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Archives For November 30, 1999

How to Install xxHash for faster hash check in Ubuntu

Last updated: January 1, 2024 — Leave a comment

This simple tutorial shows how to install the most recent xxHash for faster hash checking in Ubuntu Linux.

xxHash is extremely fast non-cryptographic hash algorithm, working at RAM speed limit. It can be useful to check integrity for large amounts of data, index data, and/or used in cryptographic applications like digital signatures.

The library includes the following algorithms:

  • XXH32 : generates 32-bit hashes.
  • XXH64 : generates 64-bit hashes.
  • XXH3/XXH128 (since v0.8.0): generates 64 or 128-bit hashes, using vectorized arithmetic.

I’m new to hash algorithm, but doing hash check regularly when trying out different Linux distributions. And I use sha256, since the most sites provide sha256sum files for the hash code of their disco images.

Continue Reading…

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How to Install Visual Studio Code in Ubuntu 22.04 & 24.04 [3 ways]

Last updated: December 31, 2023 — 2 Comments

This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to install VS Code IDE and keep it up-to-date in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, Ubuntu 24.04 using 3 different ways.

Microsoft provides official code packages for Linux through native .deb (for Debian/Ubuntu), .rpm (for Fedora/SUSE), and universal Snap package run in sandbox.

For choice, there’s also a community maintained Flatpak package which also runs in sandbox.

So, there are 3 common ways to install this IDE in your Ubuntu Desktop!


Continue Reading…

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How to Install Alacritty (GPU Accelerated Terminal) in Ubuntu

Last updated: December 30, 2023 — Leave a comment

Alacritty, is a free and open-source terminal emulator, written in Rust programming language. It works in Linux, Windows, MacOS, and uses OpenGL API for GPU hardware acceleration for fast response and high performance.

The terminal emulator features vi mode, allows to move around the viewport and scrollback using the keyboard. And, vi search and normal search for anything in the scrollback buffer.

Option 1: Install Alacritty via Snap package

For Ubuntu users, the easily way to install the terminal emulator is using the Snap package. It’s available in Ubuntu Software (App Center for 23.10), though run in sandbox.

Alacritty terminal emulator in App Center

Or, user can install it by running the command below in terminal:

snap install alacritty --classic

Option 2: Install Alacritty through Cargo (official)

The terminal emulator is also available to install through Cargo, the Rust package manager.

1. Just open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install Cargo first:

sudo apt install cargo

2. Then, install the required dependency packages:

sudo apt install cmake pkg-config libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig1-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev libxkbcommon-dev python3

3. Finally, use cargo to install the terminal package:

cargo install alacritty

When done, run ~/.cargo/bin/alacritty to start the terminal.

4. The cargo package manager does not install the desktop entry for Alacritty. So, you need to manually create one by running command:

nano ~/.local/share/applications/alacritty.desktop

Then, paste following lines in the terminal window:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=/home/ji/.cargo/bin/alacritty
Icon=alacritty
Terminal=false
Categories=System;TerminalEmulator;
Name=Alacritty
Comment=A fast, cross-platform, OpenGL terminal emulator
StartupNotify=true
StartupWMClass=Alacritty
Actions=New;

[Desktop Action New]
Name=New Terminal
Exec=/home/ji/.cargo/bin/alacrittyalacritty

NOTE: You need to replace ji to your username in the line above. Then, press Ctrl+S to save, and Ctrl+X to exit.


For the icon to display, run single command below to download img file and save to local icon folder:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alacritty/alacritty/master/extra/logo/compat/alacritty-term.png -O ~/.local/share/icons/alacritty.png

Or, you can download the icon from github web page and manually copy to .local/share/icons directory.

Option 3: Ubuntu PPA

For those who prefer the Ubuntu PPA repository, keep an eye on this launchpad page for all 3rd party PPAs.

Uninstall Alacritty

Depends on how you install the terminal emulator, either remove the Snap package from Ubuntu Software or by command:

snap remove alacritty

Or, run command to uninstall the cargo package:

cargo uninstall alacritty

You may also remove Cargo itself, if there’s no other rust packages installed, as well as some dev dependency libraries to free up some disk space.

sudo apt remove --autoremove cargo cmake pkg-config libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig1-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev libxkbcommon-dev

Also remove the desktop entry (shortcut file) by running command:

rm ~/.local/share/icons/alacritty.png ~/.local/share/applications/alacritty.desktop
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Install VirtualBox 7.1.x in Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 & Keep Updated

Last updated: September 12, 2024 — Leave a comment

This tutorial shows how to install Oracle VirtualBox in Ubuntu 22.04 and/or Ubuntu 24.04

VirtualBox is a popular free open-source tool for running different operating systems in virtual machines.

