What is Wine?

Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) lets you run Windows programs on Linux systems like Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Rather than being a typical emulator, Wine works by translating Windows commands directly into ones your Linux system can understand. This means better performance than you’d get with traditional virtualization.

Main Benefits

  • Runs without a virtual machine, keeping things fast and simple
  • Plays your favorite Windows games through DirectX support
  • Works with everyday Windows software like Microsoft Office

1. Getting Your System Ready

Let’s start by updating your system:

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sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

We’ll also need to enable 32-bit support:

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sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

2. Setting Up the Wine Repository

First, add Wine’s security key:

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sudo mkdir -pm755 /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo wget -O /etc/apt/keyrings/winehq-archive.key https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key

Then add the repository:

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sudo wget -NP /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/dists/$(lsb_release -sc)/winehq-$(lsb_release -sc).sources

3. Installing Wine

Now let’s install Wine:

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sudo apt update
sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable

4. Initial Setup

Start the Wine configuration tool:

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winecfg

Wine Configuration Screen

5. Setting Up DirectX

Many Windows programs need DirectX support, particularly d3dx11_43.dll. Here’s how to set it up:

  1. Open Wine’s configuration tool (winecfg)
  2. Click on the “Libraries” tab
  3. Find “d3dx11_43” in the New override dropdown

Wine Configuration Screen

  1. Click “Add”
  2. Hit “Apply” and “OK” to save your changes

This helps Windows programs that use DirectX run more smoothly.

6. Running Windows Programs

To run a Windows program, simply use:

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wine program.exe

That’s it! You’re now ready to run Windows programs on your Ubuntu 24.04 LTS system.