AppImage is a universal software format for distributing portable software on Linux without needing superuser permissions to install the application. AppImage doesn’t really install software. It’s a compressed image with all the dependencies and libraries needed to run the desired software.
AppImages are widely used, convenient and a useful one click solution in running and installing software.
By default, a downloaded AppImage file won’t be executable. We can make the file executable by launching Files (the file manager for GNOME). In Files, right click the AppImage file. Click the box “Executable as Program”.
Alternatively, we can make the file executable using the chmod command:
$ chmod u+x ~/Downloads/Name.AppImage
Now we can run the file with a double left click on the file (in Files), or from the command-line.
But this doesn’t integrate AppImages into our app menu. There are quite a few programs that offer this functionality.
This review looks at AppImageLauncher, C++ software which integrate AppImages to your application launcher with a single click. The software also lets you manage, update and remove AppImages. This is free and open source software.
Installation
We tested AppImageLauncher with Ubuntu. The developer provides binary packages for Ubuntu (version 16.04 and 18.04). We actually tested the software with Ubuntu 23.10.
There’s a binary package for Fedora available as well as an AppImage. The full source code is up for grabs too if you fancy building the software yourself.
Let’s use wget to download the deb file, but you can use any file downloader tool or your web browser.
$ wget https://github.com/TheAssassin/AppImageLauncher/releases/download/v2.2.0/appimagelauncher_2.2.0-travis995.0f91801.bionic_amd64.deb
We can now install the software with dpkg, software used to install, remove, and provide information about .deb packages.
$ sudo dpkg -i appimagelauncher_2.2.0-travis995.0f91801.bionic_amd64.deb
Let’s delve into the software on the next page.
Next page: Page 2 – In Operation and Summary
Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Introduction and Installation
Page 2 – In Operation and Summary