Debian

Last edit: 2025-02-18 by gbWilly

The following instructions to install Gambas on Debian are also applicable for other Debian based distributions like Devuan or LMDE.

Gambas 3 is available in the Debian official repositories.

Installing binaries

Installing master version from openSUSE build server

In your Debian installation, open a terminal and enter these commands as super user "root":

For debian 11 bullseye: 

$ echo \'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/gambas:/master/Debian_11/ /\' | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:gambas:master.list
$ curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:gambas:master/Debian_11/Release.key | gpg --dearmor | tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/home_gambas_master.gpg > /dev/null

For debian 12 bookworm: 

$ echo \'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/gambas:/master/Debian_12/ /\' | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:gambas:master.list
$ curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:gambas:master/Debian_12/Release.key | gpg --dearmor | tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/home_gambas_master.gpg > /dev/null

Next do: 

$ apt-get update

For upgrade from official: 

$ apt-get upgrade

For fresh install: 

$ apt-get install gambas3

After upgrading from official you might need to follow up with this to fully upgrade gambas3 to master version: 

$ apt --fix-broken install
$ apt-get install gambas3

Installing stable version from openSUSE build server

If you have previously installed master from openSUSE build server make sure to first (with elevated rights) do: 

$ rm -fr /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:gambas:master.list
$ rm -fr /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/home_gambas_master.gpg

In your Debian installation, open a terminal and enter these commands as super user "root":

For debian 11 bullseye: 

$ echo \'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/gambas:/stable/Debian_11/ /\' | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:gambas:stable.list
$ curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:gambas:stable/Debian_11/Release.key | gpg --dearmor | tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/home_gambas_stable.gpg > /dev/null

For debian 12 bookworm: 

$ echo \'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/gambas:/stable/Debian_12/ /\' | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:gambas:stable.list
$ curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:gambas:stable/Debian_12/Release.key | gpg --dearmor | tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/home_gambas_stable.gpg > /dev/null

Next do: 

$ apt-get update

For upgrade from official: 

$ apt-get upgrade

For fresh install: 

$ apt-get install gambas3

After upgrading from official you might need to follow up with this to fully upgrade gambas3 to master version: 

$ apt --fix-broken install
$ apt-get install gambas3

Installing official packages

In your Debian installation, open a terminal and enter these commands as super user "root": 

$ apt-get install gambas3'

In a Debian or Devuan desktop installation, sudo is available, but the usage of su command is the common and preffered way to gain root privileges. If you do want to take a shot at using sudo like other Debian based distributions look at this section of this guide and get back here.

Once installed Gambas will appears in the Programing menu category. Depending of your version of Debian installed this will install an officially supported version by Debian Maintainers.

Version Name Branch Gambas version available Install command
10 Buster Old old Stable apt-get install gambas3
11 Bullseye Old Stable apt-get install gambas3 Old Stable-bpo (backports) apt-get install gambas3
12 Bookworm Stable apt-get install gambas3
13 Trixie Testing apt-get install gambas3

After installation you will find Gambas 3 installed in menu 'Programming'.

Setup a local Gambas3 Debian repository

An alternative to the official packages is a local repositories available at Gambas3 Debian/Ubuntu Repository at Gitlab. The Download folder of the repository holds a variety of Gambas version repositories for Debian 11, 12 and 13.

Available Gambas3 version for Debian bullseye

- Starts with gambas 3.15.2 and upward for both i386 and amd64. See here for more details.

Available Gambas3 version for Debian bookworm

- Starts with gambas 3.18.4 and upward for both i386 and amd64. See here for more details.

Available Gambas3 version for Debian trixie

- Starts with gambas 3.19.6 and upward for amd64. See here for more details.

How to set up?

From above referenced pages you can download and extract a repository archive holding the donwloaded gambas3 version repository, a ReadMe file and an installation script. Installing is as simple as running the script according to the provided instruction in ReadMe file and Gambas should be installed.

Installing from compilation

  • Installing binaries with a package management system is ALWAYS preferred over compilation and installation.

  • If you not have sudo, use the su command to gain root privileges or please take a shot at using sudo like other derivatives section of this guide and get back here.

