Here is a comprehensive guide to installing Wine on Debian 11, ensuring you have the best setup for running Windows applications. Follow these steps carefully to get started quickly and correctly.
First, you need to enable the 32-bit architecture on your 64-bit system, as many Windows applications are 32-bit.
Open your terminal and execute the following command:
sudo dpkg –add-architecture i386
Next, you need to add the WineHQ signing key to your system’s keyring. This ensures that the packages you download are legitimate.
Download the key and add it with these commands:
wget -O – https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.pub | gpg –dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/winehq.gpg > /dev/null
Now, you will add the official WineHQ repository to your list of software sources. This provides access to the latest Wine versions.
For Debian 11 (Bullseye), use this command:
echo deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/winehq.gpg] https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/debian/ bullseye main | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.list
After adding the new repository, you must update your package list so your system knows about the available packages.
Run the update command:
sudo apt update
Finally, you can install Wine. It is recommended to install the stable branch for most users.
To install Wine Stable, execute:
sudo apt install –install-recommends winehq-stable
During the installation, you may be prompted to confirm the installation and accept dependencies. Type Y and press Enter.
Once the installation is complete, you can verify that Wine is installed and check its version.
Run this command:
wine –version
You are now ready to configure Wine and begin installing Windows applications. The first time you run a Windows application or the winecfg command, Wine will set up its environment (the .wine directory) and might prompt you to install additional components like Mono and Gecko, which are often required. Allow Wine to download and install these components when prompted.
This method ensures you install Wine correctly using the official WineHQ repository, providing the most up-to-date stable version available for Debian 11.
Source: https://kifarunix.com/install-wine-on-debian-11/
