Installing Gramps for Linux computers
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Before upgrading your distribution Use your earlier version of Gramps to backup your Family Trees to the hardy and portable XML format1. |
Contents
Linux distributions
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These packages are built and supported by the distros (Linux distribution(s)). If your Linux distribution is not listed you may possibly find it listed on Repology |
Most Linux distributions come bundled with a version of Gramps, though it's not always the most recent version and it may not have been installed by default. Still it is recommended to use the Gramps version that comes with your distribution if you are unable to use either Flatpak or Snap.
Below are ways to install Gramps on some of the more popular distributions:
| Distribution | GUI Package manager | Current versions | Notes |
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 Debian
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Add/Remove Software |
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available versions |
 Ubuntu
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Software Centre |
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available versions/ (Also see: Backports) |
 Linux Mint
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Software Manager |
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 Fedora
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Add/Remove Software (Gnome) or Software Management (KDE) |
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available versions (packages.fedoraproject.org) available versions (koji Buildsystem) |
| Mageia | drakrpm (or rpmdrake) |
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Mageia App Db - gramps |
 openSUSE
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YaST |
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available versions The most recent version can usually be installed from the 'openSUSE BuildService - GNOME:Apps' repository |
 Slackware
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available versions | |
 Arch Linux
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pacman |
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available versions |
 Gentoo Linux
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available versions |
Debian package
For Debian-based linux distributions (Which includes 
Ubuntu ) Download the .deb file. Double-click on the downloaded .deb file or (for some distributions, e.g. Mint Debian) run the following command from the directory where the file was saved (change the filename to match the one you downloaded).
sudo dpkg -i gramps_6.0.4-1_all.deb
If you have an error about having unmet dependencies run:
sudo apt-get -f install
to install the dependencies.
If you see an error about an incomplete GTK installation and missing language translations when starting Gramps, run
sudo apt install language-pack-gnome-en
to install the proper language pack. You may need to replace 'en' with your own language code, like 'nl' for Dutch.
Useful command lines
Before upgrading you can[1]:
- Find out what version you are running, by using this:
dpkg-query -s gramps
that queries the package currently installed on your system and gives you info about it.
The line that begin with 'Depends:' contains a list of packages and their version numbers that your current installation depends on you can compare the required Dependencies with the new version you downloaded with the following command:
dpkg-deb -I gramps_Version.Number.Of.NewDownload_all.deb
for example, you can get just the two Depends lines to compare using:
dpkg-query -s gramps | grep Depends: dpkg-deb -I gramps_5.Version-Number_all.deb | grep Depends:
- If you are committed to an upgrade then make sure you have backed up you Family Trees to Gramps XML then run :
sudo dpkg -r gramps
this will remove the current gramps package (assuming its a python3 version older versions could be python-gramps )
- To stop Ubuntu updating gramps (to possibly an older version from Ubuntu!) you may need to run:
sudo apt-mark hold gramps
Upgrade is then complete.
Flathub
Gramps 6.0.8 is available as a Flatpak at Flathub. Flatpaks allow installing sandboxed versions of applications, which will work on any linux distribution.
Flatpak
Things to consider regarding the flatpak:
1. All flatpaks from Flathub are compiled at Github with their dependencies. If someone wants a dependency for an Addon not supported by the flatpak, then a repository or source install might be a better option. There is a list of dependencies included in the Gramps flatpak at https://github.com/gramps-project/flatpak . If you would like another dependency to be considered for addition to the flatpak, please submit an issue at https://github.com/gramps-project/flatpak/issues
2. Directory access to the Gramps flatpak at Flathub is limited by default to the user's home directory. However, another app named Flatseal can change the sandbox permissions. https://flathub.org/en/apps/com.github.tchx84.Flatseal
3. If you use Fedora, Fedora maintains its own Gramps flatpak in addition to the Gramps flatpak available at Flathub. The Fedora flatpak has a different list of dependencies. Here is the link to Fedora's Gramps flatpak https://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/packageinfo?packageID=39415
4. Support for BSDDB3 got dropped in the Gramps 5.2 flatpak at Flathub. If you need to access a BSDDB3 database to convert it to Sqlite, there are a few options. The Fedora flatpak might include BSDDB3, and the archived 5.1.6 Gramps flatpak at the gramps-project github https://github.com/gramps-project/flatpak/releases/tag/v5.1.6-1 includes BSDDB3. However, the archived flatpak at the gramps-project link will eventually stop working because Flathub removes obsolete runtimes after a certain length of time. If neither flatpak option works, then a manual intall of BSDDB3 with a repository or source install of Gramps will be required.
Recommended steps to install the Gramps flatpak:
1. There are instructions for setting up and enabling Flathub for various distributions at https://flathub.org/setup
2. Use the blue install button at https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.gramps_project.Gramps if you set your software manager up to work with Flathub, or use the command below in a terminal:
flatpak install org.gramps_project.Gramps
Snap from Canonical Snapcraft Store
The Gramps snap is a Linux app packages for desktop, cloud and IoT that can be installed from the Canonical Snap Store, the app store for Linux.
To install run:
sudo snap install gramps
It has been bundled with the same packages as our Flatpak:
- ICU
- PIL
- osm-gps-map
- GExiv2
- geocodelib
- goocanvas
- graphviz
- ghostscript
- networkx
These should allow some popular addons to work.
Dictionaries are not currently included. This would be possible, but the package size would obviously increase.
Let us know what you think. Comments from people who already use snaps would be especially welcome.
See also:
Build from source
For other distributions, 
the source and follow the instructions for Linux:Build from source
Linux Live CD
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Outdated version warning Note this Linux live CD Demonstration includes Gramps 3.2.5 (an older version released 2010-11-17) and it is not recommended for general use |
Linux live CD Demonstration includes Gramps 3.2.5 pre-installed to trial, without touching anything on the hard drive. To start this boot the Computer with this Live Linux Desktop on a CD in the CD/DVD-ROM Drive. (Requires that you write this image to a CD-ROM using CD-Burner software eg:Nero, Imgburn, Rufus..). Download the CD (727 MB). The Linux Genealogy CD is based on Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat). If you are interested in Gramps, but are afraid to actually install it or unable to install it (not your PC, windows, no internet at home, work laptop, ...), then try out our Linux Genealogy CD. It runs without installing on the hard disk and contains a collection of open source, free, genealogy programs. You can then install latest Ubuntu and Gramps from the CD anytime you like.
Online Demonstration
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Buyer Beware The following is a limited trial of a commercial cloud VM service (rollApp) that operates by subscription. The listing here is not an endorsement by the Gramps-project. |
You can also try an online demonstration of version 5.2.3 of Gramps on rollApp ("Cloud platform for native applications") categorized under Utilities - #diagrams:
Select Launch Online then Test Drive(Opening/saving files will not be available)
Notes
Backup to Gramps XML format when updating. Although Gramps reads and writes GEDCOM 5.5.1 format fluently (because it is the de facto format for genealogical data interchange), never depend on such a rudimentary format for archiving your research. GEDCOM cannot store all the intricacies found in Gramps data. Always backup with the more robust Gramps XML format.
You will find a Make Backup... option in the Family Trees menu of recent Gramps versions. Alternately, use Export... in the same menu but deselect the privacy and filtering options in the Exporter Assistant to avoid omission of any data.
See: How to make a backup
See also
Installing Gramps for Desktops
Installation instructions specific to the different OSes are on the 
, 
,
and 
pages.
GitHub Gramps for Desktops Releases
Wiki pages
Installing Gramps Web for online collaboration
Gramps Web is a frontend for a hosted instance of Gramps.