Compilation from sources for Debian buster (10)

Gambas 3 (version >= 3.12 and <= 3.18)

(Updated 2024.06.17)
Step 1. Get the source code (either download and extract the package from main Gambas website or use git clone/checkout)

Note: For using Git checkout see A note on installing from git

Step 2. Open a terminal (make sure your user account is part of sudo group)

Step 3. Install these packages : 

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y build-essential g++ automake autoconf libbz2-dev libzstd-dev default-libmysqlclient-dev unixodbc-dev libpq-dev libsqlite0-dev libsqlite3-dev libglib2.0-dev libgtk2.0-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libgtkglext1-dev libpcre3-dev libsdl-sound1.2-dev libsdl-mixer1.2-dev libsdl-image1.2-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev librsvg2-dev libpoppler-dev libpoppler-glib-dev libpoppler-private-dev libpoppler-cpp-dev libasound2-dev libdirectfb-dev libxtst-dev libffi-dev libqt4-dev libqtwebkit-dev libqt4-opengl-dev libglew-dev libimlib2-dev libv4l-dev libsdl-ttf2.0-dev libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev linux-libc-dev libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev libcairo2-dev libgsl-dev libncurses5-dev libgmime-2.6-dev libalure-dev libgmp-dev libgtk-3-dev libsdl2-dev libsdl2-mixer-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev libsdl2-image-dev sane-utils libdumb1-dev libqt5opengl5-dev libqt5svg5-dev libqt5webkit5-dev libqt5x11extras5-dev qtbase5-dev qtwebengine5-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev libssl-dev

Step 4. Go into the directory where the Gambas source file are located and run the script : 

$ ./reconf-all

Step 5. Once this script is finished, you can run the common commands to compile and install a program under GNU/Linux : 

$ ./configure -C --disable-keyring
$ make -j$(nproc)
$ sudo make install

Step 6. Type gambas3

Gambas should start and run.

Note: You can make a symlink to start gambas3

Compilation from sources for Debian bullseye (11)

Gambas 3 (version >= 3.15 and <= 3.18)

(Updated 2024.06.15)
Step 1. Get the source code (either download and extract the package from main Gambas website or use git clone/checkout)

Note: For using Git checkout see A note on installing from git

Step 2. Open a terminal (make sure your user account is part of sudo group)

Step 3. Install these packages : 

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y build-essential g++ automake autoconf libbz2-dev libzstd-dev default-libmysqlclient-dev unixodbc-dev libpq-dev libsqlite3-dev libglib2.0-dev libgtk2.0-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libgtkglext1-dev libpcre3-dev libsdl-sound1.2-dev libsdl-mixer1.2-dev libsdl-image1.2-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev librsvg2-dev libpoppler-dev libpoppler-glib-dev libpoppler-private-dev libpoppler-cpp-dev libasound2-dev libdirectfb-dev libxtst-dev libffi-dev libglew-dev libimlib2-dev libv4l-dev libsdl-ttf2.0-dev libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev linux-libc-dev libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev libcairo2-dev libgsl-dev libncurses5-dev libgmime-3.0-dev libalure-dev libgmp-dev libgtk-3-dev libsdl2-dev libsdl2-mixer-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev libsdl2-image-dev sane-utils libdumb1-dev libqt5opengl5-dev libqt5svg5-dev libqt5webkit5-dev libqt5x11extras5-dev qtbase5-dev qtwebengine5-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev libssl-dev

Step 4. Go into the directory where the Gambas source file are located and run the script : 

$ ./reconf-all

Step 5. Once this script is finished, you can run the common commands to compile and install a program under GNU/Linux : 

$ ./configure -C --disable-keyring --disable-sqlite2 --disable-qt4
$ make -j$(nproc)
$ sudo make install

Step 6. Type gambas3

Gambas should start and run.

Note: You can make a symlink to start gambas3

Gambas 3 (version >= 3.19 and development version on master)

(Updated 2024.06.10)
Step 1. Get the source code (either download and extract the package from main Gambas website or use git clone/checkout)

Note: For using Git checkout see A note on installing from git

Step 2. Open a terminal (make sure your user account is part of sudo group)

Step 3. Install these packages : 

$ sudo apt-get update && apt-get install -y build-essential g++ automake autoconf libbz2-dev libzstd-dev default-libmysqlclient-dev unixodbc-dev libpq-dev libsqlite3-dev libglib2.0-dev libgtk2.0-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libgtkglext1-dev libpcre3-dev libsdl-sound1.2-dev libsdl-mixer1.2-dev libsdl-image1.2-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev librsvg2-dev libpoppler-dev libpoppler-glib-dev libpoppler-private-dev libpoppler-cpp-dev libasound2-dev libdirectfb-dev libxtst-dev libffi-dev libglew-dev libimlib2-dev libv4l-dev libsdl-ttf2.0-dev libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev linux-libc-dev libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev libcairo2-dev libgsl-dev libncurses-dev libgmime-3.0-dev libalure-dev libgmp-dev libgtk-3-dev libsdl2-dev libsdl2-mixer-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev libsdl2-image-dev sane-utils libdumb1-dev libqt5opengl5-dev libqt5svg5-dev libqt5webkit5-dev libqt5x11extras5-dev qtbase5-dev qtwebengine5-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev git libssl-dev libmongoc-dev

libmongoc-dev is not needed for 3.19

Step 4. Go into the directory where the Gambas source file are located and run the script : 

$ ./reconf-all

Step 5. Once this script is finished, you can run the common commands to compile and install a program under GNU/Linux : 

$ ./configure -C --disable-keyring --disable-sqlite2 --disable-qt4  --disable-qt6
$ make -j$(nproc)
$ sudo make install

Step 6. Type gambas3

Gambas should start and run.

