How to Install VLC on Linux Mint?

by | Dec 29, 2023 | Linux

VLC is an open-source multimedia player that is utilized to play media files. It supports various formats including Audio CDs, DVDs, and many others. All these features make VLC an easy-to-use tool that is popular among different operating systems. It is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux OS including its distributions, such as Linux Mint, Ubuntu, etc.

This guide will illustrate the VLC media player installation process on Linux Mint through the given outline:

  1. How to Install VLC Media Player on Linux Mint?
  2. How to Launch VLC Media Player on Linux Mint?
  3. How to Uninstall\Remove VLC Media Player From Linux Mint?

How to Install VLC on Linux Mint?

Different approaches are used to install the VLC media player on the Linux Mint system, such as:

  • Approach 1: Install VLC Media Player Using APT
  • Approach 2: Install VLC Media Player Using “snap”(package manager)
  • Approach 3: Install VLC Media Player Using Source Code
  • Approach 4: Install VLC Media Player Using Flatpak(package manager)

Let’s move ahead and check them out one by one!

Approach 1: Install VLC Media Player Using APT

The APT(Advanced Packaging Tool) is the default package manager on Linux Mint that is used to manage the packages, like install, update, and delete\remove.

To install the VLC media player on your Linux Mint system using the APT, follow the provided steps.

Step 1: Update and Upgrade System Repositories 

Update and upgrade the system repositories:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install VLC Media Player

Run the below-stated command to install the VLC media player on your system:

sudo apt install vlc

Step 3: Verify VLC Installation

Run the following command to verify the installation process:

vlc --version

Approach 2: Install VLC Media Player Using “snap”

Another way to install a VLC media player on the Linux mint system is by using the “snap” application manager which is containerized with all its dependencies. To handle and manage the snap packages, the “snap daemon” is used which refers to a background service.

Pre-requisites: Enable Snap Support

The “nosnap.pref” file contains the code that does not enable you to install snaps on your system. You need to either comment on the code or remove the “nosnap.pref” configuration file. This can done by executing the “rm” command along with its full path:

sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/nosnap.pref

Now, update the system repositories and install the snap daemon on your Linux Mint system to manage the snaps by running the below-given command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install snapd

Afterward, enable the snap daemon by running the provided command:

sudo systemctl enable snapd

Now your system is ready for installing the VLC media player using the snap application manager.

Download and Install VLC Media Player

To download and install the VLC media player, use the “snap” command:

sudo snap install vlc

According to the given output, VLC has been installed successfully on the Linux Mint system:

Approach 3: Install VLC Media Player Using Source Code

You can directly compile and install on your Linux Mint system by using its source code. However, this approach takes more time as compared to others provided approaches.

Step 1: Update System

Update your system by using the given command:

sudo apt update

Step 2: Install Basic Tool

Now, install some basic dependencies that are required to build any package from the source code by executing the following command:

sudo apt install -y git build-essential pkg-config libtool automake autopoint gettext

Step 3: Enable “Source code repositories”

Open the Linux menu, search “Software Sources” and launch it to enable the “source code repositories” that will enable APT to get the build dependencies:

Now, it will ask you to provide the password for authentication:

Select the “Official Repositories” option> enable the “Source code repositories” toggle> click on the “OK” button: 

After doing so, the cache will be updated and the repository will be enabled:

Step 4: Update All Dependencies

Now, execute the provided command to install all the VLC’s build dependencies:

sudo apt build-dep vlc

All the dependencies have been installed and built successfully:

Step 5: Get Source Code of VLC

Execute the “wget” command to download the VLC source tarball from the official website:

wget http://get.videolan.org/vlc/3.0.20/vlc-3.0.20.tar.xz

Then, use the “tar” command to extract the downloaded source tarball of VLC:

tar -xvf vlc-3.0.20.tar.xz

In the above command:

  • “-x” is utilized to extract a tarball.
  • “-v” is utilized to display extracting file progress.
  • “-f” is utilized to specify the extracting file name:

Step 6: Packages Configuration

Then, run the “./configure” command to check the availability of dependencies, create the makefile, and execute it to get the source code:

./configure

Configured successfully:

Step 7: Build Installation Package 

Run the “make” command to compile the source code binaries. It will read instructions from the makefile(description file) which was created in the previous step:

make -j3

Here, “-j” option is used to specify the particular number of jobs to execute simultaneously for optimization:

Step 8: Install VLC Media Player

Lastly, run the given command to use the compiled binary files and distribute them system-wide to complete the installation process of VLC on your Linux Mint system:

sudo make install

Step 9: Verification

Run the given command to install the “vlc-bin” package for verifying the successful installation of Steam:

Sudo apt install vlc-bin

Approach 4: Install VLC Media Player Using Flatpak(package manager)

Flatpak is a package manager tool that is pre-installed on the Linux Mint system. This utility fetches and installs packages from the Flathub repository. It is also an effective alternative to the “Snap” for application installation.

Step 1: Update system

Run the below command to update your system:

sudo apt update

Step 2: Check “flatpak” Version

Check the current version of “flatpak” by executing the following command:

flatpak --version

Note: If the “flatpak” is not installed on your system, then use given command:

sudo apt install flatpak

Step 3: Install VLC

To install the VLC media player, execute the provided command:

flatpak install flathub org.videolan.VLC

Here:

  • “flathub” is the remote(the place where users can get software\app).
  • “org.videolan.VLC” is the application\software i’d that is being installed.

How to Launch VLC Media Player on Linux Mint?

Once the installation is completed, the VLC media player is ready to use. For that purpose, you can use the CLI command or launch it manually through GUI(Graphical User Interface). 

Launch VLC through CLI Command

To open the VLC media player, run the below-given command:

vlc

Alternative for Flatpak User:

If you have installed VLC player via flatpak, then use this command to open it:

flatpak run org.videolan.VLC

Launch VLC through GUI Method

To launch VLC media player manually, then:

  • Go to Linux Mint menu > search “VLC media player” > launch it:

How to Uninstall\Remove VLC Media Player From Linux Mint?

If you don’t want to use the VLC media player on your system, you can remove or uninstall it according to your installation method. 

For APT

If you have installed VLC via the apt repository, then execute the following command to completely remove it from your Linux Mint system:

sudo apt autoremove vlc

For Snap

To remove the VLC media player from your system via snap, then execute the following command:

sudo snap remove vlc

For Source Code

Execute the provided command to uninstall the VLC media player, if you installed it through the source code. Here, the file will be accessed inside the directory where the files are extracted, configured, and compiled:

sudo make uninstall

For Flatpak

For those users who have installed the VLC through Flatpack, run the following command to uninstall it along with its associated data:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.videolan.VLC

That’s all about installing a VLC media player on the Linux Mint system.

Wrap-Up

In this guide, we have provided the different approaches for installing the VLC media player on Linux Mint, such as using the APT command line utility, the “Snap” package manager, the “SourceCode” file, and the “Flappak” package manager. All approaches are best, however, the “APT” command line utility is preferable if you want to install the non-stable(not up-to-date) version of Steam. Alternatively, the source code approach is sufficient for installing the newest version of Steam.