So you have downloaded a .deb file with a program that you would like to install. Most distros that are using a graphical interface will have a package manager that you can use to install these. But if you’re like me, you prefer to do it from the command line. To install it from there, you will need to use the dpkg command, using the -i flag, which does the install. In this example, I have dowloaded Google chrome for Linux from their website and am installing it on Ubuntu.
[email protected]:/home/user/Downloads# dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_i386.deb Selecting previously unselected package google-chrome-stable. (Reading database ... 296976 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking google-chrome-stable (from google-chrome-stable_current_i386.deb) ... Setting up google-chrome-stable (21.0.1180.79-r151411) ... update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/google-chrome to provide /usr/bin/x-www-browser (x-www-browser) in auto mode. update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/google-chrome to provide /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser (gnome-www-browser) in auto mode. Processing triggers for man-db ... Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ... Processing triggers for bamfdaemon ... Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf.index... Processing triggers for gnome-menus ... Processing triggers for menu ...
If that finishes with no errors, then the package should be installed. In this case, I can now open Google Chrome though the Window manager’s menu or through the terminal.
Chris August 17th, 2012
Posted In: How To
Tags: command line, deb, dpkg, Google chrome, install, Linux, package