How To Install xdg-open on Debian 11

One-liner install command

For those in a hurry, here's a one-line installation command:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt -y install xdg-utils

But if you are interested in the detailed steps with descriptions, the following information is for you.

What is xdg-open and what are the ways to install it?

Before beginning this tutorial, you will need access to a server or computer running Debian 11. This guide was written specifically with a server running Debian 11 in mind, although it should also work on older, supported versions of the operating system.

Also, make sure you are running a regular, non-root user with sudo privileges configured on your server. When you have an account available, log in as your non-root user to begin.

There are several ways to install xdg-open on Debian 11. You can use (links are clickable):

In the following sections, we will describe each method in detail. You can choose one of them or refer to the recommended one.

Install xdg-open using apt-get

First, update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt-get database, You can install xdg-open using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install xdg-utils

Install xdg-open using apt

Because xdg-open is available in Debian 11’s default repositories, it is possible to install it from these repositories using the apt packaging system.

To begin, update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, You can install xdg-open using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install xdg-utils

Install xdg-open using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Debian 11. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating aptitude database, You can install xdg-open by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install xdg-utils

How to upgrade (update) a single package xdg-open using apt-get?

First, you will need to update packages index. Run update command as usual:

sudo apt-get update

Next, to upgrade only the xdg-open, e.g. single package, you should use the following format with the apt-get command/apt command:

sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install xdg-utils

Note that this command will not install any new packages! If you wish to install the package if it doesn't exist you may leave out --only-upgrade part.

sudo apt-get install xdg-utils

How To Uninstall xdg-open from Debian 11

To uninstall only the xdg-open package you can execute the following command:

sudo apt-get remove xdg-utils

Uninstall xdg-open and all its dependencies

To uninstall xdg-open and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Debian 11, you can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove xdg-utils

Remove xdg-open with all configurations and data

To remove xdg-open configuration and data from your system you can run the following purge command:

sudo apt-get -y purge xdg-utils

Remove xdg-open completely (configurations, data and all of its dependencies)

And lastly, you can run the next command to remove absolutely everything related to xdg-open package, e.g.: configurations, data and all of its dependencies. Just use this command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge xdg-utils

Extra info and code examples

xdg-utils contains utilities for integrating applications with the desktop environment, regardless of which desktop environment is used. They are part of freedesktop.org's Portland project. The following utilities are included: * xdg-desktop-menu - Install desktop menu items * xdg-desktop-icon - Install icons on the user's desktop * xdg-email - Compose a new email in the user's preferred email client, potentially with subject and other info filled in * xdg-icon-resource - Install icon resources * xdg-mime - Query and install MIME types and associations * xdg-open - Open a URI in the user's preferred application that handles the respective URI or file type * xdg-screensaver - Enable, disable, or suspend the screensaver * xdg-settings - Get or set the default web browser and URI handlers If you are running GNOME, make sure that the gvfs-bin package is installed.

Conclusion

You now have a full guide on how to install xdg-open using apt, apt-get and aptitude tools. Also, we showed how to update as a single package and different ways to uninstall the xdg-open from Debian 11.

See also: