New App doesn't appear in Unity dash

Question

I have copied an executable in /usr/bin a program that I'd like to use.

Of course I can launch it with the command line. However it doesn't appear in Unity when I open the dash, and I would like to add it.

How is it possible ?

Ed Donovan · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-25 18:44:18Z

up vote 4 down vote accepted

You have to create a description, in a .desktop file, under the ~/.local/share/applications directory.

E.g. newprog.desktop :

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=/usr/bin/NEWPROG
Hidden=false
Name=My-Fancy-Name
Comment=Something I never want to say :-)

edited Sep 25 '12 at 18:44

Ed Donovan
4109

answered Sep 22 '12 at 23:11

H.-Dirk Schmitt
2,000313

	You have a typo: apllications, instead of applications. Also, need to add the point that it should have the .desktop filename to work correctly. Maybe we could also make the point that you can add categories that will make the search lens work better, and the file can be dragged to the launcer to lock it there. – fabricator4 Sep 22 '12 at 23:49
	I added the .desktop part, anyway. – Ed Donovan Sep 23 '12 at 1:09

Florian Diesch · Answer 2 · 2012-09-22 23:14:58Z

up vote 3 down vote

You need to create a .desktop file for your program (see How to make a launcher(.desktop file) for a binary file?) and put in into /usr/share/applications/ or ~/.local/share/applications/.

Maybe the most simple way to do this is to use Arronax

edited Sep 22 '12 at 23:14

answered Sep 22 '12 at 23:09

Florian Diesch
15.3k12846

2 Answers