If you develop on Windows but want a Linux toolchain, Hugo runs happily under WSL. Here is the quick version, plus the one gotcha worth knowing.

The quick way (often out of date)

Update your package list and install from apt:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install hugo

This works, but Ubuntu and Debian package a version of Hugo that usually lags well behind the current release. Themes move quickly, and plenty of them need a newer Hugo than apt will give you. If a theme’s build complains about your Hugo version, this is why.

The better way (latest release)

Grab the latest .deb straight from the Hugo releases page at github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases, then install it. Swap the version number for whatever is current:

wget https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/download/v0.142.0/hugo_0.142.0_linux-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i hugo_0.142.0_linux-amd64.deb

Then check it took:

hugo version

Get the extended build

Most modern themes, including Toha which this site runs on, need the extended build for Sass and SCSS processing. It is a separate package, so install that one instead:

wget https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/download/v0.142.0/hugo_extended_0.142.0_linux-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i hugo_extended_0.142.0_linux-amd64.deb

hugo version shows +extended in its output when you have the right build. If a theme fails to compile its styles, checking for that tag is the first thing to look at.