How to install tar.gz on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

install tar.gz

Need install tar.gz and you don't know how? Many times we are going to install a program and we realize that it is not in any repository and that there is no possible way to install it other than from its source code.

When we are going to install an application through its source code, we usually download a tar.gz package that contains All the project, and it is from there that we have to install or run the program. Doing it this way can be a tedious job for some users, so in Ubunlog We want to make a small guide on how to install tar.gz or a program from its source code. We begin.

When in Ubunlog we talk to you about any free program We always mention what its repository is on GitHub. Most of the time, these programs are already added either in the official Ubuntu repositories, or in other well-known repositories.

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Still, sometimes those shows They are NOT in any repository, and the only possible way to download them is by accessing its GitHub repository, downloading the project and installing / running it directly from its source code. And this is when many users wonder: I already have the tar.gz ... Now what? Well, installing it is usually very easy.

Unzip the tar.gz

The first step is unzip the downloaded file. If for example we have downloaded the program ubunlog.tar.gz, we can decompress it in the following way:

cd /directorio/de/descarga/

tar -zxvf ubunlog.tar.gz

Normally we will unzip a directory with the same name as tar.gz, which will contain the entire project. The next step is obviously to access that directory, in our case through:

cd /ubunlog/

Well, now comes the important thing. Most programs have a special program called makefile. This program makes sure you can compile the project completely or modularly, depending on how the programmer wrote it. The help of a Makefile is incredibly great, since if there were no such program, we would have to compile ALL the files one by one, which would be very tedious. In this way, we can compile the entire project through a simple command.

Compile

And it is that the program is compiled through the command make, and as we say, it can have as many parameters as the programmer wants. The normal thing is that we find the following:

  • make: Compile the whole project.
  • make clean: Deletes all compilation files and leaves everything as if it was never compiled.
  • make install: Move all the files necessary to run the application, to their corresponding directories.

Still the way that we can run make, always depends on how the Makefile is implemented. Precisely to know how we can execute it, and what parameters we have at our disposal, we can take a look at the README file, where among other things, it should be explained to us in which ways we can execute the Makefile.

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But of course ... The programs use system libraries that obviously you have to have installed so that the program can work correctly, and one may not know if you have everything ready to install the desired program.

To do this, there is the command ./configure. Basically, this command informs us about whether our system He's prepared to install the program, that is, if you have all necessary libraries installed. If not, we are informed through an error message, and that's when we have to look at which package or library we are missing and proceed to install it ourselves.

Install tar.gz

Well, at this point, you should already know what to do to install a program from its source code, but obviously we don't want to make it so difficult for you, so we will do it step by step.

Being inside the directory that contains the entire project (in our case called /ubunlog/), we have to execute the following:
[/phpíritu./configure

make

make install [/ php]
And at the end of executing the last command we should already have the program installed.

Now, despite the fact that most of the time this procedure will work for us, it might not be the case. It is about understanding what we are doing and not just executing commands like crazy. By this I mean that if we download a program that does not have Makefile, the philosophy will be the same, even though we do not have such a file at our disposal.

For example, sometimes I have downloaded some other desktop program for GNU / Linux, written in Python and without a Makefile. As I tell you, despite not having make At my disposal, the philosophy is the same. In these cases, I simply had to run a Python program (called setup.py) to install the application in question.

As we must always do before anything else, is to read the README, which is where we will be explained how to install or compile the program. Once read, we have to follow the steps shown to us, which most of the time will be the ones we have described in this article.

We hope that it has helped you and now you have no problems installing programs from their source code.


23 comments, leave yours

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  1.   Richard Chains said

    Please someone could send me this file wps-office_9.1.0.4953 ~ a18_amd64.deb

  2.   Jimmy olano said

    I recommend running:

    ./configure> report.txt

    and then open said text file with the editor of your choice to easily view any errors in libraries that may exist (we always happen to be missing something). Thanks for your attention.

  3.   douglas said

    this post is useless. does not explain anything. They deserve more in trying to explain things not in such a crude and little understandable way.

    1.    bubbly said

      Thanks for the information I was worried because I did not find out anything but I see that the problem is this birria of page hehehe

  4.   bubbly said

    thanks dohuglas. As a computer engineer and Linux beginner I was worried because nothing was working for me, and I was not finding out about anything but with your comment I have realized that the problem is this bizarre page that I will never visit again. thank you, friend.

  5.   xubuntu.beginner said

    The author is appreciated for his effort, but the article is tremendously confusing and useless. So much explanation and nothing works. I am doing the migration from Win10 to Xubuntu 16.04, but I have to express that precisely so much variability in Linux does not allow it to advance: various types of installers, libraries everywhere, updating here and there, commands that do not work depending on the distribution, problems with common drivers, software centers without friendly and specific software, among other weaknesses. I've been trying for two weeks to get Xubuntu 16.04 to a mediocre level similar to what I had with Win10 and nothing ... I'm thinking of going back to Win10 and it has certainly happened to many who had the courage to try Linux, but like the matter of getting "Nerds" (egos) is more important than making a friendly and easy-to-use OS, they definitely fall far behind, and they have consolation to say that it is the OS of China or some cities, ATMs, things that are not very important for the normal user.
    Why don't they make a damn installer like in Windows? simple, to give it next and that's it!

