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I love the Google Earth program in windows, but what does it take to get it to run in Linux and on Ubuntu?

4 Answers 4

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To install Google Earth, just press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open Terminal. When it opens, run the command(s) below:

For 32bit:

wget https://dl.google.com/dl/earth/client/current/google-earth-stable_current_i386.deb

For 64bit:

wget https://dl.google.com/dl/earth/client/current/google-earth-stable_current_amd64.deb

Once the download is done, just run the 2 commands below:

sudo dpkg -i google-earth-stable*.deb
sudo apt-get -f install

Once installed, you can run it multiple ways:

  1. Launch the software from the Dash.

  2. Press Alt and F2 and type google-earth.

  3. Open a terminal and type google-earth &.

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  • 8
    For 64-bit 13.04 as of 28 Sep 2013, the Google Earth package seems to no longer install properly.
    – Susan
    Sep 28, 2013 at 11:49
  • @Susan then you need to file a bug with Google about that.
    – Thomas Ward
    Oct 15, 2013 at 16:28
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    I found that I needed to install the package 'lsb-core' before I could get the above to work. By preceeding the dpkg command with aptitude install lsb-core I got the install to work smoothly.
    – zrajm
    Apr 7, 2014 at 0:54
  • Doesn't apt-get -f handles installing dependencies automatically?
    – MestreLion
    May 30, 2014 at 11:43
  • @MestreLion yes it does - that is the whole point of that line, to install any packages listed as missing dependencies from the dpkg step. Aug 29, 2015 at 19:20
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I'm surprised no one mentioned the "easy" (and also the "official") way:

  • Visit the Google Earth Pro Website, now called "Google Earth Pro (GEP) for Desktop"
  • Follow the instructions until you reach the Download and Agreement page
  • Download and open the .deb (For Debian/Ubuntu) that matches your architecture, either 32 or 64 bits. If not sure, or if you're using Ubuntu 13.10 onwards, choose the 32-bit one.
  • It will open in Ubuntu Software Center. Click Install. Done :)

This is also a simpler version of the method recommended by Ubuntu Community Help Wiki on GoogleEarth. (simpler because lsb_core, as all other dependencies, are automatically installed by Software Center)

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    As of 2018-11-17 the GE website says Chrome is required, but clicking on "pro" option takes one to the above linked download page and doesn't appear to need Chrome (I have it installed but it's not used whilst GE is running).
    – pbhj
    Nov 17, 2018 at 22:20
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    Thanks @pbhj ! I've edited my answer to reflect this new information
    – MestreLion
    Nov 21, 2018 at 6:13
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Just install Ubuntu Tweak and under the apps tab, you will find a link to install Google Earth directly.

enter image description here

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There is also PPA for Google Earth, but for some reason there is no google-earth-stable, but google-earth-ec package. The ec is Enterprise Client. The difference is that it will ask (once) to which server to login, defaulting to public google server. And the icon is ugly yellow.

  1. Import google signing key

wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -

  1. Add Google Earth PPA

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google.list'

  1. Update

sudo apt update

  1. Install

sudo apt install google-earth-ec-stable

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    typo: google-earth-stable not google-earch-stable. Thanks. Apr 16, 2019 at 4:30

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