How to run 32-bit programs on a 64-bit system

Question

Recently I upgraded my netbook to Ubuntu 13.04 64-bit from Ubuntu 13.04 beta 2 32-bit.

I want to be able to run 32-bit programs (such as WPS, which is a clone of MS Office 2012) on my PC.

How do I do it? Is there an easy way of doing it via the terminal?

64 bit os can run 32 bit + 64 bit programs , where as 32 bit can run only 32 bit programs ...by the way how come you have upgraded from 32 bit to 64 bit ? — Qasim, May 18 '13 at 15:42
the reason i did it was because on the download page it says that if you run windows 8 or any uefi firmware you should use the 64bit version. i can not really see much diference to be honest. — Apad121, May 18 '13 at 16:15
@apad121 got it .......Suggestion : you should update these details in your question — Qasim, May 18 '13 at 19:05

score 16 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 08 '15 at 15:44

16

If you install the 32-bit compatibility libraries, you should be able to run 32 bit programs normally:

sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

Note: if you use Ubuntu 13.10 or higher, you'll need install these packages instead:

sudo apt-get install lib32z1 lib32ncurses5 lib32bz2-1.0

edited Feb 08 '15 at 15:44

Fernando Paladini

answered May 18 '13 at 15:46

Paul

6

Please note that this package does not exist in Ubuntu 13.10 any longer. You have to install all the required i386 libraries. – c_korn Oct 13 '13 at 19:22
@c_korn which are? – Robin Winslow Dec 26 '13 at 21:53
As @c_korn points out, this package can't be installed on newer Ubuntu releases. I've just tried this on 14.04 and didn't work, but [this other question](http://askubuntu.com/questions/454253/how-to-run-32-bit-app-in-ubuntu-64-bit) turned out to be useful. By running `sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386` I've been able to install `wine`, which was previously causing apt to fail because "the package is not installable". – Genba Nov 21 '14 at 11:10
1

For Ubuntu versions >= 13.10, use `sudo apt-get install lib32z1 lib32ncurses5 lib32bz2-1.0` instead. – Fernando Paladini Feb 08 '15 at 15:13

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 02 '13 at 01:04

2

According to the error message that I got trying to install ia32-libs, the following should work to install the replacement libraries.

sudo apt-get install lib32z1 lib32ncurses5 lib32bz2-1.0

This seems to install correctly, but I am still getting an error when I try to run my 32 bit application:

error while loading shared libraries: libpangox-1.0.so.0: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64

So evidently there is another step needed.

edited Dec 02 '13 at 01:04

Seth

answered Dec 02 '13 at 00:25

Larry Hunsicker

1

To get the 32-bit version you should install the packages with a trailing `:i386`. See this [answer](http://askubuntu.com/a/363879/198090) for more details. – OSE Dec 05 '13 at 20:34
I'm adding a proposed edit that should have been a comment, from an anonymous user: `Added info: I have got 32-bit Linux programs to run fine in Ubuntu 14.10 64-bit after not only doing the above line, but also after installing the Wine (ie, the Wine for running 32-bit programs). Wine evidently sets up extra relevant packages which makes also Linux 32-bit programs run better. --A.Tacoma` – Sparhawk Dec 21 '14 at 09:09
Its not extra setup. It only proves that wine has massive dependency on a lot of system libraries, installing wine just helped you install the i386 version of all these common dependencies. – Ben Dec 21 '17 at 17:36

2 Answers2