Installing FlareGet on Ubuntu 20.04: Run the Windows Download Manager via Wine
If you’re an Ubuntu 20.04 user who still wants that polished, multi‑threaded download experience only Windows has to offer, this is how you can get FlareGet running under Linux. I’ve done it a few times for friends who love its clean UI and built‑in scheduler, so the steps are straightforward—and no fancy tricks required.
Why bother installing FlareGet on Linux?
I used to see people complain that Ubuntu’s default download manager is “slow” or “missing features.” The truth is, most of those problems come from misconfiguring wget or aria2. Still, there are times when you want a GUI that looks like Windows, supports HTTP/FTP/SFTP in one place, and has a built‑in pause‑resume feature. FlareGet delivers that without the bloat of an entire IDE.
If you’re happy with command‑line tools, skip this article. Otherwise, let’s get FlareGet up and running via Wine.
Prerequisites: Install Wine and the required libraries
FlareGet is a Windows executable, so we’ll use Wine to emulate that environment. On Ubuntu 20.04 you can install a fairly recent Wine version from the official PPA:
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 # enable 32‑bit support wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/Release.key && sudo apt-key add Release.key sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main' sudo apt update sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable
Why all that? Wine needs the 32‑bit libraries to run most Windows apps, and --install-recommends pulls in the extra components (like winetricks) that help with fonts and DirectX.
Download the FlareGet installer
Grab the latest MSI from the official site or a mirror:
cd ~/Downloads wget https://www.flareget.com/flareget-setup.exe
(If you’re not sure which file is right, look for an “exe” with the word Setup in it.)
Run the installer under Wine
Now launch the installer:
wine flareget-setup.exe
The first time you run a Windows program, Wine will ask if you want to set up a new virtual drive. Say “Yes” and let it finish. Then follow the on‑screen wizard exactly as you would on Windows.
Tip: If you see a warning that the installer is missing a component (like Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable), just install it via Wine’s own installer or download the redistributable separately from Microsoft and run wine vcredist_x64.exe.
Configure FlareGet to use your Linux file system
After installation, launch FlareGet:
wine ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/FlareGet/flareget.exe
The first time it starts, it will create a default configuration folder in ~/.wine/drive_c/users/YourUserName. To keep your downloads on the native file system and avoid Wine’s quirky path syntax, open FlareGet’s preferences:
1. Click Tools => Options.
2. In the Downloads tab, set Download Folder to something like /home/youruser/Downloads.
3. Save and quit.
That way your files land directly where you expect them, and you can manage them with any Linux tool.
Get the most out of FlareGet on Ubuntu
- Use the “Batch” feature: If you have a list of URLs, put them in a plain text file and drag‑and‑drop it onto FlareGet. It’ll queue all of them up instantly—no more manual pasting.
- Enable multi‑threaded downloads: In Options => Advanced, set the number of connections per download to 8 or 16 for faster throughput on broadband links.
- Watch out for Windows DRM: If you try to download media protected by DRM, FlareGet will fail.
That’s all there is to it. You now have a slick Windows‑style downloader running side‑by‑side with your native tools on Ubuntu 20.04. If something goes sideways—maybe an installer crash or a broken dependency—just drop the command line and let Wine handle the rest.
