How to properly install any application

Rocky Linux Help & Support
1

Can I please be either pointed to or given simple instructions on how to install any application? Without biting my head off and shaming me here?

My previous experience with other distros do not give me such a difficult time with installations. If I go to a website like Handbrake and download the app, then double click on the app in the downloads folder, nothing happens like with any other download. Also, is there a repo from which applications can be easily found and installed like for example Manjaro? Not much information available on you tube or really anywhere else.

IMG_0803
IMG_08031637Ă—783 229 KB

Thanks!

2

Do you have something particular you want to install? It depends on how it is distributed. There is a software center installed in the GUI / Gnome. Rpms can be installed a few ways.

3

Wow that was fast THANK YOU!!! Haha

So yes I have no idea what to do here because if I right click on a folder as shown there I get this window with all these program names which I don’t know anything about and asked if I want to open the program with one of those. I am using xfce. Don’t know if that matters. I have had a difficult time installing Davinci Resolve studio and finally was able to do so with some help from here! But that’s all I have done besides cloning the drive for an emergency re install once I try to fix the other install on the other disk.

Oh for instance I am trying to install handbrake with the updated library which allows me to make digital copies of my dvd movies and shutter encoder and libre office ( unless something better has come out) and then maybe wine to run a couple windows programs?

4

It’s probably best to install it by the cli in terminal. Try the command flatpak install --from fr.handbrake.ghb.flatpakref make sure you are in the same directory.

5

So I tried the command you gave and this is what happens!

IMG_0804
IMG_08042732Ă—1574 819 KB

6

Second attempt to install programs
Second attempt to install programs799Ă—379 41.2 KB

Here is my attempt to simply cut and paste the command

7

Hi there. Not sure if this will help you, but it might:

Also, for your dnf command line above, try this:

dnf install libreoffice
8

You will need to cd into the same directory as the file for it to work. I’m assuming you’ll cd into Downloads directory.

9

Wow thank you! It worked! Yes it was another dumb error on my part. I will get the hang of this sometime soon I hope!

10

so looking up the command this is what appears online and does nothing…
Error: Unable to find a match: handbrake
[root@localhost Oscar]# cd downloads
bash: cd: downloads: No such file or directory
[root@localhost Oscar]# cd ~/Downloads
bash: cd: /root/Downloads: No such file or directory
[root@localhost Oscar]# cd /home/username/Downloads
bash: cd: /home/username/Downloads: No such file or directory
[root@localhost Oscar]#

What is it that I do wrong here? It seems so simple when I get a reply!

11

Hum… Depends on what folder the file is in. See if you can find the location in the GUI. When you have it downloaded, click the folder icon next to the download to open the folder. It should show the path.

12

so yeah, as it appears, just like you showed but not sure why it won’t install. Did I write the cd command incorrect ?
Last metadata expiration check: 2:18:11 ago on Mon 10 Mar 2025 12:53:41 PM EDT.
No match for argument: fr.handbrake.ghb.flatpakref
Error: Unable to find a match: fr.handbrake.ghb.flatpakref
[root@localhost Oscar]#

13

I’m pretty much guessing that the user that you login to the system with is not called “username”. You replace “username” with the name of your user. Let’s assume your username is oscar, then you would do:

cd /home/oscar/Downloads

If your username is bob, then:

cd /home/bob/Downloads

Another way is to do:

ls /home

and you will see at least one home directory - each home directory is the same name as the user used to login to the system, for example on my system:

root@rocky9:~# ls /home/
ian

would show my username is “ian”

14

I’m cutting and pasting just as shown, I don’t think it should show “username” as you guessed. Here is what I did so far. (thanks for jumping in here to help! )
[root@localhost Oscar]# ls /home
Oscar
[root@localhost Oscar]# root@rocky9:~# ls /home/
Oscar
bash: root@rocky9:~#: command not found
bash: Oscar: command not found
[root@localhost Oscar]#

15

Tried again here with handbrake and no go.

Oscar
[root@localhost Oscar]# root@rocky9:~# ls /home/
Oscar
bash: root@rocky9:~#: command not found
bash: Oscar: command not found
[root@localhost Oscar]# root@rocky9:~# ls /home/
Oscar
bash: root@rocky9:~#: command not found
bash: Oscar: command not found
[root@localhost Oscar]# cd /home/Oscar/Downloads
[root@localhost Downloads]# flatpak install --from fr.handbrake.ghb.
error: Error opening file /home/Oscar/Downloads/fr.handbrake.ghb.: No such file or directory
[root@localhost Downloads]#

16

Earlier we mentioned a repo ( like for instance in Manjaro, I said ) does Rocky linux have the same thing?

17

Rocky has repositories, of which you can use with the dnf command like for installing libreoffice like you did before. Unfortunately, even in EPEL repository which is an additonal third-party repository for stuff normally not found in RHEL9/Rocky 9, it doesn’t have handbrake as a package to install.

You can install gnome-software, which allows you to search packages, including flatpak.

dnf install gnome-software

you do that command as root user, similar to what you’ve done already. Once that package is installed, you can search for “Software” in your app menu and then use this to search for stuff. But again, this will only search for packages from known repositories. And repositories can be added to the system, like epel, elrepo, etc.

Rocky docs, has lots of info on this sort of stuff: Introduction - Documentation

pkgs.org is great website to see if packages/rpms exist: https://pkgs.org/search/?q=handbrake from that example you will see handbrake as an rpm for Rocky9 doesn’t exist, it does however for Fedora 41. It does have for Rocky 8 providing epel is installed, eg:

dnf install epel-release
dnf install HandBrake
dnf install HandBrake-gui
18

Oh wow ok. Thanks! That helps me in becoming familiar. Seems a bit daunting to need to become familiar with another distro. Thank you

19

Just arrived back home and tried it one more time as posted and got nothing:

bash: [quote=iwalker, post:17, topic:17842]: command not found
bash: Last: command not found
bash: [/quote]: No such file or directory
[root@localhost Downloads]# dnf install HandBrake
Last metadata expiration check: 3:56:59 ago on Mon 10 Mar 2025 12:53:41 PM EDT.
No match for argument: HandBrake
Error: Unable to find a match: HandBrake
[root@localhost Downloads]# dnf install HandBrake
Last metadata expiration check: 3:57:12 ago on Mon 10 Mar 2025 12:53:41 PM EDT.
No match for argument: HandBrake
Error: Unable to find a match: HandBrake
[root@localhost Downloads]#

20

You need to read the answers to your question very carefully. Stop charging ahead after briefly skimming the answer and just copying and pasting commands.

Read what is said to you, think about the information that is being passed on to you.

Ian told you that “handbrake as an rpm for Rocky9 doesn’t exist”, so attempting to install that from the default Rocky repositories, as you did in your last cut-and-paste, won’t work.

Before going any further with this you need to obtain a basic understanding of what a rpm is, where it can be found, and how to manage them.

Please read this documentation carefully and completely, and be sure you understand what it is tell you. This will give you a basic understanding of the system you’re trying to use. Some of it may not be directly applicable to what you’re trying to do right this minute, but it’s important to understand how it works so when when you try something and it doesn’t work you will be able to figure out why that is.

Managing software with the DNF tool | Red Hat Product Documentation.

This isn’t meant to be snarky or mean. But without an understanding of the basics you aren’t getting very far in what you want to do.

1 Like