Duncan Wither

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Installing AppImages on Mint

Written: 14-Jan-2023 (Updated 22-Jan-23)

App images are basically the .exe for linux. It’s not a clean or pretty system but it works well enough for the apps that use it. Integration with the inbuilt app-store would be better, but devs don’t always offer that1.

So the only problem with .AppImage files is they require a little extra work to “get working nicely”; i.e. have a nice desktop icon and start folder icon.

There is a simple option: just put the .AppImage on your desktop make it executable (see section 1.5)and be done with it. If you require a start icon then make a custom one, but otherwise don’t bother.

So here’s the little extra work you need to do to get it done.

n.b. this popped up for me first when installing obsidian so I’ll use it as the example going forward.

Step 1: Download

Easy. I’m assuming you’re already here. The only twist is putting it into a folder that’s not ~/Downloads in case you accidentally delete it out when clearing the hard drive for space2. Generally I suggest a ~/Programmes folder to this end3. So move the file to ~/Programmes/Obsidian/ for safe keeping.

Step 1.5: Executability

The CLI option here is :

  1. Open the location of the file in the terminal (e.g. cd ~/Programmes/Obsidian/)
  2. Make it executable with: chmod +x Obsidian.appimage (you may need a preceding sudo)

Otherwise if a visual / mouse based4 is better:

  1. Left click the .AppImage file and select Properties
  2. Navigate to Permissions
  3. Check the box marked Exectute: [ ] Allow exectuing file as program.

And you’re done.

Step 2: Icons

The annoying thing is icons. Funnily enough half the AppImage files look fine, That’s because they’ve got their own icons baked in. Instead of scrounging the internet for them5, you can get them from the file itself. This can be done by unpacking it via:

./Obsidian.AppImage --appimage-extract

This will create a folder called squashfs-root next to the app image. The icons are found in squashfs-root/usr/share/icons.

I originally tried copying it to the root /usr/share/icon folder, so it’d play nice with the system, but that didn’t work.

So you can leave the squashfs-root/ folder, or if your tight on disk space, just copy the icons/ sub-folder to a suitable location (Obsidian/) and delete the rest.

Remember this location.

Step 3: Launcher

Step 3 is to create a desktop icon etc. Luckily linux mint / cinnamon has a way forward. I’ve not a clue about other distros / desktop enviroments.

Left click the home screen and Create a new launcher here.

  1. Give it the name name you want (Obsidian)
  2. Give it a description of your choice (Nothing works too).
  3. Type the path to the app image in the Command window (~/Programmes/Obsidian/Obsidian.AppImage).
  4. Click the rocketship picture to assign an icon.
  5. Click brows and go to your icon folder
  6. Pick a resolution of your choice

The launcher wizard will now make an start menu item (you might have to change it’s location) and a nice desktop icon.

And that’s you done!🥳️