  6.   Voice said

    Good basic tutorial, for my taste it would lack a few things, for example the use of autoconf that is used a lot.

    The most difficult thing to compile something in Linux is to resolve the dependencies correctly, because there is always a mess of versions that was aggravated with the advancement of the 64bit architecture. Fortunately, little by little the native package managers of the distros are advancing.

    There will come a day when compiling and resolving dependencies will be a bad memory of the past hehe

  7.   George said

    sudo dpkg -i wps-office_9.1.0.4953 ~ a18_amd64.deb

  8.   Bernard said

    You write in Mandarin Chinese. For someone who has no idea of ​​this language, opening such a terminal window is A SUPPLIED. Please, indicate in the header of these help files that they are only for people with knowledge of this language from the sudo of the balls…. I will look for something in windows to install what I want ... there you just have to give the mouse

  9.   Carlos Contreras said

    Could you help me to install the SQL Client Native by Terminal already download the file sqlncli-11.0.1790.0.tar.gz

    realize the first part which is
    tar -zxvf sqlncli-11.0.1790.0.tar.gz
    I unzip the file creating a directory, I enter this but there are only files and there are none ./configure
    There I get stuck, help

    Thank you

  10.   emerson said

    si
    some of the linux skulls should ever think of making an installer and holy easter
    But it seems that they enjoy that "secret" of "initiates" that they love because it should flatter their vanity to know what others do not know.
    An example
    Compile »have you ever read what it means?
    none of these explain it
    now they immediately release you: «this must be compiled»
    ahh you say, now I realize, ho, have said it before
    later they are surprised that one does not use this shit
    Linux, only used to write emails, letters, navigate and little else
    Sound, no mamao
    Image, not even being a magician you approach Photoshop, or Sony vegas
    and no one claims excellence for free, ... but don't be fooled, it's rudimentary, difficult and stupid
    And if you don't believe me, you just have to wander through the thousands of forums where desperate guys are looking for a solution, (always different depending on who you read) for something that you do with windows with two clicks

  11.   emerson said

    Enter again to read this idiot
    I did a humility cure, assuming that I am stupid and do not understand the elementary
    I read carefully
    as soon as the decompression of the file passed, I was in balls
    To start the console «it answers me: no such file or directory»
    Because the idiot, (the author) doesn't tell me where I have to put the cd/ commandubunlog
    Where was it?
    do I have to open a new instance of the console?
    Total, after wasting half an hour more, which is added to the previous ones reading this sad balls, I reaffirm what I think, why do they start writing what they may know, but do not know how to explain ???
    my uncle always said: imbeciles, (not in the sense of insult) and ants, they never end

  12.   Miquel Perez Juan said

    Hello,
    I'm Miquel, the "idiot" author of this post. Although I no longer write in Ubunlog I will take the liberty of answering the questions that you have so kindly and politely asked me for.

    The post is a generic tutorial. The intention is not to give the fish directly but to teach how to fish. That means that for me it is impossible to put the commands that exactly you have to put. How do I know in which directory you have downloaded the file? How do I know what is the name of the file that you have downloaded? How do I know what folders you have on your PC? These values, such as the name of the file or its path, will change for each person, depending on the file you download and the place where you save it, that's why I put:

    cd / directory / from / downloads

    In a generic way, assuming that it was understood that you have to replace "directory / of / downloads" by the path where you have downloaded it.
    The same happens with the tar.gz file. I put «ubunlog.tar.gz" in a generic way, assuming that it has to be replaced "ubunlog.tar.gz» by the name of your tar.gz file that you have downloaded.

    As you will understand, I cannot know which folders each reader has on their PC, nor the name of the file they want to unzip. That is why I used names.

    Thank you for your kind and polite contribution 🙂

  13.   Javier Jimeno-Suarez said

    It seems to me that it is perfectly explained, if you do not know how to open a terminal or the basic linux commands, you should buy a windows license and pay religiously for your wonderful operating system that does what you want with two clicks (and a charge in your checking account).
    I've read photoshop over there (it's not free, do you hack it?).

    Linux users fight in a large community for quality and free software, but obviously, I'm not a mechanic and I don't go into a mechanics forum to change the camshaft sensor of my car if I don't even know how to open the hood much less does it occur to me to say on the blog that it sucks because I am useless and have no idea of ​​mechanics.

    Please, respect the professionals who try to make life easier for others.

    By the way, Miguel Perez Juan, good post but I would have completed it a little more with the whole range of configure options.

