Installing software on linux systems

Installing Software on Linux¶

One of the most difficult things to get used to in the Linux world is installing new software packages. In the world of Windows, every program comes with a Setup.exe program that asks you some very easy questions and takes care of the job for you. While Linux software can be almost that easy to install, you will sometimes find software that seems to fight every step of the way. I can’t cover all the problems you might run into, but I’ll try to give you the basics and a few pointers to help get you over the rough spots.

Software tends to come in “packages”. In the Windows world a package is a Setup.exe or a program.zip file. On a Mac a package is a program.dmg or a program.sit file. In the Linux world, there are several kinds of packages, and each distribution has its own preferred package format.

The standard Linux package format (according to the Linux Standard Base) is RPM. RPM is a packaging system originally developed by Red Hat and widely used in the Linux community. Distributions using it include Fedora, Mandriva, Red Hat (naturally), and SUSE. An RPM package file normally will be named something like program-version-other.rpm

Another popular package format is DEB, the Debian software package. Debian packages and the Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) were the first to introduce several advanced features that are now common, such as automatic dependency resolution and signed packages. Debian packages are used by Debian GNU/Linux (naturally), and distributions based on it, including Ubuntu, Knoppix, and Mepis. A Debian package file normally will be named something like program-version-other.deb

Remember, you will need to become SuperUser to install software.

Debian, Ubuntu: APT¶

There is a broad array of tools for working with DEB packages, but the one you will commonly use is apt-get , arguably the easiest of Linux package management tools. apt-get is so easy because it not only keeps track of what packages are installed, but also what other packages are available. It will even download them from the Internet for you (if properly configured).

To remove software is just as easy.

Although the repositories that contain installable packages might live on the Internet or on a disc somewhere, APT keeps a local database on your hard drive with a list of all available packages and where to find them. This database needs to be explicitly updated. To update the APT database:

A common idiom is to update your package database, and then upgrade all the packages that have patches or security updates to install. The following command will do this all at once.

For a more indepth apt-get tutorial and other resources, see Managing Software with APT and dpkg .

Fedora, Red Hat: yum В¶

yum does for RPM packages roughly what apt-get does for Debian packages. Like apt-get , yum can download and install packages from a configured repository.

To remove software is just as easy.

yum does not keep a local copy of your package database by default, so normally there is no need to update it. To install all available security patches and bug fixes, use this command:

You can also explicitly update a single package with:

For a more indepth yum tutorial and other resources, see Managing Software with yum and rpm .

Mandriva: urpm В¶

Mandriva Linux (formerly Mandrake and Connectiva) has a toolset similar to APT called urpmi . To install software:

To remove software:

To update the local package database:

To install security updates and bug fixes:

For a more indepth yum tutorial and other resources, see Managing Software with urpm .

Tar Balls¶

No, this is not a naughty term! A tar ball is a (usually compressed) archive of files, similar to a Zip file on Windows or a Sit on the Mac. Tar balls come in files that end in .tar , .tar.gz , .tgz , or something along these lines. To unpack a tar ball, use this command.

The parameters are x to extract files, z to filter through gzip for decompression (leave this off if the file does not have a gz extension), v for verbose mode so you can tell what’s going on, f indicating there will be a filename to follow. You may want to create an alias called “untar” that feeds in these options if you have a hard time remembering command line options as I do.

This command will not install the software, it will only extract the archived files. It is your job then to find the README file or INSTALL file and read its instructions for installation. If the archive contains binaries there will usually be a setup script (often called install.sh ) that you must execute as SuperUser .

Very often, software delivered in tar balls is not in executable form, but in source code, which must first be compiled before it can be installed. For more details on this, see Installing Software from Source Code .

Other Systems¶

Some other Linux distributions have their own way of managing packages, notably SUSE. SUSE uses RPM as its native package format, but has its own high level tool to manage system software installation.

SUSE Linux uses a tool called yast (which allegedly is an acronym for Yet Another Setup Tool) to perform all kinds of system administration tasks, including installing software. Having no experience with it, I cannot give you more details. man yast for help.

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How to install software in Linux (RPM/DEB systems)

In this tutorial, we’ll be covering packages, package managers and how to find, install and remove software for most popular Linux distributions.

