How can I install Adobe AIR?

Question

I am a heavy user of Tweetdeck and few other apps that are built on AIR. It appears that AIR has discontinued support for Linux. Even the older versions in the Adobe AIR Archives seem to support only 32 bit Linux distros and I am on 64 bit Oneiric currently. Is there even a slight possibility that I could run AIR in these conditions? If so, can you please tell me where can I get a detailed step by step installation for this?

Answer 1

I need Air for about three programs - YNAB, LongTailPro, Xtend:

1. Download Latest Version Air 2.6.0 For Linux to your Desktop:

   • http://airdownload.adobe.com/air/lin/download/2.6/AdobeAIRInstaller.bin - 15.4Mb

2. Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal

3. sudo apt-get install ia32-libs - (32bit crap if you want to run this in x64 Ubuntu)

4. cd Desktop (change dir. to Desktop dir.)

5. chmod +x AdobeAIRInstaller.bin (change mode - execute permission yes)

6. ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin (after you accept the Adobe Air license, it will prompt you for your password; it needs root access in order to install)

Maybe you'll get an error after the last command?

Sorry, an error has occurred. Adobe AIR could not be installed. Install either Gnome Keyring or KDE KWallet before installing Adobe AIR.

This can be fixed:

• In a terminal (default shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+T), type:

  locate libgnome-keyring.so
  

• This is my result (yours might be different):

  /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0
  /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0
  

• As suggested below by @jmendeth, the easiest way to tell the installer where to find these files is to use LD_LIBRARY_PATH:

  • For 32-bit Ubuntu (tested on 12.04):

    LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
    

  • For 64-bit Ubuntu, the command line would probably be:

    LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin
    

If the LD_LIBRARY_PATH trick doesn't work, you can try this:

• Create a symbolic link to your location strings that you found with the previous commands:

  sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0 /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0`
  sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0 /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0
  

• Use following commands for 32-bit systems:

  sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0 /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0
  sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0 /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0
  

• Then repeat step 4 & 6 (skip 5, as the permission to execute the file hasn't changed).

• Remove symbolic links after installation of Adobe AIR 2.6.0:

  sudo rm /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0
  sudo rm /usr/lib/libgnome-keyring.so.0.2.0
  

Reference:

• http://www.clarifylinux.org/2012/04/ubuntu-1204-tweak-and-hack-round-up.html

Answer 2

Alternately, you can install a prebuilt .deb

There is air 2.6 (last supported Linux one) available here for both architectures (Both use 32 bit underneath but at least it works). Thanks to prusswan for pointing it out.

Make sure you have 32 bit libs it'll need:

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

I downloaded the AMD64 one (adobeair_2.6.0.19170_amd64.deb) and installed on my computer (am64 with Precise Pangolin 12.04)

sudo dpkg -i adobeair_2.6.0.19170_amd64.deb

Then I installed the application that needed Adobe Air in the first place and it worked.

Answer 3

Step 1: Get some Air Next download the Adobe Air .bin file (direct link here).

Step 2: Installation

Open a terminal (applications > Accessories > Terminal) and navigate to your Downloads folder (or the folder in which you saved the .bin file).

* cd Download/

We need to let the .bin file have permissions to install so enter the following command carefully: -

* chmod +x AdobeAIRInstaller.bin

Now lets install it:

* ./AdobeAIRInstaller.bin

Installation should zip though and, if everything goes okay, a new menu entry will appear in ‘Applications > Accessories’ titled ‘Adobe Air Application Installer’.