Installing LiveCode on Linux

If you are experiencing issues installing LiveCode within a Linux environment the most likely cause of this is that the installer has not had its executable bit set. This lesson will explain how to do this within the Ubuntu Linux environment.

Download LiveCode from the downloads page

Download LiveCode From Your Store Account
Navigate To The Download Directory

Right Click on LiveCode Installer and Select "Properties"

Right Click on LiveCode Installer and Select "Properties"

Set the Executable bit to true

Set the Executable bit to true

To do this, navigate to the "Permissions" tab and check the option "Allow executing file as program".  Press close. Now open a Terminal, type sudo <path/to/installer>  and press return, and you should now be able to execute the LiveCode installer:

The following stackoverflow post explains how to make any application executable via the command line:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/817060/creating-executable-files-in-linux/817522#817522

This is useful for Linux versions that do not have the discussed GUI method.

NB- On a 64 bit system, you can download either the 64 bit (recommended) or the 32 bit installer. However, the 32 bit installer will not run if you are on a 64 bit system with no 32 bit compatibility libraries. Please install these before attempting the above. e.g. For Ubuntu 14.04, the following terminal command will install these libraries:

sudo apt-get install libgtk2.0-0:i386

18 Comments

Dave

I do not have the store installed. What is the name of the package in the official repos?

Heather Laine

If you want to download LiveCode on Linux, you can sign up for a free account here:

https://livecode.org/download-member-offer/

You should then be able to install it successfully. I hope this helps.

Thorsten

Choose 'You Only'...

Stam

I successfully installed this on my chromebook which i've set to dual-boot to GalliumOS using chrx.
I got stuck trying to 'install for all users' and 'custom install'.
Installed fine when finally chose 'Install for this user only'

Elanor Buchanan

Hi Stam

This is probably because of the lack of gksu in this distro. When installing for all users or doing a custom install, it should show an authentication dialog asking for the user's password (this is what gksu does). This would explain why installing for this user only does work.

You could workaround this by running the installer from the Terminal using sudo. This should allow you to install for all users.

I hope that helps.

Elanor

Rob

When I startup the downloaded Business Installer in Linux Mint, I get the following message:
LiveCode Installer // Installation was not succesful
'unable to create required folder at '/opt/livecode/livecodebusiness-9.6.1.x86_64'

so what to do?

Elanor Buchanan

Hi Rob

This looks like a permissions issue, can you check the permissions of the installer file. You might also get some good advice from the forum. There are some Linux Mint threads and other users might be able to help.

https://forums.livecode.com/viewforum.php?f=20

I hope that helps.

Elanor

Rob

Hi Elanor,
I managed to install LiveCode on Linux. But now I want to do it again on another PC with Linux Mint.
So I did all the necessary requirements. Created /opt/livecode/livecodebusiness-9.6.1.x86_64
I also did the chmod +x command and put all permission on read and write and made myself the root user
But now I get the message: "Internall error (couldn't create install record), at the LiveCode Installer screen.
What can that be???

Elanor Buchanan

Hi Rob

Are you installing for "all users" or "you only".?

You could also try installing from the terminal e.g.

sudo /path/to/installer/

Kind regards

Elanor

bogs

It should probably be pointed out that in your picture of the install, you are working with Lc version 6.1, which was 32 bit only, so (from the above article) this :
"NB- The installer will not run if you are on a 64 bit system with no 32 bit compatibility libraries. Please install these before attempting the above. e.g. For Ubuntu 14.04, the following terminal command will install these libraries:
sudo apt-get install libgtk2.0-0:i386"
would only be required when installing any 32 bit software on a 64 bit system.

If the reader is using a 64 bit version of Linux, they should download a 64 bit version of Lc, which would eliminate this requirement for setting up multi-arch. These are available all the way back to version 7.0, released in 2014.

Elanor Buchanan

Hi bogs,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, we have updated the lesson.

Kind regards

Elanor

Joe

hello there!
a bit at a loss to even get the thingy running!
stuck in the very beginning
the app refuses any ID/password i enter
it says "please enter a password"
the app shuts down when i want to "skip the step".
thanks for any kind help.

NB
OS ubuntu 18.04
livecode community edition

Heather Laine

I'm afraid we no longer support the Community Edition. You can get a free trial of LiveCode here:

https://livecode.com/trial

Sorry I can't be more help.

Farid

Hello,
I just tried to install the 64-bit version on my PC* using the 'LiveCodeInstaller-9_6_4-Linux.x64'.
The installer popped up, let me chose whether I wanted
to install it for me alone or globally (I tried both).
The installer ran and then told me the slave had quit unexpectedly.
That's it.
If it had been a decent installer (.sh or so), I would have got an output in the
terminal, but so: not a thing I can tell you.
Does my machine run other programs?
Yes it does, Mathematica, Matlab, SPSS, MS Teams, all installed greatly and smoothly with
installer apps (and give you hints about the process in the T).
Any idea that would help ?

* Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (64bit) on a Lenovo ThinkPad T590

Farid

Hello, now this is weird. I just wrote to tell you that right at the end the installer failed.
Now, I took a look at the /opt/livecode folder, and what can I say. There it is.
And it runs.
I mean, I cannot say why it then told me otherwise ...
But maybe you should speak to your programmer. It could confuse others as well.
Cheers to Scotland !

Elanor Buchanan

Hi Farid

Thanks for letting us know about this. I have reported it in our Quality Control Centre, the Development Team will pick up the report and look into it.

Kind regards

Elanor

Rick

This lesson is out of date including the screenshots.
I wasted some time when all
I needed to do was use the
Terminal to make the installer file executable, and then double click on the installer file to get it
to work.

Panos Merakos

Hello Rick,

Thank you for your comment. Why is the lesson outdated? If you are using a newer version of Ubuntu, there might be some cosmetic changes, but the general idea is the same:
1. You enable the executable bit of the installer - either via high click -> properties -> allow executing file as program or via the the terminal.
2. You run the (executable) installer - either via double-click or via terminal (using sudo)

If there is something else that needs to be updated please let us know.

Kind regards,
Panos
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