A DEB file is a Debian software package and it can be used to install an application or system program. All Linux distributions based on Debian can install software from a DEB file. This includes distributions like Ubuntu and Linux Mint.
In this tutorial, you will learn several ways to install a .deb file on Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and other Debian-based distros.
Example 1. Using the apt command is the recommended way to install DEB files. This will also fetch required dependencies from official repos. Just specify the path to your local DEB file:
$ sudo apt install ./software.deb
Example 2. GDebi is a lightweight program that can install DEB files on your system. However, you may need to install it first.
$ sudo apt install gdebi $ sudo gdebi -i software.deb
Example 3. The dpkg command is an older method and is mostly used as a backend for apt nowadays, but it can still be used to install DEB files.
$ sudo dpkg -i software.deb
The dpkg command can’t automatically resolve dependencies, so you may receive the following error:
dpkg: error processing package
If this happens, you can install the required dependencies with apt before proceeding with DEB installation once more:
$ sudo apt install -f