Installing JDownloader in Ubuntu

By Michael Robinson on May 7, 2009, Filed in: Java | Tutorial | Ubuntu

This post was originally published in 2009
It may contain stale & outdated information. Or it may have grown more awesome with age, like the author.

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JDownloader is an excellent download manager. When I had a Mac I used Speed Downloader, but when the free trial period ran out I switched back to DownThemAll, a download manager plugin for Firefox.

The only thing I missed about Speed Downloader was its ability to store my Rapidshare Password: a feature not supported by DownThemAll – no more returning to the computer to find my downloads folder filled with useless .html files as I’d forgot to make sure the Rapidshare Cookie was set… JDownloader can not only store one’s Rapidshare details, it can store details for just about every other download service imaginable.

JDownloader also has an option to capture the clipboard – copy a link and it will automatically open a “Add download” window – surprisingly useful. Downloads can be organised into packages. JDownloader will attempt to unpack compressed files automatically (there is an option to turn this off).

It’s pretty great – I’m sure it’ll give whatever download manager you’re currently using a run for your money.

Installing it (properly) in Ubuntu:

If you’re using a flavour of (Ubuntu) linux, you may want to set JDownloader up so you don’t have to start it by right-clicking on “JDownloader.jar” and selecting “Open with Sun Java JRE”. I know I did.

How to ‘install’ JDownloader:

This tutorial assumes you have Java installed and working. If you don’t have Java installed: How to Install Java in Ubuntu.

Download JDownloader, extract it to your Desktop. Download a JDownloader icon, rename it to “JDownloader.png” and put it in the JDownloader folder.

Open a Terminal (Accessories -> Terminal).

Create a JDownloader install directory:

sudo mkdir /opt/JDownloader

Move the extracted files to their new home (replace “X” with version number):

sudo mv ~/Desktop/JDownloader\ X.X.XXX/* /opt/JDownloader/

Change their ownership:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /opt/JDownloader
 
sudo chmod -R +r /opt/JDownloader

Make the JDownloader.jar file executable:

sudo chmod +x /opt/JDownloader/JDownloader.jar

Make JDownloader runnable from Terminal:

sudo touch /usr/local/bin/JDownloader
sudo nano /usr/local/bin/JDownloader

This opens the file for editing within the Terminal. Paste the following:

#! /bin/sh
java -jar /opt/JDownloader/JDownloader.jar

To save and close the file, press CTRL + X, then Y, then ENTER.

Make a menu item for JDownloader:

sudo nano /usr/share/applications/JDownloader.desktop

Paste the following:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=JDownloader
Comment=Download Manager
Exec=java -jar /opt/JDownloader/JDownloader.jar
Icon=/opt/JDownloader/JDownloader.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=GNOME;Network;
StartupNotify=True