Package

Typically when you install software in a Linux system you do so with a package. A package is just a collection of files that make up an application. Additionally, a package contains data about the application as well as any steps required to successfully install and remove that application.

Data / Metadata

The data or metadata that is contained within a package can include such information as the description of the application, the version and the list of dependencies or other packages that this particular application needs in order to function.

Package Manager

A package manager is used to install, upgrade and remove packages. The package manager uses a package’s metadata to automatically install any required dependencies. Package managers keep track of what files belong to what packages, what packages are installed and what versions of those packages are installed.

Installing Software on RPM Distros

Here’s a list of distributions that are based on the RPM package format. RPM stands for RedHat Package Manager.

• RedHat
• CentOS
• Fedora
• Oracle Linux
• Scientific Linux

The yum command-line utility is a package management program for those Linux distributions that use rpm packages.

Note: Installing or removing software requires root or superuser privileges.

Find packages to install using yum

Display information about a package using yum

Install a package with yum

yum will typically ask you to review your request and say yes or no. If you want to continue to automatically answer yes to yum’s question use:

Remove a package with yum

In addition to the yum command, you can also use the rpm command to interact with the package manager.

List installed packages using rpm

List the file’s package usign rpm

rpm -qf with path to a file will tell you what file a package belongs to.

List package’s files

List all the files that belong to that particular package

Install package using rpm

Erase (uninstall) pacakge using rpm

Installing Software on DEB Distros

Another popular package format is the Debian package format. In addition to Debian, distributions like Mint and Ubuntu use deb packages.

apt — Advanced Packacking Tool

The Debian-based distributions use a package manager called apt (advanced packaging tool). apt is comprised of a few small utilities with the two most commonly used being apt-cache and apt-get .

Find packages to install using apt-cache

Install a package with apt-get

Remove a package but keep configurations

Remove a package and delete configurations

Display information about a package using apt-cache

In addition to the app utilities, you can use the dpkg command to interact with the package manager.

List installed packages using dpkg

List file’s package using dpkg

List all files in a package using dpkg

Install a package with dpkg

Watch the video for live examples of searching, installing and removing some actual software like Dropbox using the above mentioned methods.

Summary

Packages are used to install software on Linux system. You can manipulate packages with a package manager. Two of the most popular package formats are RPM and Debian. For RPM-based distributions use the yum and rpm commands to manage packages. For Debian-based distributions use apt and dpkg to manage packages.

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How to Install Software on Linux

So you’ve made the switch to Linux. Or you’re thinking of making the switch. But you have questions that might be stopping you from fully diving in. One of the biggest concerns most new users have is, “What software is available and how do I install it?”

It’s a reasonable question. Why? For the longest time, Linux suffered from a stigma that applications were scarce, and that the few available options were a challenge to install. I remember, back in the early days, having to compile software from source packages—which would lead to a seemingly endless circle of missing dependencies. It was frustrating, but doable. That frustration, however, turned a lot of people away from Linux.

Fortunately, those days are long since past, and installing any of the available software titles (of which there are many) on Linux is no longer such a headache.

How to Get Started with the Linux Operating System

What operating system do you use? For some, that question may as well be posed in Latin or…

Before we get into the how-tos of actually installing software on Linux, there is one very important concept to understand:

Package managers

This is one of those topics that tends to confound most new Linux users. A package manager is a sub-system on Linux that, as the title says, manages the packages (software) on your computer. It’s a crucial component of Linux, in that it keeps track of everything installed; downloads packages; ensures all packages are installed in a common location; helps to upgrade packages; resolves dependencies; and keeps users from having to install from source code.

The biggest point of confusion is that there are numerous package managers available, but only one can be used on a distribution. In fact, distributions are differentiated, primarily, on which package manager they choose. For example: Debian and Ubuntu (and its derivatives) use apt; Red Hat Enterprise Linux , CentOS , and Fedora use yum; SUSE and openSUSE use zypper; and Arch Linux uses pacman. There are more package managers out there, but this is a good place to start.

