Getting started with Uno Platform support for Linux

The Uno Platform for Linux current comes with a rendering backend using Skia, and a Shell support with Gtk3.

It is possible to develop :

  • Using Visual Studio on Windows directly, or using the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
  • Using VS Code under Linux

Setting for Windows and WSL

Using VS 2019 16.6 or later:

  • Install the VS WSL Extension
  • Install WSL Ubuntu 18.04 or later
  • Install the prerequisites for Linux mentioned in the next section, in your installed distribution using the Ubuntu shell
  • Install vcXsrv, an X11 server for Windows
    • You'll need to start the server in "Multiple windows" mode, starting with "no client" mode.
  • Install the GTK3 runtime.
  • Using the WSL 1 mode is generally best for performance and ease of use for the X11 server
    • You can switch between versions of a distribution using wsl --set-version "Ubuntu-20.04" 1
    • You can list your active distributions with wslconfig /l and change the default with wslconfig /s "Ubuntu-20.04"
    • You can change the used distribution with the "distributionName": "Ubuntu-20.04" launch profile parameter of the VS WSL 2 Extension.
    • If you have a insider preview of Windows 10, you may use the wayland server.
    • If you still want to use WSL 2 anyways, you can try following those steps.
  • Install the dotnet new templates: 
    dotnet new -i Uno.ProjectTemplates.Dotnet::3.1-dev*
  • Then create a new project using: 
    dotnet new unoapp -o MyUnoApp

Now let's run the application:

  • Open the solution using Visual Studio
  • In the debugger menu, next to the green arrow, select WSL 2
  • In the launch profile file, set:
"environmentVariables": {
    "DISPLAY": ":0",
},
  • Start the debugger session
  • Visual Studio may ask you to install .NET Core 3.1, press OK and let the installation finish, then restart the debugging session.

Setting up for Linux

Using Ubuntu 18.04 or later:

  • Install GTK3: 
    sudo apt update
sudo apt install gtk+3.0
  • Install dotnet core 3.1 
    echo "Installing .NET Core"
wget -q https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/18.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb

sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt-get -y install apt-transport-https
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install dotnet-sdk-3.1
sudo apt-get -y install dotnet-sdk-5.0

Using Ubuntu 20.04 or later:

  • Install GTK3: 
    sudo apt update
sudo apt install gtk+3.0
  • Install dotnet core 3.1 and 5.0 
    echo "Installing .NET Core"
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/20.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb

sudo apt-get update; \
  sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https && \
  sudo apt-get update && \
  sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-sdk-3.1 && \
  sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-sdk-5.0

Install the templates and create the application

  • Install the dotnet new templates: 
    dotnet new -i Uno.ProjectTemplates.Dotnet
  • Then create a new project using: 
    dotnet new unoapp -o MyUnoApp

Now let's run the application:

  • Open the folder created by dotnet new
  • In the terminal, build and run the application: 
    cd MyUnoApp.Skia.Gtk
dotnet run