How to install Wine on Ubuntu Desktop

Wine allows users of Linux, Mac, FreeBSD, and Solaris to run Windows applications without the need for the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Wine (recursive acronym for "Wine Is Not an Emulator" in English) is free software in constant development, and other platforms can also benefit from it. One of the most well-known cases is the Steam platform.

In this article, we will explain how to install Wine on the Ubuntu Desktop pre-installed image and install Notepad++ as an example of a Win32 or Win64 application.

Wine Installation

First, open a terminal and download Wine’s official key for its repository:

# wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key

Then add the downloaded Wine key:

# sudo apt-key add winehq.key

Next, add the Wine repository:

# sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ jammy main'

# wget -q https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators:/Wine:/Debian/xUbuntu_22.04/Release.key -O Release.key -O- | sudo apt-key add - 

# sudo apt-add-repository 'deb https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators:/Wine:/Debian/xUbuntu_22.04/ ./'

# sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ bionic main'

# wget -q https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators:/Wine:/Debian/xUbuntu_18.04/Release.key -O Release.key -O- | sudo apt-key add - 

# sudo apt-add-repository 'deb https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators:/Wine:/Debian/xUbuntu_18.04/ ./'

Also, add the i386 architecture, which is needed for some dependencies:

# sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt update

Now everything is ready to install Wine, so run the following:

# sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable

Wine will be installed. You can check the installation by running:

# wine --version

The result should display the installed version of Wine:

wine-7.0

You can now install any Windows application you want. Check out a list of tested applications at the Wine Application Database (AppDB).

Installing an Application with Wine

First, download the installer executable of the application. In this example, Notepad++ from the official website:

# wget https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v8.3/npp.8.3.Installer.x64.exe

Then, simply run it with Wine:

# wine npp.8.3.Installer.x64.exe

This will launch the Notepad++ installation wizard:

You can also open the Wine configuration to edit or directly add applications:

# winecfg

A new window should appear with the Wine configurator:

We hope this tutorial has been helpful. Have you tried it? Let us know your thoughts! 🙂

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