Installing Gramps for Linux computers

From Gramps
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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.

Linux distributions

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These packages are built and supported by the distros.

If your distribution is not listed you may possibly find it listed on Repology
Please report any problems with them to the package maintainer.

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.

Below are ways to install Gramps on some of the more popular distributions:

Distribution GUI Package manager Current versions Notes
Debianopenlogo-32.png Debian Add/Remove Software
  • Debian 10 ("buster") (old stable): Gramps 5.0.1
  • Debian 10 ("buster")(backports) (stable): Gramps 5.1.3
  • Debian 11 ("bullseye")(stable): Gramps 5.1.3
  • Debian 11 ("bullseye")(backports): Gramps 5.1.6
  • Debian 12 ("bookworm")(backports): Gramps 5.1.6
  • trixie (Debian 13 testing): (Gramps 5.2.2)
  • sid (unstable testbed): Gramps 5.2.2
available versions
Ubuntu 32x32.png Ubuntu Software Centre
  • Bionic Beaver (18.04 LTS): Gramps: 5.1.2
  • Focal (20.04 LTS): Gramps: 5.1.3
  • Hirsute (21.04): Gramps: 5.1.3
  • Impish (21.10): Gramps: 5.1.4
  • Jammy (Development: 22.04): Gramps: 5.1.5
available versions/ (Also see: Backports)
Farm-Fresh linux mint.png Linux Mint Software Manager
  • 19.x(Gramps 4.2.8)
  • 20.x(Gramps 5.1.2)
Fedora 32x32.png Fedora Add/Remove Software (Gnome)
or
Software Management (KDE)
  • Rawhide (Gramps 5.2.2-1)
  • Fedora 38 (Gramps 5.1.6-1)
  • Fedora 39 (Gramps 5.2.2-1)
  • Fedora 40 (Gramps 5.2.2-1)
available versions (packages.fedoraproject.org)
available versions (koji Buildsystem)
Mageia drakrpm (or rpmdrake)
  • Mageia Caulron: Gramps 5.1.5
  • Mageia 8.0: Gramps 5.1.3
Mageia App Db - gramps
OpenSUSE-distribution-icon.png openSUSE YaST
  • openSUSE Tumbleweed: Gramps 5.2.2
  • openSUSE Leap 15.6: Gramps 5.2.2
available versions
The most recent version can usually be installed from the 'openSUSE BuildService - GNOME:Apps' repository
Slackware-distribution-icon.jpg Slackware available versions
Archlinux-icon-crystal-32.svg Arch Linux pacman
  • Gramps 5.2.2
available versions
Gentoo-distribution-icon.pngGentoo Linux
  • Gramps 5.2.2
  • Gramps 5.1.6 (testing)
available versions



Debian package

For Debianopenlogo-32.pngDebian-based linux distributions (Which includes Ubuntu 32x32.png 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_5.2.3-1_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

Increased directory isolation — ⚡new for version 5.2.0 : restricted access from the entire home directory down to Documents, Downloads, and Pictures

Flatpaks allow installing sandboxed versions of applications. This allows multiple versions to be installed without stepping on each other.

Gramps 5.2.2-0 is available as a Flatpak at Flathub.

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Please use your existing installation to backup your database before proceeding.

Also, it is a good idea to convert your database to SQLite because BSDDB3 support was dropped from the Gramps 5.2.0-0 flatpak.

First set up Flatpak and the Flathub repository on your system. There are instructions for various distributions at https://flathub.org/setup

Second, you can 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 flathub org.gramps_project.Gramps

See Also

Discourse forum posting :


Build from source

For other distributions, Download link.png 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

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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.

Beware of giving third parties access to your genealogical data.

You can also try an online demonstration of version 5.1.4 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.

Menubar - "Family Trees > Make Backup..."

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 Linux 32x32.png, Windows 32x32.png,Macos 200x200.png and Bsd daemon.png 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.