# Installing on Ubuntu

**URL:** <https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/installing-on-ubuntu/6721>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [January 21, 2021, 4:35am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/installing-on-ubuntu/6721 "2021-01-21T04:35:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ankiology](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@ankiology](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/ankiology)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 4:35am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/installing-on-ubuntu/6721/1 "2021-01-21T04:35:27Z")

</div>

I’m having trouble installing Anki 2.1.38 on my desktop computer, which runs Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS (64 bit) with Gnome 3.36.8.

This computer had Anki 2.1.35 until now. That version is now gone.

After following the instructions on the Linux download page at [https://apps.ankiweb.net/](https://apps.ankiweb.net/), including running the command “sudo apt install libxcb-xinerama0” , the terminal said that Anki was installed and to type “anki” to run it. After doing so, the terminal said that the command “anki” was not found. I can’t find it in the Ubuntu Software Center either.

The terminal also said that I could install Anki by running apt. That did install Anki, but when started, it just says, “Anki was unable to open your collection file.” The complete error is below.

What should I do? Since you recommend installing it from your website instead of apt, I would like to follow that advice.

P.S. In case it helps, here’s that error message from the Anki that I got from apt:  
Anki was unable to open your collection file. If problems persist after restarting your computer, please use the Open Backup button in the profile manager.

Debug info:  
Traceback (most recent call last):  
File “/usr/share/anki/aqt/main.py”, line 341, in loadCollection  
return self.\_loadCollection()  
File “/usr/share/anki/aqt/main.py”, line 366, in \_loadCollection  
self.col = Collection(cpath, log=True)  
File “/usr/share/anki/anki/storage.py”, line 40, in Collection  
col = \_Collection(db, server, log)  
File “/usr/share/anki/anki/collection.py”, line 68, in **init**  
self.load()  
File “/usr/share/anki/anki/collection.py”, line 144, in load  
self.conf = json.loads(self.conf)  
File “/usr/lib/python3.8/json/ **init**.py”, line 357, in loads  
return \_default\_decoder.decode(s)  
File “/usr/lib/python3.8/json/decoder.py”, line 337, in decode  
obj, end = self.raw\_decode(s, idx=\_w(s, 0).end())  
File “/usr/lib/python3.8/json/decoder.py”, line 355, in raw\_decode  
raise JSONDecodeError(“Expecting value”, s, err.value) from None  
json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![dae](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/dae/32/65_2.png) [@dae](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/dae)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 9:12am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/installing-on-ubuntu/6721/2 "2021-01-21T09:12:48Z")

</div>

Please try running uninstall.sh then install.sh again.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/1X/8f1279ababc5879d54e4838989f606cfe55af8c7.jpeg) [@system](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2023, 5:16am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/installing-on-ubuntu/6721/3 "2023-05-01T05:16:55Z")

</div>