Note: You can make a symlink to start gambas3

Compilation from sources for Debian bookworm (12) and Debian trixie (13)

Gambas 3 (version >= 3.16 and <= 3.18)

(Updated 2024.06.15)
Step 1. Get the source code (either download and extract the package from main Gambas website or use git clone/checkout)

Note: For using Git checkout see A note on installing from git

Step 2. Open a terminal (make sure your user account is part of sudo group)

Step 3. Install these packages : 

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y build-essential g++ automake autoconf libbz2-dev libzstd-dev default-libmysqlclient-dev unixodbc-dev libpq-dev libsqlite3-dev libglib2.0-dev libgtk2.0-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libgtkglext1-dev libpcre3-dev libsdl-sound1.2-dev libsdl-mixer1.2-dev libsdl-image1.2-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev librsvg2-dev libpoppler-dev libpoppler-glib-dev libpoppler-private-dev libpoppler-cpp-dev libasound2-dev libdirectfb-dev libxtst-dev libffi-dev libglew-dev libimlib2-dev libv4l-dev libsdl-ttf2.0-dev libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev linux-libc-dev libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev libcairo2-dev libgsl-dev libncurses5-dev libgmime-3.0-dev libalure-dev libgmp-dev libgtk-3-dev libsdl2-dev libsdl2-mixer-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev libsdl2-image-dev sane-utils libdumb1-dev libqt5opengl5-dev libqt5svg5-dev libqt5webkit5-dev libqt5x11extras5-dev qtbase5-dev qtwebengine5-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev libssl-dev

Step 4. Go into the directory where the Gambas source file are located and run the script : 

$ ./reconf-all

Step 5. Once this script is finished, you can run the common commands to compile and install a program under GNU/Linux : 

$ ./configure -C --disable-keyring --disable-sqlite2 --disable-qt4
$ make -j$(nproc)
$ sudo make install

Step 6. Type gambas3

Gambas should start and run.

Note: You can make a symlink to start gambas3

Gambas 3 (version >= 3.19 and development version on master)

(Updated 2024.06.10)
Step 1. Get the source code (either download and extract the package from main Gambas website or use git clone/checkout)

Note: For using Git checkout see A note on installing from git

Step 2. Open a terminal (make sure your user account is part of sudo group)

Step 3. Install these packages : 

$ sudo apt-get update && apt-get install -y build-essential g++ automake autoconf libbz2-dev libzstd-dev default-libmysqlclient-dev unixodbc-dev libpq-dev libsqlite3-dev libglib2.0-dev libgtk2.0-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libgtkglext1-dev libpcre3-dev libsdl-sound1.2-dev libsdl-mixer1.2-dev libsdl-image1.2-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev librsvg2-dev libpoppler-dev libpoppler-glib-dev libpoppler-private-dev libpoppler-cpp-dev libasound2-dev libdirectfb-dev libxtst-dev libffi-dev libglew-dev libimlib2-dev libv4l-dev libsdl-ttf2.0-dev libgdk-pixbuf2.0-dev linux-libc-dev libgstreamer1.0-dev libgstreamer-plugins-base1.0-dev libcairo2-dev libgsl-dev libncurses-dev libgmime-3.0-dev libalure-dev libgmp-dev libgtk-3-dev libsdl2-dev libsdl2-mixer-dev libsdl2-ttf-dev libsdl2-image-dev sane-utils libdumb1-dev libqt5opengl5-dev libqt5svg5-dev libqt5webkit5-dev libqt5x11extras5-dev qtbase5-dev qtwebengine5-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev git libssl-dev qt6-base-dev qt6-webengine-dev qt6-svg-dev libmongoc-dev

qt6-base-dev, qt6-webengine-dev, qt6-svg-dev and libmongoc-dev are not needed for 3.19

Step 4. Go into the directory where the Gambas source file are located and run the script : 

$ ./reconf-all

Step 5. Once this script is finished, you can run the common commands to compile and install a program under GNU/Linux : 

$ ./configure -C --disable-keyring --disable-sqlite2 --disable-qt4 (for trixie add --disable-gtkopengl)
$ make -j$(nproc)
$ sudo make install

Step 6. Type gambas3

Gambas should start and run.

