Compiling FlightGear 2.4.0 for Ubuntu Linux 10.04 (Lucid)
Update 2011-08-26: If you are using Ubuntu 11.04 or later, it looks like this is now packaged as a .deb by PlayDeb. This post may still be of interest to those using earlier versions of Ubuntu.
I recently had cause to install FlightGear 2.4.0 on Ubuntu 10.04. It’s not packaged in the form of a deb yet, so I’ve documented the commands I used. No guarantees this’ll work for you, as I haven’t tested them rigorously; and I’m assuming some Linux and command-line knowledge.
- Install some dependencies (this may not be a complete list; it’s simply the set I was missing). If you get warnings below about missing libraries, hunt around for them in the Ubuntu archives.
sudo apt-get install libboost-graph-dev libopenal-dev libalut-dev libopenscenegraph-dev libjpeg62-dev libplib-dev zlib1g-dev
- Get SimGear 2.4.0, unpack it into a temporary directory, and install it (checkinstall will create a deb for you as a side-effect, and install that so you can uninstall with apt if necessary). I’m using
-j10on make as I have many CPU cores; you may want to tune this to match your number, although it will only affect the speed of build../configure --with-jpeg-factory ; make -j10 ; sudo checkinstall
- Get the FlightGear 2.4.0 source(at the time of writing, the file with the slightly more recent timestamp) and install it:
./configure ; make -j10 ; sudo checkinstall
- Get the 2.4.0 “Base” package and unpack it to /usr/share/local/flightgear. The tarball contains a data/ directory at the top level; you need to move directories around after unpacking so that the flightgear/directory contains direct subdirectories:
ls -1 /usr/local/share/flightgear/ AI Aircraft Airports Astro ATC AUTHORS etc...
- You’re done! Run
fgfsto launch Flightgear (there’s no GUI so you’ll have to become familiar with the command-line switches).
There is a FG GUI tolunch the flightgear: the FGRUN. I found the .deb package
Stephen
20 Aug 11 at 21:08:00
Thanks you very much!
This was very helpful, though I compiled mine on OpenSUSE 11.4 Tumbleweed. The only headache was finding analogues of dependencies, though figured out in few mins.
Jason
24 Aug 11 at 21:08:58
I was installing on Ubuntu 11.04 – not many games here – and had to:
sudo apt-get install libopenscenegraph-dev
Dennis
25 Aug 11 at 03:08:36
Dennis, thanks for the clarification. I already had that package installed – have added it to the list.
andrewferrier
25 Aug 11 at 09:08:48
Also, is it “/usr/share/local/flightgear” or “/usr/local/share/flightgear”, and why there not /usr/games (or is this so V2.0 and V2.4 can co exist)?
Michael
25 Aug 11 at 22:08:15
It’s /usr/local/share/flightgear.
andrewferrier
26 Aug 11 at 13:08:42
Had some hard times with downloading 2.4.0 Base Package, here an efficient link : http://ftp.linux.kiev.ua/pub/mirrors/ftp.flightgear.org/flightgear/Shared/
pollux
29 Aug 11 at 17:08:06
Hi,
Thanks a lot for this guide. I am compiling right now in Ubuntu 10.04. Previously I installed FGFS1.9.1 via the Package Manager, and uninstalled before I compile this. I would like to add that I also had to install “libjpeg62-dev” in order to compile SimGear2.4.0 and “libplib-dev” for FlightGear2.4.0
Guille
4 Sep 11 at 06:09:18
Guille, thanks. I’ve updated the list of dependencies.
andrewferrier
6 Sep 11 at 10:09:08
Hello,
To anyone that cares, if you happen to receive a seg fault upon fgfs execution, you probably used to play with an earlier version of the build. Try renaming your existing FG_HOME directory (e.g. /home/your_user_name/.fgfs) so the new version can recreate the directory appropriately.
Rich
7 Sep 11 at 03:09:23
Thanks much for this. I saw that PlayDeb supposedly had the 2.4 debs, but for some reason, it kept deferring to the 2.0 debs in the repos. Oh well, compiling went well, and reminded me of my Gentoo days
Kudos,
Dave
Dave J.
11 Sep 11 at 13:09:36
Installing simgear required to manually create two directories, then it successfully installed. Not sure why, it complained, I manually added and reran checkinstall.
sudo mkdir /usr/local/include/simgear
sudo mkdir /usr/local/include/simgear/scene
Dale
26 Sep 11 at 05:09:18
And I meant to say, THANKS Very Much! for the clear install instructions and dependencies list, that list got all that I needed.
Dale
26 Sep 11 at 05:09:02
actually, needed openscenegraph 3.0.1 also, that takes a while to build and install…still going
Dale
26 Sep 11 at 07:09:11
Thanks to pollux for the mirror… I’d been trying to download from flightgear ftp for over two weeks and the download always failed. Now I got the file!
Eric
17 Oct 11 at 19:10:43
I could not download FlightGear 2.4.0 >:(
Lamebutt
9 Nov 11 at 18:11:20
Lamebutt
9 Nov 11 at 18:11:35
Lamebutt
9 Nov 11 at 18:11:55
How do I run on Ubuntu 11.10?
rodoman
3 Jan 12 at 18:01:31
Hunt around for them in the archives? Tell me you’re not serious. That’s a real help.
Mitchell
10 Jan 12 at 11:01:14
Hope this works, I’m still using 10.04.3. Thanks in advance!
Lucas
16 Jan 12 at 13:01:53
Thanks a lot! Note, please, that it have to be done in userspace, f.e. ~/TMP/
OCEAN
21 Jan 12 at 19:01:45
Thank you very much! It also works perfectly in my Ubuntu 11.10 (oneric) installation.
Dan Serban
6 Feb 12 at 19:02:52
From an essentially fresh install of 10.04.3 I also had to install package zlib1g-dev. Thanks for keeping it simple.
Jonny
15 Feb 12 at 21:02:25
Jonny, thanks, I’ve added that to the list.
andrewferrier
15 Feb 12 at 21:02:05
You can also download a precompiled version of FG 2.4 for Ubuntu from
http://www.unitedfreeworld.com/downloads-pre-compiled-packages-linux-ubuntu/
This was a much easier choice for me..
Good luck
Mahen tan
22 Feb 12 at 00:02:22