Set up a controller

In Steam, enter Big Picture Mode by clicking the computer icon next to the close and minimize buttons.

Navigate to Settings > Controller.

You should be able to see your controller appear in the list and enable configurations for your controller type.

Controller menu in Steam.

Troubleshooting

Try the following steps if your controller does not connect or you cannot enable the configurations.

Connect plugs

Make sure the following plugs are connected using the following commands:

  • joystick: snap connect steam:joystick

  • hardware-observe: snap connect steam:hardware-observe

  • uinput: snap connect steam:uinput

It is likely that they will already be connected automatically.

Install steam-devices

You may also need to install the steam-devices deb package on your host system:

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends steam-devices.