Starters Tutorial

Starters Tutorial
Welcome to the starters guide! We will guide you through the installation of PlayOnLinux (POL), and how you install software made for Windows! Lets get going! ................

Repository
PlayOnLinux is available in most repositories, just install it as you would install any other program. You might not get the latest version that way. If you want that, just locate your distribution on this page and follow the instructions.

From "source"
PlayOnLinux is written in Python and Bash, so there is really no compiled version. All versions are "from source". If you are unable to find your distribution you can download the program in an archive and run the program from there. Just follow these instructions.

Starting the program
Once installed you can usually find the program under the "Games" section in your main menu. If you are unable to find it, type "playonlinux" in the terminal and press enter. If you have installed the program "from source" you will have to run ./playonlinux from the folder you extracted the program to.

As you see the window is very empty, this is because we have reserved space for you installed applications!

From POL's repository
The most popular and common games are available as very straight-forward installers, just press the "Install" button. Now enter the name of the game in the search box, and when you get the right result, double-click it. Now a new window will pop-up, just follow the instructions and you will soon have your game installed!

Installing an unsupported application
Every once in a while you will run into some software which is unsupported, but you can install that quite easily too! Open up POL and press on "Install". Now in the bottom-left corner there is a little text saying "Install a .pol package or an unsupported application". Press that text. Choose "Manual installation". Press "Forward".

Now choose "Install a program in a new prefix". Enter a name for your prefix, this shouldn't matter very much. Just enter something relevant to the game, without spaces!

If it is the first time you install the game and you have not had any previous problems with the game, just click "Forward".

Now you must locate the executable, usually this is a file named "setup.exe". But it could also be named "install.msi" or something similar. If you've downloaded the installer you should probably know where it is. When you've located the executable, press "Forward". Now there will soon pop-up a install window as it would have done on Windows. Just follow the applications installation instructions from there.

When the installer is done, press "Forward" and "Yes". Now you must locate the application. It is usually something like: Press forward, enter the games name, and choose if you want any shortcuts. (The installer might already have placed on on your desktop!) If anything else pop-ups, press "No".

Congratulations, you are done!

Running your application
Most of the time you'll have a shortcut on your desktop or in your main menu. (Usually in "Other", or "Wine" if you have any category like that) If you don't you'll have to open PlayOnLinux and double-click the application you want to run.

Creating shortcuts
If you don't have a shortcut on your desktop and want one, the command to launch a game is: The Launchers name is what you see if you open up PlayOnLinux. As an example, in the image to the right the launchers name is (the unnecessary long) "The Elder Scrolls 4 - Oblivion". Therefor I would have to write: to run my game from the terminal.

Uninstalling your application
That is very easy! Open up PlayOnLinux, select the game you want to uninstall and press "Remove", "Forward", "Yes" and "Forward"! This will completely remove the application, including any settings installed with it. If you want to save the settings (in case you re-install the application later), just press "Remove", "Forward", "No" and "Forward" instead!