UbuntuHandbook

Want to install an app via classic DEB package, but it’s not available in Ubuntu’s own repository? There’s a new command line tool “deb-get“, makes installing apps from 3rd party repositories as easy as single command.

Many applications (e.g., Google Chrome, 1Password, Teamviewer and more) provide DEB packages for Debian/Ubuntu either in their own apt repositories / PPAs or for downloading directly in website.

Besides setup the repositories or find and download .deb packages manually, then install apps via apt (or apt-get), “deb-get” do all the things via a short single command.

For example, run the command below in terminal will add Mozilla Team PPA and install Firefox ESR automatically:

deb-get install firefox-esr

Install Firefox ESR via Deb-get

It’s a free open-source tool developed by Martin Wimpress (leader of Ubuntu MATE project) and many other contributors.

Install Apps via Deb-get

For those familiar with apt or apt-get, Deb-get is quite easy to use as it has similar command options.

Update package index:

Before installing any package, you may first run the command to update the package index for the latest sources:

deb-get update

sudo seems to be not required, though you may add it in the beginning in case of permission issue.

Install/Remove packages:

The tool so far supports for 107 apps including 1password, brave-browser, cawbird, discord, docker-ce, docker-desktop, expressvpn, keepassxc, mailspring, onlyoffice-desktopeditors, obs-studio, skpyeforlinux, sublime-text, whatsapp-for-linux. And, it keeps adding more and more apps support.

You may firstly, run the command below to get a full list of supported packages:

deb-get list

Or use deb-get search KEYWORD to find out if your app is supported.

And, to install an app package (google-earth in the case) use command:

deb-get install google-earth-pro-stable

You’ll see it’s setting up repository and use apt command to install the package. If the package is available via direct download link, it will download via curl and then install it via apt.

To find out all installed packages, use command:

deb-get list |grep installed

You may get info about an installed app, including package version, source, website and summary via command:

deb-get show PACKAGE_NAME

Like apt, to remove a package use command with either remove or purge (also delete configuration files) flag:

deb-get remove PACKAGE_NAME

The command will also remove the repository (if any) that was added for the package.

There also many other options, including upgrade to install available updates for all installed packages, reinstall to re-install a package, clean to clear out the local repository of retrieved package files. And, you may just run deb-get in terminal to get more about this command line tool.

How to install Deb-get in Ubuntu:

The tool is designed specially for Ubuntu and its based systems. The project page provides .deb package that installs in all current Ubuntu releases (Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, 21.10, and 22.04).

Download Deb-get (under ‘Assets’)

Download the package, and open terminal via right-click menu in your ‘Downloads’ folder. And finally, run the command below to install it:

sudo apt install ./deb-get*.deb

Got a deb file download from the web? This is a beginner’s guide shows you how to install the file in Ubuntu.

DEB is the software package format for Debian / Ubuntu based systems. Besides Ubuntu main / universe repositories and Ubuntu PPAs, some applications offer .deb files for downloading in their project pages or websites.

Option 1.) Directly install via double-click.

Like EXE file for Windows, you can simply double click on a deb file. By default, it opens Ubuntu Software with an option to install the software package.

This is the easiest way. However Ubuntu Software is buggy, it’s one of the top core apps being criticized for years.

Option 2.) Use Gdebi Package Installer.

Gdebi package installer is the most recommended way to handle .deb packages. It’s default in Linux Mint. Ubuntu users can either install it from Ubuntu Software or by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt install gdebi

After installed it, just right-click on a deb file, select “Open With Other Application” and choose Gdebi package installer to open the file.

When Gdebi opens, it shows the package details including app description, dependency libraries, and installed files. To install it, click on “Install Package” button.

And a ‘Remove Package’ button will be available once you installed it.

Option 3.) Using apt command:

Apt is the most commonly used command to install, remove, and manage software packages from Ubuntu repositories, PPAs, and third-party apt repositories.

It seems to start from Ubuntu 20.04, the apt command added support for installing local deb files.

Firstly, right-click on blank area of the folder that contains the deb file. Then select ‘Open in Terminal’

When terminal opens, run command to install local deb file:

sudo apt install ./PACKAGE_NAME.deb

You can use wildcard character * in file name. In my case, the command can be:

sudo apt install ./giara_0.3*.deb

Option 4.) Using dpkg command:

dpkg is the command line package manager for Debian. I used to use the command to install local deb files in Ubuntu. The downside is that dpkg does not install missing dependency packages automatically.

To install a deb file via dpkg command, run:

sudo dpkg -i /path/to/file_name.deb

Same to the previous option, you can use “Open in Terminal” option to open folder in terminal and then run command:

sudo dpkg -i giara_0.3*.deb

Since it does not handle dependency automatically, the command often output error and leave package unconfigured. You have to run one more command to fix it:

sudo apt -f install

Conclusion:

Since Ubuntu Software is buggy and dpkg command does not handle dependency packages, Gdebi and apt command can be the best choices to install local deb file in Ubuntu via either graphical or command line.