The tool is available in Ubuntu system repositories, but old. So, here’s the step by step how to install guide for latest version for beginners.

VirtualBox VM Manager

NOTE: VirtualBox so far only support x86_64 (amd64) CPU architecture type. Meaning for modern Intel & AMD CPUs.

Step 1: Download & Install the .deb package (Optional)

Oracle provides official .deb & .rpm packages for installing the software in Debian/Ubuntu & Fedora based systems.

User can select download the package by going to its website via the link below:

Download VirtualBox for Linux

Next, open the Downloads folder, then either double click on the package or use right-click menu “Open With Other Application” and select open the .deb package you just downloaded via Software Install (or App Center). Finally, click install button to install it.

NOTE: The installing process may fail sometimes due to old package in your system, in the case, just uninstall the old one (go to bottom for how) then try to re-install again.

Once installed, search for and launch it either from start menu or ‘Activities’ overview depends on your desktop environment.

Step 2: Add VirtualBox repository to keep it up-to-date

The .deb package you installed via ‘Step 1’ used to automatically add the repository. However, it does NO longer do the trick in recent versions.

So, here’s how to do it step by step via the new Ubuntu PPA policy.

1. Download & install the key

First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open up a terminal window.

When it opens, run command to make sure “/etc/apt/keyrings” directory exist:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings

Then, run command to use wget to download key, dearmor it (so unreadable), and finally save it to that directory:

wget -q -O- https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes --output /etc/apt/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg

You can finally verify the key file, by running command:

cat /etc/apt/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg

As the screenshot above shows you, it should outputs unreadable text.

2. Add VirtualBox repository

Before adding the source repository, first run command to get system code name:

cat /etc/os-release

The apt repository so far only support Debian Stable (& old stable), Ubuntu 22.04 & 20.04 LTS (focal, jammy). For all their based systems, use the code-name you got via this command.

Then, in terminal window, run command to create & edit a sources file:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.sources

Then in the terminal window, paste following lines:

Types: deb
URIs: https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian
Suites: jammy
Components: contrib
Architectures: amd64
Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg

Replace jammy (for 22.04, Mint 21.x) according to last command output, such as noble for 24.04/Mint 22, focal for 20.04/mint20.

When done, press either Ctrl+S or Ctrl+O and hit Enter to save file, then press Ctrl+X to exit.

Finally, verify the sources file by running command:

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.sources

It should outputs the content you just added into that file.

3. Update system package cache

After setup the source repository, run command to refresh your system package cache:

sudo apt update

The terminal output should print a line looks like:

“Hit:5 https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian jammy InRelease”

4. Install or Update Virtualbox

If you skipped the “Step 1”, then you can install it (7.0.x series at the moment) by running command in terminal:

sudo apt install virtualbox-7.1

Finally, when a newer release is out, you’ll be able to update it through Software Updater (Update Manager) tool.

Uninstall

To remove VirtualBox, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) window and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove virtualbox virtualbox-7.1

And, remove the source repository by simply deleting the key & sources files:

sudo rm /etc/apt/keyrings/oracle-virtualbox-2016.gpg /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.sources

Also, run sudo apt update to refresh package cache.

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Install & Setup Eye Candy rEFInd Boot Manager in Ubuntu 22.04/24.04

Last updated: May 4, 2024 — 1 Comment

This simple tutorial shows how to install and setup the rEFInd boot manager in your Ubuntu 22.04, and/or Ubuntu 24.04 computer.

Most Linux uses Grub2 as default boot-loader. Though, there’s a good alternative called rEFInd. It’s a free open-source boot manager for EFI/UEFI enabled computers, such as all Intel-based Macs and recent (most 2011 and later) PCs.

rEFInd with Matrix theme

Why rEFInd:

Compare to Grub2, rEFInd has a more eye candy boot interface, and a simple and easy to tweak config file.

No need to update something, it auto-scans for all boot-able systems on every boot, and displays you the OS menu entries from both local disk and removable device, such as USB drive and CD-R.

