How to install the Olivia cloud music player on Linux
The Olivia cloud music player is a new, up and coming music player for Linux. It is built with the Qt5 toolkit and aims to provide a unified location where users can do everything from watching YouTube videos, internet radio, and playback local music files on Linux. As of now, the developer chooses to distribute the program through Snap packages. That said, it is also possible to build the program from its source code, or if you’re an Arch user, grab it from the Arch Linux User Repository.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to install the Olivia music player via Snap packages, source code, and the AUR. To start, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, follow the command-line instructions below that match your specific use-case.
Note: Snap packages work on Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Debian, Arch Linux, Solus, and Gentoo. If you are not using one of these Linux distributions, it’s best to follow the source code instructions to get access to Olivia.
Source code instructions
Installing Olivia from the source code requires a few dependencies. These dependencies are Qt5 (and some development modules,) Mpv, Coreutils, Socat, Python version 2.7, and the Wget downloader.
Installing these dependencies will differ, depending on what operating system you use, so if you have any issues, visit the Olivia GitHub for guidance.
Ubuntu/Debian dependencies
Installing dependencies on Ubuntu and Debian is simple, as the developer of Olivia specifically outlines the packages necessary to get it working. To start the installation, use the Apt command below.
Note: on Debian, you may need to switch Apt with Apt-get.
sudo apt install git qt5 libqt5sql5-sqlite libqt5webkit5 libqt4x11extras5 mpv coreutils socat python wget libqt5webkit5-dev
Arch Linux dependencies
There’s an AUR package for Olivia on Arch Linux, so there’s no real need to go over installing build dependencies in this section. Instead, scroll down to the AUR instructions and follow those instead.
On Arch Linux and don’t want to use the AUR release of Olivia? Consider going with the Snap package version instead!
Fedora dependencies
The developers don’t outline the packages in detail for what you’ll need to build Olivia successfully. That said, you can check the GitHub development page and search your package manager for what you’ll need to build the software.
Can’t figure out the dependencies necessary to build and compile Olivia on your Fedora Linux PC? Don’t worry! Fedora can run Snap packages! Skip to the Snap instructions below.
OpenSUSE dependencies
sudo zypper install git libQt5Sql5-sqlite libQt5WebKit5 libQt5X11Extras5 libQt5WebKit5-devel mpv coreutils socat wget
Generic Linux dependencies
Olivia can compile on any Linux distribution, assuming you have the following dependencies installed:
- Qt5.5.1
- libqt5sql5-sqlite
- libqt5webkit5
- libqt5x11extras5
- mpv
- coreutils
- socat
- python 2.7
- wget
- git
For more information on dependencies required for building Olivia from source, head over to the project’s GitHub page.
Download code
Once the dependencies are installed, use the git clone command and download the latest code to your Linux PC.
git clone https://github.com/keshavbhatt/olivia.git
With the code done downloading, move the terminal into it using the CD command.
cd olivia
Use the qmake build tool and start the building process for the Olivia app.
qmake
Running qmake will not take a huge amount of time. In fact, it’ll finish instantly after you enter the command. When it’s done, use the make command and finish the building process.
Please keep in mind that compiling the Olivia app is going to take a long time. Sit back and let it build.
make
When the compilation is finished, you’ll be able to install the fully compiled Olivia music player to your Linux PC with the make install command.
sudo make install
Snap package instructions
Oliva’s developers distribute the application in a Snap package for easy installation on a variety of Linux operating systems. However, before installing the Olivia app from the Snap store, you’ll need to enable the Snapd runtime on your system.
Enabling the Snapd runtime on most Linux distributions is fairly quick. For more information about how to do this, head over to our guide on how to set it up.
When you’ve got Snapd running on your Linux OS, install the Olivia music app with:
sudo snap install olivia-test
Arch AUR instructions
The Olivia music app is on the AUR and ready to use for Arch Linux users. To install it, start out by using the Pacman package manager to install the Base-devel and Git packages.
sudo pacman -S base-devel git
Once the Base-devel and Git packages are set up, download the Trizen AUR helper and install it on your Arch PC.
git clone https://github.com/trizen/trizen
cd trizen
makepkg -sri
With Trizen now set up, use it to install Olivia from the AUR:
trizen -S olivia
