance for choosing SQLite versus client-server databases.
• SQLite Documentation: API, SQL, and extension documentation.
• Python Virtual Environments on Ubuntu: Isolate Python app dependencies that rely on SQLite files.
• PHP on Ubuntu: Pair PHP with SQLite-backed local applications.

Frequently Asked Questions About SQLite on Ubuntu

Conclusion

SQLite 3 is running on Ubuntu with a setup you can maintain: APT for distribution-managed stability or source compilation in /usr/local for faster access to upstream releases. You also have tested update, removal, and troubleshooting paths that cover Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS, and 22.04 LTS.