It’s more reliable at booting Windows with Secure Boot active. And, it provides handy options to shutdown, restart, and/or go to BIOS settings.

How to Install rEFInd:

The boot manager is quite easy to install in Debian, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint, since it’s available in system repositories.

1. First, launch terminal (press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard) and run command to verify if UEFI enabled on your machine:

ls /sys/firmware/efi

The command will list content of ‘/sys/firmware/efi‘. It will show you No such file or directory, if UEFI not enabled.

2. To install rEFInd from system repository, simply run command:

sudo apt install refind

The package in system repository may be old. To install the most recent version, use the official PPA maintained by software developer.

  • Run command to add the PPA: 
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rodsmith/refind
  • Update system package index: 
    sudo apt update
  • Finally, re-run apt install command to install the package: 
    sudo apt install refind

Remove duplicate icons in boot menu

After installing rEFInd, you can now restart your machine to see the new boot menu.

In menu, use left/right arrow keys to switch menu entries, hit Enter to boot, or press Tab (or F2) for more options.

For duplicate icons issue, simply use left/right arrow to select the icon (menu entry), and hit Delete key on keyboard, finally answer yes to remove that icon (menu entry). Though, deleting icon may NOT work when 3rd party theme is in use.

Install Themes

The menu interface is easy to tweak by editing the refind.conf file under “/boot/efi/EFI/refind/” directory. Every option has description text telling what does it do and how it works.

To be more straightforward, you can install third-party themes. And, here are some rEFInd themes in Github.

Most themes have how to install steps in Readme file, they are usually:

    • Open “Files”, and navigate to “Other Location -> Computer (or system, root, etc) -> boot -> efi -> EFI -> refind”. (Some Desktop may need to open File Manager as root first!)
    • Create “themes” folder in that directory if not exist.
    • Drag and drop the themes you downloaded (extract & re-name first) into that “themes” folder.

Finally, apply new theme by editing the refind.conf file under “/boot/efi/EFI/refind/“, and adding new line in the end (replace rEFInd-glassy accordingly):

include themes/rEFInd-glassy/theme.conf

NOTE: the theme folder name, rEFInd-glassy in the case, is unique according to the PATH to icons/imgs in ‘theme.conf’ file.

In case the boot menu screen resolution is low, you may also add (or uncomment by removing #) resolution max line to set the maximum available resolution, or use resolution 1024 768 for certain resolution (Note that not all resolutions are supported).

Uninstall:

To uninstall refind in Debian and Ubuntu based systems, open terminal and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove refind

Also remove the PPA (if added) by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:rodsmith/refind

To get rid of the refind boot menu, you also need to remove all the related files:

sudo rm -r /boot/efi/EFI/refind

For more, see rEFInd in its official website.

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Chatterino – Twitch Chat Client with Enhanced Features [Ubuntu PPA]

Last updated: December 24, 2023 — Leave a comment

This simple tutorial shows how to install Chatterino, a Twitch Chat app with enhanced features, in Ubuntu 22.04, 20.04, 23.10 via PPA.

Chatterino is a free and open-source chat app for Twitch.tv. With it, you can connect as many channels as you like to, either in tabs or in single tab side-by-side.

The client supports features, such as Chat Replies by right-clicking a message and choose “Reply to message”.

Left clicking a user will open dialog for user info, message history, as well as buttons to block, ignore highlight, etc. And, right-click on user allows to @ mention him/her in message.

It supports emotes from BetterTTV, FrankerFaceZ, and 7TV, allows to drag’n’drop image or paste image from clipboard to upload to custom service, such as imgur.com, though not enabled by default.

Other features include:

  • Hotkeys (customizable)
  • Link preview (not enabled by default)
  • Ignore or highlight messages
  • Search, filters, regular expressions
  • And more.

How to Install Chatterino via Ubuntu PPA

The app provides Windows .exe, macOS .dmg, Ubuntu .deb and Linux .AppImage packages for downloading in its Github releases page.

For Ubuntu/Linux Mint users, the official PPA is a better choice to keep the app up-to-date. Which, so far supports Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, & Ubuntu 23.10 on amd64 (Intel/AMD) and arm64/armhf (Apple M1/M2, Raspberry Pi) devices.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chatterino/chatterino2

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then, run command to install the chat client:

sudo apt install chatterino

Linux Mint user needs to run sudo apt update first to refresh system package cache.

