How to Access AppImage Files on Ubuntu?

AppImage is the format used to distribute portable software in the easiest way possible on Linux because it is a single executable file with all the dependencies required. This means that by using AppImage, users can run the software on any Linux distribution without installing additional dependencies.

Today’s guide is about the AppImage on Ubuntu 22.04 and covers these aspects related to it.

How to Access AppImage Files Via GUI?

You can find a list of all the available Appimages files from GitHub. In our case, we are using the VLC Media Player AppImage, which can be downloaded here. Now, the detailed explanation of how you can execute the app image has been discussed below:

Making AppImage Executable

The execution of VLC AppImage depends on some steps, which are explained below:

Step 1: Select Properties

Once the AppImage of VLC is downloaded, make it executable by right-clicking, and then going into the properties.

Step 2: Make it Executable

Select the “Permissions” tab from the new window to find the “Execute” option. Tick the check box saying “Allow executing file as program” and close the window.

Step 3: Run the AppImage File

There will be a new option in the right-click menu saying “Run” that, when clicked, launches the program.

Note: This command can also make a downloaded file executable using the terminal.

$ chmod u+x <AppImage-File>

We have the AppImage of VLC placed inside the downloads folder. Let’s make it executable. It is recommended to use the cd command to navigate through the directories.

$ chmod u+x VLC_media_player-3.0.11.1-x86_64.AppImage

If there’s no output of the above command, it means that the execution of the command is successful.

How to Install and Use the AppImage Launcher?

AppImage launcher is a tool that makes managing AppImages on Linux systems easy, with a user-friendly interface, integration with the system’s package manager, automatic updates, and adding AppImages to the system’s application menu. It allows users to view and launch AppImages without manual handling, making it more efficient, however, some features may not work as it’s under development.

It isn’t made available on the official repositories of Ubuntu, so add its repository to the system using this command before installing. While doing this, press the “Enter” key to continue the process.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:appimagelauncher-team/stable

Once the repository is added to the system, update the system for the changes to take effect using this command.

$ sudo apt update

Once the repositories are updated, install the AppImage launcher using this command.

$ sudo apt install appimagelauncher

Press “Y,” hit the “Enter” key when prompted, and the installation process will begin. 

Launch AppImage Launcher

After installing, launch it from the activities by typing “AppImage Launcher.”

This will open up a new window in which the location where the launcher should look for AppImages needs to be specified, so select the “folder” button highlighted below, press it and navigate to the path.

Now from the location where the AppImage file (VLC in this case) is located, a new option saying “launch with AppImageLauncher” is popped upon right-clicking. Selecting this option launches the program, and it doesn’t require executing permissions.

The AppImage Launcher looks good enough, but it is still in the development phase and is unreliable.

How to Fix “AppImage not Working” on Ubuntu?

Most users in Ubuntu 22.04 reported having issues with the AppImages not working, and it doesn’t even launch. It is fixed by installing a library called File System in Userspace or FUSE. Users can use the FUSE library to create a virtual filesystem that the Linux kernel can utilize through a user space program. To install the FUSE library on Ubuntu 22.04, use this command.

$ sudo apt install libfuse2

Once the FUSE library is installed, the AppImages should work, but if it doesn’t, the issue is within the downloaded AppImage.

Conclusion

AppImages are package executables that are easy to download and process compared to installable files. A wide range of utilities is available through AppImage, which can either be obtained from the official website of the package or from GitHub. This post has briefly explained the processing of the AppImage on Ubuntu.