How to Install Searx Search Engine


Search Engine 

git clone https://github.com/searxng/searxng.git
cd searxng
make run # (Instalará todas las dependencias dentro de un virtualenv)

Fijate si el puerto esta abierto.

ss -tulpn | grep 8888

Ahora podes usarlo con tu navegador de consola favorito: w3m, links, lynx, links -g (con soporte framebuffer), etc. o con IceCat (con LibreJS), falkon, angelfish, otter-browser, cualquiera sea el navegador que usas.

Configurarlo como servicio.

Para hacer que SearXNG se inicie automáticamente al bootear tu sistema Arch Linux, necesitas crear un servicio de systemd. Aquí te muestro cómo hacerlo:

1. Crear el archivo de servicio

Crea un archivo de servicio en /etc/systemd/system/searxng.service:

sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/searxng.service

2. Contenido del servicio

Agrega el siguiente contenido (ajusta las rutas según tu configuración):

[Unit]
Description=SearXNG metasearch engine
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=tu_usuario
WorkingDirectory=/ruta/completa/a/searxng
ExecStart=/usr/bin/make run
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5s

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Reemplaza:

  • tu_usuario con tu nombre de usuario
  • /ruta/completa/a/searxng con la ruta absoluta a tu directorio searxng (usa pwd dentro del directorio para obtenerla)

3. Habilitar e iniciar el servicio

# Recargar systemd para que reconozca el nuevo servicio
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Habilitar el servicio para que inicie al bootear
sudo systemctl enable searxng.service

# Iniciar el servicio ahora
sudo systemctl start searxng.service

4. Verificar el estado

# Ver el estado del servicio
sudo systemctl status searxng.service

# Ver los logs si hay problemas
sudo journalctl -u searxng.service -f

Comandos útiles

# Detener el servicio
sudo systemctl stop searxng.service

# Reiniciar el servicio
sudo systemctl restart searxng.service

# Deshabilitar inicio automático
sudo systemctl disable searxng.service

Si tienes problemas con permisos o el servicio no inicia correctamente, avísame y te ayudo a ajustar la configuración.

Great choice using SearXNG (the maintained fork) with w3m! Here’s how to configure it for fewer images and optimize for console browsing:

Configuration Changes

Edit your settings.yml (usually in /etc/searxng/settings.yml or ~/.config/searxng/settings.yml):

search:
  default_results_per_page: 20  # Adjust as needed
  
ui:
  results_on_new_tab: false
  infinite_scroll: false
  
engines:
  # Disable or reduce priority of image engines
  - name: bing images
    disabled: true
  - name: google images
    disabled: true
  - name: flickr
    disabled: true

w3m-Specific Hacks

1. Create a custom searx wrapper script:

#!/bin/bash
# Save as ~/bin/searx
SEARX_URL="http://localhost:8888"
QUERY="$*"
w3m "${SEARX_URL}/search?q=${QUERY// /+}&category_general=1&language=en&time_range=&safesearch=0&theme=simple"

Make it executable: chmod +x ~/bin/searx

2. Use the “simple” theme - it’s perfect for console browsers:

  • Access: http://localhost:8888/preferences
  • Set theme to “simple”
  • Disable “Image proxy”
  • Enable “Open result links on new tab” = OFF

3. w3m configuration (~/.w3m/config):

display_image 0
auto_image 0
max_load_image 0

4. URL patterns for quick searches:

Add to ~/.w3m/urimethodmap:

searx: file:/cgi-bin/searx.cgi?%s

5. Filter images via URL parameter:

Access SearXNG with: http://localhost:8888/search?q=YOUR_QUERY&categories=general

Avoid &categories=images to skip image results.

6. Custom CSS for minimal display:

In SearXNG’s settings.yml:

ui:
  static_use_hash: false
  custom_css: "/custom.css"

Create minimal CSS that hides image previews and thumbnails.

Pro Tips

  • Use bang syntax: !g query (Google), !ddg query (DuckDuckGo), !w query (Wikipedia)
  • Keyboard shortcuts in w3m: ESC-M to open URL in external browser if needed
  • Set SearXNG as w3m’s default search: edit /etc/w3m/config and set cgi_bin path
  • Use &format=json or &format=csv in URL for parseable output you can pipe to other tools

Want help with any specific configuration or setting up custom engines?

search:
  default_results_per_page: 20
  formats:
    - html
    - json
  
ui:
  results_on_new_tab: false
  infinite_scroll: false
  theme: simple
  center_alignment: false

Configurarlo como servicio

You’re very close 🙂 — the problem is that your systemd user service file is incomplete, and systemd is rejecting it.

Let’s do this cleanly and correctly for SearXNG as a user service on Arch.

Why your service fails

Your current searx.service is missing required sections and best practices:

❌ Missing [Unit] section ❌ No Type= specified ❌ User= is not needed in --user services ❌ make run is not ideal for systemd (it’s interactive / foreground tooling)

Systemd responds with:

failed to load properly / Device or resource busy

Correct way to set up a SearXNG user service

1️⃣ Create the service file (properly)

You are already in the right directory:

cd ~/.config/systemd/user
vim searx.service

2️⃣ Paste this exact service file

[Unit]
Description=SearXNG metasearch engine
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/home/esotericwarfare/searxng
ExecStart=/home/esotericwarfare/searxng/.venv/bin/python -m searx.webapp
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

⚠️ Important notes

  • This assumes SearXNG is installed in a Python venv
  • make run is not recommended for systemd
  • systemd wants a single long-running process

3️⃣ Ensure your venv exists

From your SearXNG directory:

cd ~/searxng
ls .venv/bin/python

If it does not exist:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

4️⃣ Reload systemd user units

systemctl --user daemon-reload

5️⃣ Enable & start the service

systemctl --user enable searx.service
systemctl --user start searx.service

6️⃣ Check status & logs

systemctl --user status searx.service
journalctl --user -u searx.service -f

If it fails, the log will now tell us exactly why.

Common gotchas (important)

🔴 Port already in use

SearXNG defaults to 127.0.0.1:8888

Check:

ss -tulpn | grep 8888

🔴 Missing settings.yml

Ensure:

~/searxng/searx/settings.yml

If missing:

cp searx/settings.yml.example searx/settings.yml

OPTIONAL: Run on boot (even without login)

User services stop when you log out unless you enable lingering:

loginctl enable-linger esotericwarfare

TL;DR (minimal commands)

vim ~/.config/systemd/user/searx.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now searx
systemctl --user status searx

If you want, tell me:

  • How you installed SearXNG (git / package / docker)
  • Whether you want reverse proxy (nginx) or Tor-only
  • Whether this is local-only or public-facing

I’ll tailor the service exactly to your setup.