After installation, you can launch the app from start menu, app grid, or Gnome overview depends on your desktop environment. And, use “Software Updater” (Update Manager) to receive updates.

Then, you can join Twitch channel by their names (the part after www.twitch.tv/ in channel URL). And, see the wiki for more usage.

Uninstall:

To uninstall the Twitch chat app, simply open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove chatterino

Also remove the Ubuntu PPA, either by running command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:chatterino/chatterino2

Or, use “Software & Updates” to remove source line under “Other Software” tab.

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Darktable 4.6.0 Released! Auto-Save, rgb primaries Module [Ubuntu PPA]

Last updated: April 2, 2024 — Leave a comment

 

Darkable, the popular photography app and raw developer, released new major 4.6.0 version a day ago!

The new release introduced auto-save feature for editing history. By default, it save changes every 10 seconds. User can go to ‘Preferences -> storage‘ to change the time interval, or set it to 0 to disable it.

Darktable 4.6.0 also features new rgb primaries processing module. It allows delicate color corrections and creative color grading, by moving the red, green and blue primary colors around using “hue” and “purity” controls.

Darktable 4.6.0

The release also has a big performance improvements. OpenCL is now initialized in the background to speed up the app launching. Image display speed in the map view has been increased by 25%. And, the chromatic aberrations module is now approximagely 10% faster when run on the CPU.

Other changes in Darktable 4.6.0 include:

  • sigmoid module now includes a new primaries section, to gracefully handle difficult lighting situations (e.g. LEDs) and tune the overall look of the image
  • The full uncropped image is now always shown when working with the liquify and retouch modules.
  • The hot pixels module now supports monochrome images.
  • long-running import session can now be canceled.
  • built-in “Display P3” color profile
  • And much more! See the official release note for details

How to Install Darktable 4.6.0 in Ubuntu Linux

Option 1: Snap

Darktable is easy to install as Snap package, which runs in sandbox, using Ubuntu Software (or App Center for 23.10).

Option 2: Official deb package

The developer team offers official RPM and DEB packages for Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, openSUSE, through the OBS building repository.

Also, it’s NOT updated to v4.6.0 at the moment of writing. Keep an eye on this page if you prefer the official package.

Option 3: Flatpak package

Darktable is also available to install as Flatpak package, another universal Linux package format runs in sandbox!

Linux Mint 21 user can directly search for and install the Flatpak package from Software Manager.

While, Ubuntu user can open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the 2 commands below one by one to install the Flatpak:

  • Enable flatpak support: 
    sudo apt install flatpak
  • Install Darktable as Flatpak package: 
    flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.darktable.Darktable.flatpakref

Option 4: Ubuntu PPA

Besides using the official DEB package (See Option 2), I’ve also upload the package into this unofficial PPA for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, and Ubuntu 23.10.

NOTE: The PPA includes updated libheif (1.16.2) library for Darktable to support HEIF in Ubuntu 22.04. Please report if it’s running into conflict with other packages in your system!!

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/darktable

2. Linux Mint needs to update system package cache manually after adding PPA:

sudo apt update

3. Finally, install Darktable 4.6.0 via command:

sudo apt install darktable

In addition for old Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04, & 16.04, keep an eye on this PPA. However, it has tons of updated libraries that MAY run into dependency hell and/or package conflict!

Uninstall Darktable

Depends on which package your installed, remove Darktable via one of the commands below:

  • For Snap package, just remove it from Ubuntu Software.
  • For Flatpak package, run command: 
    flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.darktable.Darktable

    Then run flatpak uninstall --unused to remove unused runtime libraries.

  • To remove official package or PPA package, run command: 
    sudo apt remove --autoremove darktable

    And remove the Ubuntu PPA repository if you want via command:

    sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/darktable
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How to Install iTunes in Ubuntu 22.04 | 24.04 (Step by Step)

Last updated: May 4, 2024 — 2 Comments

This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to install iTunes in Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Windows app is easy to install in Ubuntu & other Linux, thanks to Wine. However, it’s not so easy for beginners to install & setup Wine.

So, here I’m going to show how to install iTunes using Bottles (a wine runner) to make things as easy as possible.

