I used to know how to install Skyrim mods on Linux. Then I took an arrow in the knee ...

For the Linux side, I've used Mod Organizer 2 on Linux via https://github.com/Furglitch/modorganizer2-linux-installer

The problem is that the Linux compatibility stuff is the first step, and as the Skyrim modding forums will tell you, getting Skyrim modded is basically a game in-and-of itself. There are various incompatibilities between different mods, load orders matter, and so forth. It's not a low-effort path.

Like, the real answer is that I don't think that there is really a great low-effort way to get just "modernized Skyrim" up and running. That's not that I don't sympathize

I think that there is real demand for someone who just wants a vanilla-with-a-lot-of-community-updates Skyrim with minimal effort and troubleshooting. I've done it, and it takes time to debug issues.

Also, there isn't just one "modded Skyrim". There are people who want to play a vanilla game, just with higher-res textures and higher-polygon models. There are people who want more changes, like cities that smoothly transition into the open world. Some people want a seriously modified game, like a survival game. There are people on LoversLab and similar who want an erotic open-world game. And those just aren't really compatible with each other.

I have never used Wabbajack on Linux successfully

haven't tried recently, either

but it downloads entire collections of pre-set-up mods. The idea is that it has some "pre-modded" configurations to start from that someone's tested. You don't get to configure everything, but in theory, it should "just work" on the Skyrim side of things, and it's the closest to that that I'm aware of.

EDIT: It looks like Wabbajack has "unofficial Linux guides" up off their main page, so some people are clearly using it on Linux these days.

For the sake of the community, I ask that whoever is the one to help to post the issue/fix if possible in case it helps others in the future.

I'd offer to help myself, but I've only modded Skyrim on Windows so far. Some people on here have done it in Linux and thus are more qualified

I guess I used this to install modorganizer 2 on my computer.

https://github.com/Furglitch/modorganizer2-linux-installer

I use MO2 without issue. I juste download the mods manually from nexusmod and it's fine.

If you shoot me a message, I would be happy to help you out if I can, free of charge. I used to mod skyrim a lot and havnt done it on Linux yet, but I'd be willing to give it a go.

Getting paid to access someone's computer by its owner... Interesting 🤔

I have no idea of how it o do it, but OP please be careful on who you let in your system. Kind strangers, be careful who's computer you go into

You've probably got enough helpful responses from this, but I'll throw in my two cents here. I am used to modding Skyrim on Windows, I last modded a few years ago and was ok at it. I usually manually made modlists with MO2 but have also used wabbajack. Recently I've been gaming on Pop!Os and was able to get steam, steam tinker launcher (STL), and vortex to play nicely on a different game (non-bethesda). Vortex only worked with hardlinks using STL, I had to reread that readme like 5 times to realize this checkbox on vortex was vital (by default it was on symlinks). I could not get the flatpak versions of these apps to play nicely. I was able to download from nexusmods on librewolf and it would open in vortex, something a lot of people seemed to have trouble with, but for me, It Just Works. Nexus premium is also good to have. I don't know how hard it is to get MO2 (seems STL also supports it) or wabbajack working on linux, but if I ever find out, I'll let you know.

It looks like Jackify is the answer you are looking for. It's a tool for Linux users to install Wabbajack modlists and set up everything needed. Wabbajack is a Windows tool to install modlists for various games.

You could install mods for Skyrim one by one, but that is going to take many, many hours and at least one whole bottle of painkillers for the headaches it causes. A better solution is to download an entire modlist, and Jackify looks to be one stop solution for that. Just install and run it, choose modlist, wait for it to download and install, and just sit back and enjoy. I recommend Nordic Souls, which is about 1300 or so mods. It is a great modlist, but be warned that it takes several minutes to launch Skyrim with that modlist. To install modlists, you will need a paid subscription for Nexus Mods.

Also, make sure you have Anniversary Edition of Skyrim, or modding is going to be way more complicated.

EDIT: I almost forgot to mention that, yes, I did set up and play modded Skyrim (Nordic Souls) under Linux. But, I did it the hard way by installing SteamTinkerLaunch, ModOrganizer2 and Wabbajack. Wabbajack, especially, was problematic under Linux. But, once everything was set up, it was smooth sailing.

I found this github for a lutris setup with vortex: https://github.com/monyarm/lutris-skyrimse-installers ... if anyone wants to figure this out for op.

Buddy, if I knew how I'd do it for free, I feel your pain.

No need for money. Many people will glady help you 😁. Anyway I have not modded skyrim yet. But a easy way to mod on Linux I found is copy the installed game including mods over from windows where you did mod the game. Works for quite a few games. If you can't get it working directly from Linux that is.

This might not be exactly what you are after but Enderal: Forgotten Stories, an incredible total conversion for Skyrim that in my opinion easily surpasses Skyrim in quality, is available on Steam and works out of the box.

You can skip the hassle and use this https://www.wabbajack.org/

I feel you.. Sorry i cant help but i feel you... It gets better they say

I briefly tested Jackify, and it seems to be a great tool. I'm not able to fully test it because I don't have Nexus Mods subscription. But, I was able to test it with my old Nordic Souls files.

