diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index bd5f5ea0..365ffe3b 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ Build-Depends: debhelper-compat (= 13),
  libswscale-dev,
  libxrt-dev,
  ninja-build,
- patchelf,
  pkg-config,
  rustc,
  uuid-dev
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index f93b7dad..574d2557
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -18,26 +18,10 @@ override_dh_auto_build:
 	cmake --build build
 
 override_dh_auto_install:
-	install -d debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm debian/fastflowlm/usr/bin
 	DESTDIR=$(CURDIR)/debian/fastflowlm cmake --install build --prefix=/opt/fastflowlm
-	mv debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/bin/flm debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/flm
 	rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/bin
-	ln -sf /opt/fastflowlm/flm debian/fastflowlm/usr/bin/flm
-
-	# Install model list
-	install -m 644 src/model_list.json debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/model_list.json
-
-	# Install xclbins
-	cp -r src/xclbins debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/
-
-	# Remove include and lib directories
-	rm -rf debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/include debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/lib
+	install -d debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm debian/fastflowlm/usr/bin
+	ln -sf /opt/fastflowlm/bin/flm debian/fastflowlm/usr/bin/flm
 
-	# Install custom libraries and update their RPATH
-	install -m 644 src/lib/*.so debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/
-	patchelf --set-rpath '/opt/fastflowlm' debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/flm
-	for lib in debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/*.so; do \
-		if [ -f "$$lib" ]; then \
-			patchelf --set-rpath '/opt/fastflowlm' "$$lib"; \
-		fi; \
-	done
+	# Remove include directories
+	rm -rf debian/fastflowlm/opt/fastflowlm/include
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index f81d9a1f..9b943bb6 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ endif()
 
 target_compile_definitions(flm PUBLIC
     DISABLE_ABI_CHECK=1
+    CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}"
 )
 
 if(WIN32)
@@ -306,12 +307,29 @@ if(WIN32)
         COMMENT "Checking for remaining DLL dependencies"
         DEPENDS flm
     )
+else()
+    file(GLOB so_libs "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/*.so")
+    install(FILES ${so_libs} DESTINATION lib)
+    set_target_properties(flm PROPERTIES
+        INSTALL_RPATH "$ORIGIN/../lib")
 endif()
-
-# ———————————————————————————————————————————————
-# Install the flm binary (for proper deployment)
-# ———————————————————————————————————————————————
 install(TARGETS flm
     RUNTIME DESTINATION bin
     BUNDLE DESTINATION .
-)
\ No newline at end of file
+)
+
+install(FILES model_list.json DESTINATION share/flm)
+
+# xclbins, which are loaded by shared libraries need to be in location
+# relative to the executable, so we install them to bin/xclbins
+install(DIRECTORY xclbins DESTINATION bin)
+
+if(NOT WIN32 AND NOT CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX STREQUAL "/usr" AND NOT CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX STREQUAL "/usr/local")
+    install(CODE "
+        message(STATUS \"Creating symlink for flm\")
+        file(MAKE_DIRECTORY \"$ENV{DESTDIR}/usr/local/bin\")
+        execute_process(COMMAND \"${CMAKE_COMMAND}\" -E create_symlink
+            \"${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin/flm\"
+            \"$ENV{DESTDIR}/usr/local/bin/flm\")"
+    )
+endif()
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 0116722a..8c3d4796 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ OUT_DIR   := out
 PWSH      := powershell.exe
 
 
-.PHONY: all clean run serve
+.PHONY: all clean run serve install
 
 ifeq ($(OS),Windows_NT)
 
@@ -29,26 +29,34 @@ clean:
 	@$(PWSH) "Remove-Item -Recurse -Force '$(BUILD_DIR)'"
 	@$(PWSH) "Remove-Item -Recurse -Force '$(OUT_DIR)'"
 
+install:
+	@echo "Installing using CMake..."
+	@cd $(BUILD_DIR) && cmake --install . --prefix $(PREFIX)
+
 else
 
 all:
 	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)
 	@mkdir -p $(OUT_DIR)
-	@cd $(BUILD_DIR) && ${PWSH} -Command "cmake .."
-	@cd $(BUILD_DIR) && ${PWSH} -Command "cmake --build . --config Release"
+	@cd $(BUILD_DIR) && cmake ..
+	@cd $(BUILD_DIR) && cmake --build . --config Release
 
 run:
-	@cp lib/*.dll $(OUT_DIR)
+	@cp lib/*.so $(OUT_DIR)
 	@cp model_list.json $(OUT_DIR)
-	@cd $(OUT_DIR) && ${PWSH} -Command "./flm.exe run gpt-oss -a 0"
+	@cd $(OUT_DIR) && ./flm run gpt-oss -a 0
 
 serve:
-	@cp lib/*.dll $(OUT_DIR)
+	@cp lib/*.so $(OUT_DIR)
 	@cp model_list.json $(OUT_DIR)
-	@cd $(OUT_DIR) && ${PWSH} -Command "./flm.exe serve -a 1 -e 1"
+	@cd $(OUT_DIR) && ./flm serve -a 1 -e 1
 
 clean:
 	@rm -rf $(BUILD_DIR)
 	@rm -rf $(OUT_DIR)
 