NOTE that, iTunes running with wine does NOT detect iPhone, at least not for me. But, it’s OK for syncing music via iCloud! For just transferring music files, VLC is a good alternative.

iTunes 12.8.0.150 in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

NOTE 1: This tutorial is tested and works in Ubuntu 22.04. Though, it should work in most other Linux!

NOTE 2: In this tutorial I installed iTunes 12.8.0.150! Newer versions either crash frequently or run into blank window.

Step 1: Install Bottles

As mentioned above, Bottles is a wine runner to make running Windows apps in Linux super easy. The only downside could be that it’s only available as Flatpak runs in sandbox.

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to enable Flatpak support:

sudo apt install flatpak

Other Linux can follow official setup guide to enable Flatpak support.

Then, install Bottles as Flatpak by running command:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.usebottles.bottles.flatpakref

This command may have more than a thousand MB download due to run-time libraries. Don’t be worried about it. Installing Wine directly from its website will also has quite a few hundred MB files to download.

 

Step 2: Setup Permission for Bottles

Bottles is installed as Flatpak which runs in sandbox. By default, it has only file access to your user ‘Downloads‘ folder.

If you want to make apps, that are installed through Bottles, visible in start menu and/or dock, and access music files in other folders (such as ‘Music’ folder), then you have manually grant permissions.

Option 1: Use command to grant file access permission:

To allow Bottles to add apps into start menu, run command in terminal:

flatpak override com.usebottles.bottles --user --filesystem=xdg-data/applications

To allow Bottles (iTunes) to access your user Music folder, use command:

flatpak override com.usebottles.bottles --user --filesystem=xdg-music

Option 2: Use Flatseal, graphical tool.

Flatseal is a popular graphical tool to manage permissions for Flatpak applications.

First, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install Flatpseal:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.github.tchx84.Flatseal.flatpakref

After installed the tool, launch it. Choose “Bottles” from left, and click add “Filesystem -> Other files” permission for:

  • xdg-music
  • xdg-data/applications

Step 3: Download iTunes (exe)

Apple website only shows the download for the latest version of iTunes, which is NOT working good (even not work so far) with current version of Wine.

For the old versions, there’s a 3rd party website that provides a large list of downloads. All download URLs in that page are official (point to apple.com), the website only lists them out for you.

Download iTunes (old versions)

In my tests, iTunes 12.9.x is the most recent version that installs, which however CRASH quite often. The iTunes 12.8.0.150 is the last that’s working good.

NOTE: Wine and Bottles keep updating with new features and bug-fixes. So, newer iTunes versions might be working in future when you see this tutorial. Try for your self.

Step 4: Install iTunes

Now, search for and launch “Bottles” from start menu or ‘Activities’ overview depends on your desktop environment.

NOTE: first time installing a Flatpak app, need a log out and back in to make app icon visible in start menu. For choice, you may run flatpak run com.usebottles.bottles command to start it from terminal.

In the first launch, follow the wizard to run the initial setup.

When done, click either “Create New Bottle…” button or the top-left “+” icon to get started.
Then, in next window type a name (‘iTunes’ in the case), select “Application” as environment type, and click “Create”.

Next, it automatically generate configuration and config Wine for the new ‘Bottle’ you just created.

When done, click to open the ‘Details’ page for the new bottle you just created. Click on “Run Executable” button, then browse and choose the “iTunes64Setup.exe” file you downloaded in last step.

Note in the file chooser dialog, you may need to switch bottom filter to “All Files“, so to make the .exe file visible.

After that, the installer wizard for iTunes should start. Just follow to install it until done.

Step 5: Launch iTunes

To launch iTunes, either go to ‘Details’ page for the Bottle in Bottles, and click the triangle icon “▸”.

Or, click the 3 dots “⋮” icon right after it, and select “Add Desktop Entry” menu option (need to done Step 2 first).

After that, you can start iTunes from start menu, just like other apps installed from Ubuntu Software.

Uninstall

To remove iTunes only, simply launch ‘Bottles’ and go to Details page for iTunes. Then use the top-right corner “⋮” menu option to delete bottle.

To remove Bottles app, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.usebottles.bottles

In command, skip --delete-data will keep the apps installed through Bottles

After removing Bottles, also run the command to remove useless run-times to free up disk space:

flatpak uninstall --unused

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How to Easily Transfer Music from Ubuntu Linux to iPhone

Last updated: December 21, 2023 — 1 Comment

Got local music files in your Ubuntu PC/laptop? Here’s how to transfer them to your iPhone.

