The post briefs on how to install VLC media player on Ubuntu machines. VLC is a media player application that plays most multimedia files, DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and several others. The software is open source and free.
I. From Terminal
Open terminal and type in one of the following commands based on which source you want to install from
1. Source – deb Packages
- When you install from traditional deb packages, you will not get the latest version until the next update released by Ubuntu and it is up-to the community.
- They’re not always up to date, but the startup time is much better.
a. For Installation
sudo apt install vlc |
b. For Uninstallation
sudo apt remove vlc |
2. Source – snap store
- When you install from snap packages you would get the latest version, these are more up to date and are updated automatically.
- However snaps tend to be slow to load and take up more space.
a. For Installation
sudo snap install vlc |
b. For Uninstallation
sudo snap remove vlc |
3. Source – PPA
- PPA stands for Personal Package Archive as the name suggest’s these are personal archive files of a developer.
- Software developers create these repositories and distribute them when they want end user’s to play around and test the features of the upcoming release.
- Ubuntu maintains a procedure to check if the new version of the software is compatible with the system or not to ensure the stability of the system.
- Hence the PPA versions are not endorsed by the distribution and are not available via official Ubuntu repositories.
- You would be getting the very latest version but PPA’s may or may not be compatible with your system and may or may not be stable.
a. For Installation
Add the repository
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/stable-daily |
check for the availability by running the update command
sudo apt-get update |
and then install
sudo apt-get install vlc |
b. For Uninstallation
Uninstall the software
sudo apt-get remove vlc |
remove the ppa added
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:videolan/stable-daily |
and then run the update command to check if the ppa is removed
sudo apt-get update |
II. From Ubuntu Software
Ubuntu software is another way how you can install VLC media player on Ubuntu machines.
- Click on “Show Applications” look for Ubuntu Software on your machine and launch it
2. Click on the “search” icon provided on the top right corner and type in “vlc media player”.
- The software is showing multiple times, because it is listed from different sources.
- When you choose to install from Ubuntu updates, software might not be the latest version and latest version will be available with next Ubuntu release, however it would take up less space and launch comparatively faster .
- If you choose to install from Snap store, as mentioned earlier you would get the latest version and updates automatically,but software might be slow at startup and take up more space.
- Choose the source of your choice and click on it to open the install window
3. when you click on the install button you will be prompted for password, enter password and the installation starts.
- After the installation completes the same window will have options “Launch” and “Remove”, clicking on “Launch” launches the software and clicking on “Remove” uninstalls the software from your machine.
Additional Info
1. Official VLC site with installation command mentioned
3. You can also checkout YouTube video on the same