Gdebi launches but doesn't install any .deb files

Support and Help
1

I open a .deb file with gdebi, it launches, I click on install package, enter my super user password and nothing happens, Ubuntu Cinnamon 26.04.1. Any ideas? I have already reinstalled gdebi.

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2

Moved to Support and Help.

Please note that the Flavors & Remixes sections are for discussions rather than technical support.

Thanks

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3

What is the output of:

lsb_release -a; uname -a; apt-cache policy gdebi

Thanks

4

Are there any entries in your /var/log/apt/term.log that match the day & time of your most recent attempt? If so, please show us.

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That log has no entries. I had to do a fresh install so that makes sense

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sorry am new to this forum

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$ lsb_release -a; uname -a; apt-cache policy gdebi
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS
Release: 26.04
Codename: resolute
Linux mickee-H61H2-TI 7.0.0-30-generic #30-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Jul 31 18:22:54 UTC 2026 x86_64 GNU/Linux
gdebi:
Installed: 0.9.5.8
Candidate: 0.9.5.8
Version table:
*** 0.9.5.8 500
500 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute/universe amd64 Packages
500 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu resolute/universe i386 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

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I have been loooking into alternatives but have been less than successful in finding a download - Discover, eddy, qapt-deb-installer_3.0.5-2_amd64.deb

9

So you have not tried it with your freshly-reinstalled system?
That’s important information.

Something else was going on that caused you to reinstall Ubuntu?
That’s even more important.

Gdebi is sometimes misused by new users who want to install random packages from the internet, not realizing that Gdebi isn’t a full package manager. It will happily try to install broken, tampered, or incompatible packages
as root. We can provide support in the sense that we can help train users to use it wisely. We cannot support in the sense of undoing folly.

What are you attempting to install?
And where did you obtain the deb from?

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10

I was on Ubuntu MATE 24.04, since they are no longer offering LTS, I decided to install Ubuntu Cinnamon 26.04.1. I did the SHA check and it passed. It was never an issue using gdebi in MATE, but after moving to the new Ubuntu Cinnamon 26004.1, it opens but when clicking ‘authenticate’ it just closes and nothing happens. gdebi was part of the install for 26.04.1. I did not ‘install’ it but did remove and reinstall it. I am trying to install the following deb: boinctasks3.0.deb. I had this deb on my MATE installation, and since I have /home on a separate hard drive, I am stil able to access everything I downloaded. Boictasks-js is a distributed computing application, where I donate CPU cycles for analizing data from the projects I select. RN I am trying to remove the pkg but its not showing in Software or synaptic - very weird. I believe that gdebi will also remove packages or reinstall in addition to installing pkgs

11

Can you install the deb OK in a terminal?

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yes with dpkg, but I prefer the GUI with gdebi

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13

Here’s fix/workaround

  1. Create a shell script called “gdebi-gtk-pkexec” with the following contents and place it in /usr/bin. Be sure to make it executable (sudo chmod +x gdebi-gtk-pkexec)
#!/bin/sh 

pkexec --keep-cwd env XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR "/usr/bin/gdebi-gtk" "$@"
  1. Copy the gdebi.desktop file from /usr/share/applications to ~/.local/share/applications.
  2. Edit the gdebi.desktop in ~./local/share/applications and change the Exec line to Exec="/usr/bin/gdebi-gtk-pkexec Save and close the file.

Now instead of getting authentication to install a package whenever you click on the “Install” button, you’ll have to authenticate when launching gdebi.

Caveat: With the above solution, if you open gdebi first and then select File->Open to load a package instead of clicking on a package in Nautilus to launch it, the file chooser window will place you in root’s home directory instead yours. There are ways of working around that, but for me this works well enough since I only launch gdebi by using the second method.

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ok, i will try that, interestingly I upgraded my laptop ubuntu cinnamon from 24.04 to 26.04.1 and gdebi doesn’t work there either. So fresh install vs upgrade = same result

15

Gdebi is old :slight_smile:

The pkexec wrapper works, but running a full GUI as root is kind of like opening an envelope with a chainsaw :))

Two ways out:

1 - If you want a working GUI - The reason you couldn’t find Eddy in apt is because it only hangs out on Flathub - “flatpak install flathub com.github.donadigo.eddy”

2 - Or skip the GUI drama entirely - “sudo apt install ./your-package.deb”

The “./” - is the magic trick :wink:

16

You can and should use apt install for local files
 dpkg doesn’t resolve dependencies.

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thank you. now I will use apt, but am still curious why gdebi doesn’t work

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To satisfy your curiosity :))

Gdebi was written back in the X11 era. It relies on an ancient Polkit hook to launch the installation process as root.

On modern Ubuntu with Wayland, elevating a GUI window to root is blocked by design for security. Because gdebi hasn’t been actively maintained in years to support modern D-Bus/PackageKit authentication, it just hangs silently instead of telling you what went wrong.

Time to let the dinosaur rest in peace :))

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19

Running as root is what gdebi already did in the older Ubuntu releases as soon as you clicked the “Install Packages” button. It called pkexec to elevate the entire graphical interface with root privileges to carry out the package management. The fix here just elevates privileges when starting the program. It’s absolutely no different than how Synaptic works.

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It will not work under wayland (i.e. in the current gnome or kde desktops), which simply prevents any root owned gui apps from displaying.

The expected switch to Wayland for all desktop environments is likely also the reason that mvo abandoned his project (gdebi) years ago.

The fact that it works is because due to the use of X11 but as soon as i.e. Cinnamon decides to move in the same direction it will simply stop working.

To make gdebi future proof someone would have to properly split it into a system service and a GUI part where the GUI runs as the user and the service as root.

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