+install:
+	@echo "Installing using CMake..."
+	@cd $(BUILD_DIR) && cmake --install . --prefix $(PREFIX)
+
 endif
diff --git a/src/common/utils.cpp b/src/common/utils.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2380d76e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/common/utils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+/// \file utils.cpp
+/// \brief utils class
+/// \author FastFlowLM Team
+/// \date 2025-06-24
+/// \version 0.9.24
+/// 
+/// \note This file contains some utility functions for the FastFlowLM project.
+#include "utils/utils.hpp"
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <cstdlib>
+
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#include <windows.h>
+#include <shlobj.h>
+#else
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <limits.h>
+#endif
+
+namespace utils {
+
+std::string find_model_list() {
+    std::string install_prefix = CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX;
+
+    // 1. Check FLM_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
+    const char* env_path = std::getenv("FLM_CONFIG_PATH");
+    if (env_path && *env_path) {
+        if (std::filesystem::exists(env_path)) {
+            return env_path;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // 2. Check for install prefix
+    std::string installed_path = install_prefix + "/share/flm/model_list.json";
+    if (std::filesystem::exists(installed_path)) {
+        return installed_path;
+    }
+
+    // 3. Check relative to executable
+    std::string exe_dir = get_executable_directory();
+    std::string exe_relative_path = exe_dir + "/model_list.json";
+    if (std::filesystem::exists(exe_relative_path)) {
+        return exe_relative_path;
+    }
+
+    // 4. Check current working directory
+    if (std::filesystem::exists("model_list.json")) {
+        return "model_list.json";
+    }
+
+    // If not found, throw an error
+    throw std::runtime_error("model_list.json not found. Please set FLM_CONFIG_PATH or place it next to the executable.");
+}
+
+std::string get_executable_directory() {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    char buffer[MAX_PATH];
+    GetModuleFileNameA(NULL, buffer, MAX_PATH);
+    std::string exe_path(buffer);
+    size_t last_slash = exe_path.find_last_of("/");
+    if (last_slash != std::string::npos) {
+        return exe_path.substr(0, last_slash);
+    }
+    return ".";
+#else
+    char buffer[PATH_MAX] = {0};
+    ssize_t len = readlink("/proc/self/exe", buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1);
+    if (len > 0) {
+        buffer[len] = '\0';
+        std::string exe_path(buffer);
+        size_t last_slash = exe_path.find_last_of("/");
+        if (last_slash != std::string::npos) {
+            return exe_path.substr(0, last_slash);
+        }
+    }
+    return ".";
+#endif
+}
+
+std::string get_user_documents_directory() {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    char buffer[MAX_PATH];
+    if (SUCCEEDED(SHGetFolderPathA(NULL, CSIDL_PERSONAL, NULL, 0, buffer))) {
+        return std::string(buffer);
+    }
+    // Fallback to current directory if Documents folder cannot be found
+    return ".";
+#else
+    const char* home = std::getenv("HOME");
+    if (home && *home) {
+        return std::string(home) + "/.config";
+    }
+    return ".";
+#endif
+}
+
+int get_server_port(int user_port) {
+    if (user_port > 0 && user_port <= 65535) {
+        return user_port;
+    }
+    else {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+        char* port_env = nullptr;
+        size_t len = 0;
+        if (_dupenv_s(&port_env, &len, "FLM_SERVE_PORT") == 0 && port_env != nullptr) {
+            try {
+                int port = std::stoi(port_env);
+                free(port_env);
+                if (port > 0 && port <= 65535) {
+                    return port;
+                }
+            }
+            catch (const std::exception&) {
+                free(port_env);
+                // Invalid port number, use default
+            }
+        }
+#else
+        const char* port_env = std::getenv("FLM_SERVE_PORT");
+        if (port_env && *port_env) {
+            try {
+                int port = std::stoi(port_env);
+                if (port > 0 && port <= 65535) {
+                    return port;
+                }
+            }
+            catch (const std::exception&) {
+                // Invalid port number, use default
+            }
+        }
+#endif
+    }
+
+    return 52625; // Default port
+}
+
+std::string get_models_directory() {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    char* model_path_env = nullptr;
+    size_t len = 0;
+    if (_dupenv_s(&model_path_env, &len, "FLM_MODEL_PATH") == 0 && model_path_env != nullptr) {
+        std::string custom_path(model_path_env);
+        free(model_path_env);
+        if (!custom_path.empty()) {
+            return custom_path;
+        }
+    }
+#else
+    const char* model_path_env = std::getenv("FLM_MODEL_PATH");
+    if (model_path_env && *model_path_env) {
+        return std::string(model_path_env);
+    }
+#endif
+    // Fallback to Documents/flm/models on Windows or ~/.config/flm on Linux if environment variable is not set
+    std::string documents_dir = get_user_documents_directory();
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    return documents_dir + "/flm/models";
+#else
+    return documents_dir + "/flm";
+#endif
+}
+
+} // end of namespace utils
diff --git a/src/include/utils/utils.hpp b/src/include/utils/utils.hpp
index e53da3b4..ca791045 100644
--- a/src/include/utils/utils.hpp
+++ b/src/include/utils/utils.hpp
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <chrono>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <fstream>
+#include <filesystem>
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <shlobj.h>
@@ -342,49 +343,11 @@ inline bool check_file_exists(std::string name) {
 
 /// \brief get the user's Documents directory on Windows or config directory on Linux
 /// \return the user's Documents directory path on Windows, ~/.config on Linux
-inline std::string get_user_documents_directory() {
-#ifdef _WIN32
-    char buffer[MAX_PATH];
-    if (SUCCEEDED(SHGetFolderPathA(NULL, CSIDL_PERSONAL, NULL, 0, buffer))) {
-        return std::string(buffer);
-    }
-    // Fallback to current directory if Documents folder cannot be found
-    return ".";
-#else
-    const char* home = std::getenv("HOME");
-    if (home && *home) {
-        return std::string(home) + "/.config";
-    }
-    return ".";
-#endif
-}
+std::string get_user_documents_directory();
 
 ///@brief get_executable_directory gets the directory where the executable is located
 ///@return the executable directory path
-inline std::string get_executable_directory() {
-#ifdef _WIN32
-    char buffer[MAX_PATH];
-    GetModuleFileNameA(NULL, buffer, MAX_PATH);
-    std::string exe_path(buffer);
-    size_t last_slash = exe_path.find_last_of("/\\");
-    if (last_slash != std::string::npos) {
-        return exe_path.substr(0, last_slash);
-    }
-    return ".";
-#else
-    char buffer[PATH_MAX] = {0};
-    ssize_t len = readlink("/proc/self/exe", buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1);
-    if (len > 0) {
-        buffer[len] = '\0';
-        std::string exe_path(buffer);
-        size_t last_slash = exe_path.find_last_of("/");
-        if (last_slash != std::string::npos) {
-            return exe_path.substr(0, last_slash);
-        }
-    }
-    return ".";
-#endif
-}
+std::string get_executable_directory();
 
 template<typename... fileName>
 inline std::string path_join(fileName&&... args){
@@ -401,74 +364,16 @@ inline std::string path_join(fileName&&... args){
     return path;
 }
 
+///@brief find and return the path to model_list.json
+///@return path to model_list.json
+std::string find_model_list();
+
 ///@brief get_server_port gets the server port from environment variable FLM_SERVE_PORT
 ///@return the server port, default is 52625 if environment variable is not set
-inline int get_server_port(int user_port) {
-    if (user_port > 0 && user_port <= 65535) {
-        return user_port;
-    }
-    else {
-#ifdef _WIN32
-        char* port_env = nullptr;
-        size_t len = 0;
-        if (_dupenv_s(&port_env, &len, "FLM_SERVE_PORT") == 0 && port_env != nullptr) {
-            try {
-                int port = std::stoi(port_env);
-                free(port_env);
-                if (port > 0 && port <= 65535) {
-                    return port;
-                }
-            }
-            catch (const std::exception&) {
-                free(port_env);
-                // Invalid port number, use default
-            }
-        }
-#else
-        const char* port_env = std::getenv("FLM_SERVE_PORT");
-        if (port_env && *port_env) {
-            try {
-                int port = std::stoi(port_env);
-                if (port > 0 && port <= 65535) {
-                    return port;
-                }
-            }
-            catch (const std::exception&) {
-                // Invalid port number, use default
-            }
-        }
-#endif
-    }
-
-    return 52625; // Default port
-}
+int get_server_port(int user_port);
 
 ///@brief get_models_directory gets the models directory from environment variable or defaults to Documents/flm/models on Windows or ~/.config/flm on Linux
 ///@return the models directory path
-inline std::string get_models_directory() {
-#ifdef _WIN32
-    char* model_path_env = nullptr;
-    size_t len = 0;
-    if (_dupenv_s(&model_path_env, &len, "FLM_MODEL_PATH") == 0 && model_path_env != nullptr) {
-        std::string custom_path(model_path_env);
-        free(model_path_env);
-        if (!custom_path.empty()) {
-            return custom_path;
-        }
-    }
-#else
-    const char* model_path_env = std::getenv("FLM_MODEL_PATH");
-    if (model_path_env && *model_path_env) {
-        return std::string(model_path_env);
-    }
-#endif
-    // Fallback to Documents/flm/models on Windows or ~/.config/flm on Linux if environment variable is not set
-    std::string documents_dir = get_user_documents_directory();
-#ifdef _WIN32
-    return documents_dir + "/flm/models";
-#else
-    return documents_dir + "/flm";
-#endif
-}
+std::string get_models_directory();
 
 } // end of namespace utils
diff --git a/src/src/main.cpp b/src/src/main.cpp
index 696a65e6..d1b83aed 100644
--- a/src/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/src/main.cpp
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
     
     // Get the command, model tag, and force flag
     std::string exe_dir = utils::get_executable_directory();
-    std::string config_path = exe_dir + "/model_list.json";
+    std::string config_path = utils::find_model_list();
     // Get the models directory from environment variable or default
     std::string models_dir = utils::get_models_directory();