How to install Cura Slicer on a Chromebook
Ultimaker Cura is one of the most popular 3D printer slice tools. If you have a printer that utilizes this app and want to run it on a Chromebook, you’ll be happy to know it’s possible. Here’s how to get Cura working on your Chromebook.
Enable Linux on Chrome OS
Linux must be enabled on your Chromebook before you can install the Cura Ultimaker 3D slicing tool on your system. To enable Linux, start by clicking on the clock icon in the Chrome OS dash.
After you’ve selected the clock icon in the Chrome OS dash, look for the “gear” icon, and select it with the mouse. By selecting this button, you’ll load up the Chrome OS settings area.
Inside the Chrome OS settings area, locate “Advanced” and click on the arrow next to it. When you select the arrow, Chrome OS will reveal a lot of Advanced options to choose from.
Look through the options, and select “Developers.” Then, inside of the “Developers” area, find “Linux developer environment,” and click on it with the mouse.
Inside the “Linux developer environment” area, find the “Turn on” button and click on it with the mouse. When you select this button, Chrome OS will begin downloading a Debian Linux container to your Chromebook. It’ll also set up the Chrome OS terminal.
When everything is done downloading, Chrome OS will launch a terminal app. In this terminal app, find “Penguin,” and select it with the mouse. When you choose “Penguin,” you’ll gain terminal access to the Debian container in Chrome OS.
Inside the terminal, use the apt update command to refresh the Linux container’s software sources.
sudo apt update
Once all of the Linux container’s software sources are up to date, you can install available upgrades using the apt upgrade command below.
sudo apt upgrade
With the upgrades installed, Linux is ready to use on your Chromebook. You can use it to install the Cura app, along with a lot of other Linux apps on your system.
Installing Cura on Chrome OS
There are a few ways to get the Cura app working on your Chromebook (Debian package and Flatpak package.) In this guide, we’ll show you how to get Cura working on your Chromebook in both ways.
Installing Cura – Debian Package
To install the Cura app on your Chromebook as a Debian package, you must first open up a terminal window. To open up a terminal window on the Chrome OS desktop, search for “Terminal” in the app menu, and launch it that way.
Once the terminal app is open, you’ll need to find “Penguin,” and select it with the mouse. Upon selecting this button, you’ll gain access to the terminal interface for the Linux container on your Chromebook.
Inside of the Chrome OS terminal, use the apt install command to install the “cura” package. This package contains everything you need to run Cura on your Chromebook. However, keep in mind that Debian packages are much more out of date than Flatpak, so if you need the latest Cura packages, follow those instructions instead.
sudo apt install cura
Once the command above is run, you can use the Cura app via the “Linux apps” folder in the Chrome OS app menu.
Installing Cura – Flatpak
If you need the absolute latest features for Cura, you’ll want to install the app on your Chromebook via the Flathub app store as a Flatpak. To start the setup process, you must install the “flatpak” package on your Chromebook. Do that with the command below.
sudo apt install flatpak
With the “flatpak” package installed on your system, you’ll be able to use the flatpak remote-add command to set up the Flathub app store. Flathub has the Cura app and a lot of other Flatpak apps you may want to check out.
flatpak --user remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Once the Flathub app store is enabled on your Chromebook, setting up the Cura app is as easy as running the flatpak install command below.
flatpak install flathub com.ultimaker.cura
The setup process is complete with the Cura Flatpak app installed via Flathub. You can access the app on your Chromebook via the “Linux apps” folders in the Chrome app menu.
How to set up Cura