    A hug and that the trolls do not discourage you to stop writing and contribute your knowledge.

    1.    Michael P. said

      Hi Javier, thanks for the feedback! I reply two years late but I just read the message now, apologies in advance.

      The experience I had as an editor in Ubunlog It clearly helped me see with my own eyes the number of frustrated trolls there are on the internet. The senseless complaints of some users on this type of blog are as if a person went to Germany and complained that everyone speaks German. Amazing.

      Thanks for the support!

  14.   Raul Ramirez-Lopez said

    Miquel Perez Juan, greetings from Querétaro, Mexico. Thank you very much for your contribution, which seems quite clear to me for those who want and need to understand it. I am not a linux expert. I am a windows emigrant and I try to migrate to linux (ubuntu), so I resort to help like these, which, from my humble opinion, we must thank those of us who do not know deeply these issues. I take advantage of them a lot, so I appreciate them and admire the time that people like you take to prepare them to share them. To those who harshly and rudely criticize these contributions, I think they should be more polite, and if they do not understand something, asking properly does not cost anything, and what they can achieve is an answer that brings us closer to mastering these issues. Please demonstrate your readiness first with education.

    Thanks again Miquel Perez

    1.    Michael P. said

      Hello Raul, I reply two years late but I just read the message now, apologies in advance.

      The experience I had as an editor in Ubunlog It clearly helped me see with my own eyes the number of frustrated trolls there are on the internet. The senseless complaints of some users on this type of blog are as if a person went to Germany and complained that everyone speaks German. Amazing.

      Thanks for the support!

  15.   Naz said

    I've been trying to install the Xojo package (https://xojo.com), but once I download the version for Kubuntu and try to install it with QApt, I get the error "cannot satisfy dependencies"

  16.   VM said

    Try to use the Synaptic Package Manager to install programs, it comes in most distributions, look for information about this tool, it is very useful.

    If you see that the downloaded tar cannot be installed, look at another alternative, for example in alternativeto, there is even an extension for Firefox that puts a search dialog on that web page in the right-click window.

    An article in ComputerNewAge also explains very well the Linux directory tree which is different from Windows.

    We must try to persevere in GNU / Linux, since it makes us move more freely on the Internet, but I agree that it is difficult at the beginning.

  17.   VM said

    To complete my previous comment, I recently discovered this pkgs page. org, which according to what they say is the largest package search engine for GNU/Linux and UNIX distributions that exists, with more than 1.800 repositories and more than 5.000.000 updated packages, I think here at ubunlog You haven't made any article about this.
    To search for a "packaged" program you have to put the name in the search engine, when you write the most similar names will appear, and you will see all the distributions in which it can be installed, click on yours, then look on the page "Install Howto" and type or copy the commands that appear in a terminal, and it will begin to install.

  18.   AndreuE1999 said

    Thanks in advance to the author.

    Very well explained, it is a fairly successful and clear tutorial, but I have a little doubt.
    When you download the file and generally save the file in the DOWNLOADS folder, and do the whole procedure: Unzip, open the folder where the program is and run the installation. After that the program is installed, but what happens with these files that you unzipped? Can you delete them?

    My logic says that they can be deleted, because it is simply an installer, and in reality the program installs in the system folders and that's it. But as I said at the beginning it is a doubt and if you help me to confirm I would appreciate it very much.

  19.   jose said

    in short, compiling is compiling, and they give you

  20.   Jose said

    the usual, the one who knows it knows it, and the one who does not know it continues without knowing
    We go in parts: 1.- Instruction 1: we go to the directory where you have downloaded it:
    then the console returns: «too many arguments»
    But if the insider told me «cd /directorio/de/descarga/ …….JDT!
    Then find out where the directory will be created.
    You have just started, and you are already in balls ... Unless you know the same as him, then no, he is sucking, but if you know the same as him, why do you enter, right?
    The most beautiful comes later:
    «And the program is compiled through the make command, and as we said, it can have as many parameters as the programmer wants» KGT lorito !!!
    But it will NEVER tell you what "compile" means, or what it consists of, ah, yes, it has already told you that it is done with the "make" command;
    sudo make? mini make? makemake? ... guess handsome
    but you can choose the paragraph you want, for example:
    «Being inside the directory that contains the entire project (in our case called /ubunlog/), we have to execute the following:
    [/phpíritu./configure »
    run if you're handsome, how do you run? If you don't even know dad, you came here to see how it was done and he talks to you as if you knew the same thing as him….
    And i already know
    Now they will be offended, and they will say, «it is assumed that if you enter here you have the elementary knowledge that we presuppose in our thoughtful explanations, this is understood by a five year old who uses Linux» ...
    Knio !!! then say it !!!!!
    This is for those who know !!!!!
    the ignorant lelos do not read it !!! go elsewhere !!!
    Total: I do not know who is more donkey, who does not know, or who does not have the most elementary idea of ​​what it is to teach