How to Install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu Linux

This brief tutorial shows students and new users how to install the VLC media player on Ubuntu 20.04 | 18.04.

VLC is one of the most popular cross-platform media players available today. With it, you can play virtually all media formats, including DVDs, Audio CDs, multimedia files, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

There are many reasons why someone might want to install VLC Media Player on Ubuntu Linux. Firstly, VLC is a highly versatile media player that supports a wide range of audio and video formats, making it ideal for playing almost any type of media file.

Additionally, VLC is an open-source application that is free to use and can be freely modified by users and developers. Finally, VLC is very easy to use and requires minimal configuration, making it an excellent choice for beginners who want a simple media player that just works.

Overall, VLC is an excellent choice for anyone who wants a reliable and versatile media player for their Ubuntu Linux system.

For more about VLC, please check its homepage.

To get started with installing VLC, follow the steps below:

Install VLC from Ubuntu Repositories

VLC is included in the official Ubuntu repositories. However, the versions of the packages in the repositories are mostly outdated.

For simplicity’s sake, you can run the commands below to install VLC in Ubuntu.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install vlc

After installing, go to Activities --> VLC Media Player to launch the app.

Again, installing VLC this way may install a version that is not the latest.

Install VLC via Snap

Since the version that comes with Ubuntu is usually not updated to the latest version until some time, you can get the latest from the Snappy package manager.

Installing from Snap is recommended as you will always get the latest major VLC version with all codecs, security and critical bug fixes, and optical media support installed on your desktop.

To install it from Snap, run the commands below:

Open your terminal using the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + T on your keyboard. Then, run the commands below to install it.

sudo snap install vlc

After installing, you’ll get a successful message similar to the one below:

vlc 3.0.10 from VideoLAN✓ installed

When VLC is launched for the first time, a window like the following will appear with information about the VLC privacy and network access policy.

Click to enable and allow metadata network access.

You’ll also want to set VLC as your default media player. To do that, open the Activities dashboard and search for Default Applications.

Then select VLC and your default media player.

Conclusion:

This post showed you how to install the VLC media player on Ubuntu 20.04 | 18.04. If you find any error, please report it in the comment form below.

Thanks,