How to Install Latest Wine in Ubuntu Linux

Wine is a nifty utility that allows users to run Windows applications and games inside a Linux environment. Wine 7.0 is finally out, and it ships with an array of numerous improvements and a total of 40 bug fixes.

Some of the key areas that have witnessed great changes include:

• Text console redesign
• Vulkan support enhancements
• Text and fonts
• Kernel objects & functions
• An array of core modules in PE format.
• New WoW64 architecture.
• Improved theming support, with a collection of themes for a more modern look.

For a more comprehensive list of the numerous changes that have been made, check out Wine’s announcement.

Let’s shift gears and focus on how to install Wine 7.0 on Ubuntu Linux.

Step 1: Enable 32-bit Architecture

The first course of action is to enable the 32-bit architecture using the dpkg command as follows:

$ sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

Enable 32-bit Architecture Step 2: Add Wine Repository Key

Once the 32-bit architecture is added, proceed and add the Wine repository key using the wget command as shown.

$ sudo wget -nc -O /usr/share/keyrings/winehq-archive.key https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key

Add Wine Key in Ubuntu

You should get output on the terminal as seen from the screenshot above.

Step 3: Enable Wine Repository

Upon adding the repository key, the next step will be to enable the Wine repository. To add the repository, invoke the command shown:

For this version: Use this command: Ubuntu 22.04 sudo wget -nc -P /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/dists/jammy/winehq-jammy.sources Ubuntu 21.10 sudo wget -nc -P /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/dists/impish/winehq-impish.sources Ubuntu 20.04
Linux Mint 20.x sudo wget -nc -P /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/dists/focal/winehq-focal.sources Ubuntu 18.04
Linux Mint 19.x sudo wget -nc -P /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/dists/bionic/winehq-bionic.sources

Then update the system package lists as shown.

$ sudo apt update

Update System Step 4: Install Wine 7.0 in Ubuntu

All that is left at this stage is to install Wine 7.0 on Ubuntu using the APT package manager as follows.

For this version: Use this command: Stable branch sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable Development branch sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-devel Staging branch sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-staging

This will install an array of packages, libraries, and drivers.

Install Wine in Ubuntu 20.04

Once the installation is complete, verify the wine version as shown.

$ wine --version

wine-7.0

Step 5: Using Wine to Run Windows Programs in Ubuntu

To demonstrate how you can use Wine to run a Windows program, we downloaded Rufus executable file (.exe) from the Rufus official Site.

To run the file, run the command:

$ wine rufus-3.13.exe

Run Windows Program in Ubuntu

Wine will start by creating a Wine config file in the home directory, in this case, ~/.wine as shown.

Wine Configuration

When prompted to install the wine-mono-package which is required by .NET applications, click the ‘Install’ button.

Wine Mono Installer

The download will soon start

Downloading Wine Mono Installer

Additionally, install the Gecko package which is required by applications embedding HTML.

Wine Gecko Installer

Select whether you want to check for application updates from time to time.

Rufus Update Policy

Finally, the Rufus UI will be displayed as shown.

Rufus Program Running on Ubuntu

We have successfully installed Wine on Ubuntu and gave you a preview of how you can execute Windows applications in .exe a format which normally wouldn’t run in a Linux environment.

Any thoughts or feedback on this guide? Do let us know.