Guide to modding Skyrim on Linux by using a modlist:

1. You need Nexus Mods subscription to download modlists.
2. You most likely want to have Anniversary Edition of Skyrim, otherwise modding will be challenging because many mods requires it.
3. Launch Skyrim normally, and if you have Anniversary Edition, let it download all Creation Club Content (CC Content). Do not Alt-Tab out of Skyrim, or it will interrupt the download. The game will claim it downloaded everything, but you'll miss some of the CC Content. If you get any errors about files that have the letters "CC" in them, this is your problem.
4. Once the CC Content is downloaded, close Skyrim.
5. Head over to Jackify Releases. Download the latest Jackify.AppImage.
6. You might need to give it executable permission. You can typically do this by pressing the second mouse button over the icon, go to Properties -> Permissions and look for the option that says executable. Or use chmod +x /path/to/Jackify.AppImage.
7. Place Jackify.AppImage where ever you want to and launch it.
8. Go to Modlist Tasks -> Install a Modlist.
9. Select Skyrim as the game, and pick one of the Modlists. If you are out of ideas, and you have a decent computer, try Nordic Souls. Note, that you cannot combine modlists, but you can install more mods if you want to.
10. Change install and download directories, so that they have the name of the modlist in them (create new folders, for example).
11. Under the Nexus API field, there is a link. Click it, scroll to the bottom to Personal API Key section, hit the Request API Key button and copy-paste it to the API Key field. You might want to read the warning on the Nexus site, and decide yourself if you want to trust Jackify. Jackify team is planning to implement a better way to do this, but it is what it is for now.
12. Click Start Installation button, go brew some coffee, make a dinner, wash your clothes and come back to see if the installation is finished.

Once the installation is complete, Jackify adds the modlist to your Steam Library and configures the proton prefix. Make sure you are using Jackify 1.6.2 or newer, or the prefix configuration will likely fail. When you start the modlist, it will launch ModOrganizer2. Hit the big Play button to launch the game.

Nordic Souls defaults to ENB for its graphic improvements. On my old Nordic Souls, it doesn't seem to start, or it takes a very long time. Nordic Souls also comes with Community Shaders, which does the same thing. In the latest Nordic Souls version, there is a separate profile for ENB and CS. Change it from top left corner of MO2.

If you get "too many open files" error during modlist installation, you need to edit /etc/security/limits.conf and add this line to it: your_username hard nofile 524288 and then relogin, or restart.

Once you start a new save file, avoid changing the mod and plugin load orders (left and right side lists) in MO2. Doing so might break your save file, and fixing it will be difficult, because you probably won't remember the old order. Also, never uninstall or upgrade a mod, unless you are sure doing so is safe. This too can break your save file. Re-installing a mod once something has broken might not fix it.

You can install more mods using MO2. Always read the instructions given by the mod author, and follow them to a T. Pay attention to things like dependencies, incompatible mods, load orders. If the mod author doesn't mention which of the two load orders they mean, it's most likely the mod load order (left side).

If a mod comes with different versions for AE and SE (Anniversary Edition, Special Edition), you most likely need AE version of it, if you are using AE. Otherwise, SE and AE are the same, and both should work for AE.

Some modlists, such as Nordic Souls, will downgrade the Skyrim version to something like v.1.5.97. If a mod has versions for different versions of Skyrim, pay attention to this. Check the Skyrim version from the main menu of Skyrim.

Currently trying to mod Skyrim on Linux myself. I’ve got it to work now but it was a pain. I’m using MO2, it was really janky for a bit and still acts up a lot. I’m at the point now of always having MO2 open even if I’m not playing Skyrim, because closing and reopening it causes issues for me. Have you had any luck since posting this? I’m in the same boat as you, just a couple steps ahead, so I might be able to help out a little.

This may not entirely help you if you don't have a Windows drive (I dual boot when needed, especially for modding my games easily on Windows and then moving the files over to Linux after testing it works in Windows) but:

• Log into Windoze
• Install your game if it isn't (Quick Tip: If you do have Windows and Linux on separate drives, you don't have to download the entire game again. Drag the game over to the correct folders you would have on Windows, then go to download the game. It will see the files and fetch anything you still need)
• Run the game at least once to make sure your files are created and whatnot (SkyrimPrefs.ini or whatever it is called)
• once at the main menu, download any of the anniversary edition stuff if you have them
• Use Nexus Mods modding tool Vortex and use a Collection (NOTE: If you do not have a Premium account, you can use any other program like Mod Organizer 2 or whatever if you want, I have only ever used Vortex, sorry. :/ )
• Let the mod managers do their thing
• Once all the mods from the Collection/s are installed, start the game on Windows and make sure you can get in game at least (Not all mods/Collections are created equally!)
• Log back into Linux and use your preferred File Manager program to go into your Windows drive (Mine is called basic something, I'm away from my computer right now) and move the whole game folder over to your proper Linux folder for your Steam games
• Test
• Hopefully profit?

What distribution are you on? What mod manager have you tried using? And what mods are you trying to install?

Also have you tried Skyrim Anniversary edition? It has some basic built in modding capabilities.

I stumbled upon this and saw in a comment that you updated the post, and I do see that you edited it, but it doesn't contain a guide or anything.
What did you end up using? Does it work well enough?