Each package manager works with a different file type. For example, apt works with .deb files and yum and zypper work with .rpm files. The apt package manager cannot install .rpm files and neither yum or zypper can install .deb files. To make matters even more confusing, Ubuntu (and its derivatives) uses the dpkg command for installing local .deb files, and Red Hat (and its derivatives) use the rpm command to install local .rpm files.

Install a Windowed GNU/Linux Environment On Any Android Device With This Guide

Android’s designed largely for mobile users, but since it has Linux at its core, it can work with a

Confused yet? Don’t worry, it’s actually much easier than that.

Most package managers have GUI front ends. These front ends are similar to the Apple App Store. It should be no surprise that there are numerous such GUI front ends available. The good news here is that most of them are similarly titled (such as GNOME Software, Ubuntu Software, Elementary AppCenter). These app stores allow you to easily search for a software title and install it with the click of a button (more on this in a bit).

There is one other issue with package managers: repositories. Repositories are a key aspect of package managers, but for new users the concept can add yet another level of confusion we don’t want. For a quick overview, however, consider this: Out of the box you only have a certain selection of software titles available. That selection is dictated by the repositories that are configured. There are numerous third-party repositories you can add to the system. Once added, you can then install any software titles associated with those third-party repositories. Software repositories can be added either from a GUI tool or the command line.

In any case, repositories are an issue for a different day, and not necessary to understand for the type of software downloads discussed in this article.

Installing a downloaded file

I know, I know… I said one of the benefits of modern Linux operating systems is that you don’t need to install from a downloaded file. That being said, I want to start here. Why? There may be times when you find a piece of software not available in your distribution’s “app store.” When that occurs, you’ll need to know how to install that application manually. I will say that, for everyday, average use, it’s a rare occasion that you’ll need to do this. And even if you never do install using this method, at least you’ll have a very basic understanding of how it works.

Here, we’ll demonstrate using the latest release of Ubuntu Linux (as of this writing, 17.10). Most package managers install in similar fashion (with slight variations on the commands used). Let’s say you want to install the Google Chrome browser on Ubuntu. You won’t find this particular browser in the Ubuntu Software tool. To install it from the command line, you must download the correct file. As stated earlier, the correct file for Ubuntu will be a .deb file. So point your browser to the Chrome download page and click the Download Chrome button. The good news here is that your browser will be detected and the Chrome download page will know which file you need. Click the ACCEPT AND INSTALL button and a new window will appear, giving you two options (see below).

You can either save the file to your hard drive (and then install via the command line), or open the file with the Software Installer. It is important to understand that not every distribution includes the latter. If you do not get the Open with option, then you’ll have to install from the command line.

Let’s first use the Open with option. Make sure Software Install (default) is selected and click OK. The file will download and then Ubuntu Software will open, giving you the option to install (see below).

Click Install and you will be prompted for your user password. The installation will complete and Chrome is ready to use. You can close the Ubuntu Software tool and open Chrome from the Dash.

But what if you don’t get the option to install with the GUI tool? Then you have to select the Save File and run the installation from the command line. Don’t worry, it’s not that hard. Here are the steps to install the latest release of Chrome, on Ubuntu Linux, from the command line:

1. Click on the square of dots at the bottom of the desktop
2. When the Dash opens, type terminal
3. Change into the Downloads directory with the command cd

/Downloads

Install Chrome with the command sudo dpkg -i google-chrome*.deb

When prompted (see below), type your user password and hit Enter on your keyboard

Allow the installation to complete

Installing from the GUI

This is where things get very easy. To install from your distribution’s GUI, you only need open up the tool, search for the software you want, and click Install. Say, for instance, you want to install the GIMP Image editor . To do that, open Ubuntu Software and type gimp in the search bar. When the results appear, click on the GIMP entry, click the Install button (see below), and (when prompted) type your user password. Wait for the installation to complete and your new software is ready to be opened and used.

Bottom line: it’s all easier than it seems

Installing software on Linux isn’t nearly as hard as you might have thought. Yes, there may be the rare occasion when you need to install something from the command line, but even that isn’t much of a challenge. Besides, chances are, you’ll never have to install software outside of the GUI front end.

Do remember, if you use a distribution other than Ubuntu (or its derivatives), you’ll want to do a quick bit of googling to make sure you understand the differences between the apt package manager and the one used on your desktop.

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