Note: You can make a symlink to start gambas3

Important notes

A note on installing from git

If you want to compile the latest development version or a stable version from Gitlab Gambas repository, you need to install Git first.

To do this open a terminal and do: 

$ sudo apt-get install git

You will now be able to do a git clone or git checkout.

Downloading Gambas from Gitlab repository

Everybody can make a copy of the repository on his hard disk by using the following command:

For development version 

$ git clone --depth=1 https://gitlab.com/gambas/gambas.git

For current stable version 

$ git clone --branch stable --depth=1 https://gitlab.com/gambas/gambas.git

For an specific old stable version (e.g. 3.6)

    $ wget https://gitlab.com/gambas/gambas/repository/v3.6.0/archive.tar.gz -O gambas-3.6.0.tar.gz
    $ tar -zxvf gambas-3.6.0.tar.gz
    $ cd gambas-v3.6.0-*

For more info about using Gitlab Gambas repository see in the Git development guide for Gambas

Using sudo like other derivatives

Debian does not use the sudo command as other Debian derived works, due its not the default.

This simply means not have the sudo command. You can install sudo package and add your user to the group sudo.

These are the steps to correct this problem:

1. Open a terminal and type: 

$ su root

Enter the root password and hit <enter>.

Install the sudo package and hit <enter>.

2. Type: 

# apt-get install sudo

Added your USERNAME to the sudo group and hit <enter>.

3. Type: 

# adduser USERNAME sudo

Replace USERNAME with your account name.

4. Type (yes do it twice): 

# exit
# exit

5. Restart your session, then, sudo will work in a terminal for the user you added to sudo group.

What are the latest dependencies to install

As dependencies change over time it is always a good thing to know what you need to install for what Debian version.

Check gitlab-ci.yml for the exact needed dependencies to install latest Gambas3 on Debian. Search for your Debian version and follow the exact instructions there.

Outdated instructions

See the Debian deprecated instructions.

Page revisions

Debian Gambas 3 instructions by: W. Raets - Sept 8th, 2013
- Updated: Oct 18th, 2017 by PICCORO Lenz McKAY (mckaygerhard)
- Updated: Nov 9th, 2018 by Gianluigi Gradaschi
- Updated: Oct 23th, 2019 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- Updated: Oct 7th, 2020 by B. Steers
- Added Debian Buster dependency list
- Updated: Dec 13th 2021 by M. Belmonte
- Updated Debian Buster dependency list
- Added Bullseye and Bookworm entries
- Updated: Apr 19th 2023 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- Added stable backports and updated testing to proper Gambas version
- Bit of improvement on the English used here and there
- Bit of improvement on the layout of page revisions
- Updated: June 27th 2023 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- Updated table for binary install with new stable release
- Added compilation and installation for trixie (current testing)
- Corrected some in page links to point to the proper paragraphs
- Updated: Juli 8th 2023 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- Updated compilation ./configure instructions for buster, bullseye, bookworm and trixie
- Added compilation and installation for gambas3 >= 3.12 on stretch
- Updated: June 10th 2024 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- Updated official package status for trixie
- Added compilation instruction as of Gambas 3.19.0
- Added 'What are the latest dependencies to install'
- Updated: June 15th 2024 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- changed titles for previous bullseye/bookworm compilation to <= 3.18
- Added 'Outdated instructions'
- Updated: June 16th 2024 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- added what dependecies are not needed fro 3.19, just development version
- Updated: June 17th 2024 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- changed title for buster compilation to <= 3.18<br/>
- Updated: July 12th 2024 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- added "Setup a more recent Gambas3 Debian repository"
- Updated: July 14th 2024 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- small correction in some links that changed
- Updated: Oct 17th 2024 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- added new versions to "Setup a more recent Gambas3 Debian repository"
- updated to version 3.19.3 of gambas for trixie in debian official
- Updated: Nov 18th 2024 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- added new version 3.19.6 to "Setup a more recent Gambas3 Debian repository"
- updated to version 3.19.5 of gambas for trixie in debian official
- Updated: Dec 22nd 2024 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- added "Installing master version from  openSUSE build server"
- some rearranging to create "Installing binaries" section
- Updated: Feb 16th 2025 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- added "Installing stable version from  openSUSE build server"
- updated to version 3.20.0 of gambas for trixie in debian official
- Renamed "Setup a more recent.." to "Setup a local Gambas3 Debian repository"
- updated "Setup a local Gambas3 Debian repository" to new format
- added trixie to "Setup a local Gambas3 Debian repository"
- Updated: Feb 16th 2025 by W. Raets (gbWilly)
- small correction to "Installing master version from  openSUSE build server"
- small correction to "Installing stable version from  openSUSE build server"