How do I create a program launcher to starte an .exe in WINE?

[Brent_Santin]

Hi, so I've just installed Lubuntu 20.04. I have several Windows applications I like to use in Lubuntu (and have successfully on older versions in the past). They will run if I do the following from a shell:

wine <name_of_application.exe>

But I cannot figure out how to create an icon on the Lubuntu desktop to start them this way.

The Lubuntu instructions here says "To create a launcher graphically you can right click on the desktop and select Create Launcher." But I have never found that to be true in Lubuntu. There is simply no option given to create a launcher when right-clicking on the desktop.

I am able to create something apparently called a "symlink" icon by dragging the .exe file to the desktop (which I understand functions like a shortcut), but clicking on that doesn't start the application in Wine (it does nothing).

Right clicking on the actual .exe or the symlink icon and looking at the file properties tells me that the file is set to open with "Mono Runtime" whatever that is. I can set it to open with another application, but there is no option for Wine Program Loader (it isn't in the list).

Despite using Lubuntu (and mostly loving it) for the past 5 years or so, I've never really understood how to create program launchers on the desktop.

If anyone can help it would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[waffen]

Hello,

For this kind of task, I prefer create a simple Python script, maybe using a GUI with buttons, like you mention you have several win apps.

[CatKiller]

I am able to create something apparently called a "symlink" icon by dragging the .exe file to the desktop (which I understand functions like a shortcut), but clicking on that doesn't start the application in Wine (it does nothing).

Not in the way that you're thinking. A symbolic link is a file that points to another file. So anything that interacts with that file (or directory) is actually interacting with a file somewhere completely different, but doesn't need to know about it. It's like a copy that doesn't use any space and is never out of sync.

Despite using Lubuntu (and mostly loving it) for the past 5 years or so, I've never really understood how to create program launchers on the desktop.

All the launchers, and the context menu entries, and panel widgets, are .desktop files, which are just text files that are structured in a particular way. There's a post stickied in the Gaming sub-forum that will give you all the details if you wanted to create one from scratch. It's not especially difficult.

Some desktop environments have a launcher creator for the menu, and let you drag and drop the launchers wherever you like. I haven't used Lubuntu, so I don't know what it has.

Wine comes with .desktop files to add menu entries and things, but for some reason they aren't enabled for some releases of Wine. You enable them by copying the .desktop files from whichever examples directory they're in (which I can't remember off the top of my head) to /usr/share/applications. You'll likely find them just by looking at your system, or you can search here or elsewhere for instructions.

[guiverc]

The Lubuntu instructions here says "To create a launcher graphically you can right click on the desktop and select Create Launcher." But I have never found that to be true in Lubuntu. There is simply no option given to create a launcher when right-clicking on the desktop.

It works fine for me, but you'll note the manual matches the latest stable release, which is currently Lubuntu 20.10. At the top left of the page, you'll note it says "Lubuntu Manual" with a book icon below that, and the release of the manual you're viewing below that (ie. 20.10).

Yes we (Lubuntu) hoped to have it so users could select which manual (ie. release) they are viewing as an option (prior to the release of focal or 20.04), but that work has not yet been completed, so all users are seeing the version that relates to the latest stable release (currently 20.10).

That is why you aren't seeing all options mentioned in the manual; you're using an older version of LXQt that doesn't contain them.

FYI: and of likely no use to you, I did a QA-test install of hirsute a couple of days ago on a much older system (no format of $HOME or the user directory), and the system automatically created wine menu entry on the main menu & submenu with various wine programs I didn't even know I had installed (programs I've not run in maybe 4+ years).

[grahammechanical]

I used Wine for just one Windows application. I installed it in Wine. The process is similar to how an application is installed in Windows. Use Wine File Explorer to find the setup exe and click to install. In my case the Windows application put its own icon on the Desktop. This is in Ubuntu with Gnome.

So, I ask have you used Wine to install these Windows applications?

Regards

[guiverc]

I create a desktop launcher on using my hirsute system, calling it blah.

What it created (i entered the values you'll see here, ie. blah, featherpad etc)

guiverc@d960-ubu2:~/Desktop$   cat blah.desktop 
[Desktop Entry]
Name=blah
GenericName=featherpad launcher
Comment=blah
Exec=featherpad
Type=Application
Icon=application-x-desktop
Terminal=false

So that's all the "Create Launcher" option does. I currently don't have a focal system running, nor time to explore further (at the moment), but hopefully that'll be a start (the .desktop file may vary on the options you provide; I only answer blah & featherpad.

[Dennis N]

But I cannot figure out how to create an icon on the Lubuntu desktop to start them this way

Create a .desktop file for the application in your Desktop folder. This will cause the program icon to appear on the Desktop. Right-click on the icon, and check the box "Trust this executable". Double-click to launch. The Desktop file actually doesn't need to be executable.

Here is an example of a .desktop file for a program running under Wine. The quotes are necessary because of the spaces in the path.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=Across Lite
Comment=Play Crossword Puzzles
Exec=wine /home/dmn/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files/Litsoft/Across Lite/ACROSSL.EXE"
Icon=/home/dmn/.icons/acl3.png
Path=/home/dmn/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files/Litsoft/Across Lite/"
Categories=Game;
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=false

[Brent_Santin]

I used Wine for just one Windows application. I installed it in Wine. The process is similar to how an application is installed in Windows. Use Wine File Explorer to find the setup exe and click to install. In my case the Windows application put its own icon on the Desktop. This is in Ubuntu with Gnome.

So, I ask have you used Wine to install these Windows applications?

Regards

The Windows applications that have their own installer have "installed" fine, and created their own icon from which I can start the application.
However, the ones I am having problems starting are Windows executables that run on their own and do not come with, nor require an installer. For those I can only start them using the command link, but would like to create a launcher icon so I can start them from the desktop GUI.

[Brent_Santin]

Create a .desktop file for the application in your Desktop folder. This will cause the program icon to appear on the Desktop. Right-click on the icon, and check the box "Trust this executable". Double-click to launch. The Desktop file actually doesn't need to be executable.

Here is an example of a .desktop file for a program running under Wine. The quotes are necessary because of the spaces in the path.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=Across Lite
Comment=Play Crossword Puzzles
Exec=wine /home/dmn/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files/Litsoft/Across Lite/ACROSSL.EXE"
Icon=/home/dmn/.icons/acl3.png
Path=/home/dmn/.wine/drive_c/"Program Files/Litsoft/Across Lite/"
Categories=Game;
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=false

Hi Dennis N.

What's the difference between the lines for Exec and Path in the above? Why two lines for what is seemingly pointing to the same location?

[CatKiller]

What's the difference between the lines for Exec and Path in the above? Why two lines for what is seemingly pointing to the same location?

https://specifications.freedesktop.o...y-spec/latest/

Exec: Program to execute, possibly with arguments. See the Exec key for details on how this key works. The Exec key is required if DBusActivatable is not set to true. Even if DBusActivatable is true, Exec should be specified for compatibility with implementations that do not understand DBusActivatable.

Path: If entry is of type Application, the working directory to run the program in.