It’s NOT hard to install iTunes in Ubuntu using Wine in today’s Linux. However, iTunes running in wine does not detect my iPhone, at least in my case in 22.04.

If you just want to transfer music from PC to your iOS device, then you don’t have to struggle with iTunes in Linux. There are easy alternatives! And, VLC is a very popular one of them.

This tutorial is tested on iPhone with iOS 16.1.1, and Ubuntu 22.04 with default GNOME.

Transfer Music from PC to iOS via VLC

1. First, go to “App Store” and install the free open-source VLC media player in your iPhone or other iOS device.

VLC media player in App Store

2. Not sure if it required, but you may launch VLC in iOS for the first time to generate app folder.

3. Now, connect your iPhone or other iOS device into Ubuntu. Then, open “Files” and go to the mounted folder from left panel.

In my case, it’s a phone icon with text “Document on iphone”. In that folder, click VLC icon. Finally, drag’n’drop your music files into the VLC sub-folder.

When done, you can now open VLC in iphone/iOS, and find out the local music files under “Audio” bottom tab.

4. (Optional) If you want to use Apple Music or other app for music playback, then you can save songs to files.

First, navigate to “Songs” tab in VLC. Then, tap top right “circle with 3 dots” icon, and click “Select” to choose all the files.

Finally, use the bottom right icon to open menu to “Save to Files” for all selected music files.

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How to Install Firefox Beta in Ubuntu / Debian [New Official Repository]

Last updated: January 29, 2024 — Leave a comment

This simple tutorial shows how to install Firefox Beta, Firefox Developer Edition, or Firefox Nightly in Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, using the new official repository.

Mozilla announced new official apt repository for Debian and Ubuntu users few months ago, which contains the .deb package for Firefox Nightly build.

Now, the repository also contains packages for Firefox Beta and Firefox Developer Edition! And, here’s step by step guide shows how to use it to install the latest packages in your system.

NOTE 1: Ubuntu also has an official PPA contains Firefox Beta package. Though, it’s maintained by members from Ubuntu Team.
NOTE 2: This tutorial is tested and works in Debian 12, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 23.10.

Step 1: Install the Repository Key

To add the new repository, you need to first download & install the key, so your system will trust the packages from it.

First, open terminal either from start menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard.

When terminal opens, run command to make sure ‘/etc/apt/keyrings’ exist for storing the keys.

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings

Then, download & install the key by running the single command below in terminal:

wget -q https://packages.mozilla.org/apt/repo-signing-key.gpg -O- | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc > /dev/null

If ‘wget’ command not found, run sudo apt install wget to install it.

After that, you can verify the new key file by listing the content of that directory: ls /etc/apt/keyrings.

Step 2: Add Mozilla’s Official Repository

Also in a terminal window, run the single command below will create a config file and write the source repository.

echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc] https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.list > /dev/null

When done, you may verify by running cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.list to print the source file content.

Step 3: Install Firefox Stable, Beta, Dev, or Nightly

After adding the apt repository and key, run the command below to refresh system package cache:

sudo apt update

Finally, install Firefox Beta by running command:

sudo apt install firefox-beta

The repository also contains Firefox Stable, Development, and Nightly versions! Replace firebox-beta in last command with firefox, firefox-devedition, or firefox-nightly according which version you want to install. For STABLE version,  you however NEED to set higher PPA priority.

Non-English user may also install the language package by running command:

sudo apt install firefox-beta-l10n-xx

Replace xx with the shortcode for your language. Also, replace beta for dev or nightly version accordingly.

Step 4: (Optional) Change the App Name to Differ from Firefox Stable

The new Firefox Beta uses same logo to Firefox Stable, and it also displayed as “Firefox” in start menu.

If you have more than one edition of Firefox packages in system, then you may have to differ them from each other by changing the name.

To do so, first launch terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to copy the .desktop config file from system to local directory:

sudo cp /usr/share/applications/firefox-beta.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/

Then, change the app name to “Firefox Beta” by running command:

desktop-file-edit --set-name="Firefox Beta" ~/.local/share/applications/firefox-beta.desktop

The change should apply automatically in few seconds. If not, run sudo update-desktop-database to update the database manually.

If you also want to differ the icon, use --set-icon='/path/to/new/icon' in last command.

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